Dear Colleagues,

Pandemics affect the course of history. From the disease of the Peloponnesian war to the Spanish Flu a century ago diseases have affected the outcome of wars, but also patterns of trade and geopolitical structures. Humanity currently wrestles COVID-19, experiencing dramatic effects on peoples opportunities to move in what used to be a world of increasing globalization.

Despite all negative effects, the COVID-19 pandemic may contribute to a transition to a sustainable society evolving within planetary boundaries. While possible, action is required to mitigate and adapt to climate change, to combat biodiversity loss, to secure long-term sustainable food production, and to protect functional and more equitable societies, to mention just some issues related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Essentially, a large global transition is required. An overarching question is thus if the on-going pandemic, and the associated actions of various kinds, will be possible levers for a transition in the complex adaptive systems of global production and consumption.

Exceptional measures have been taken to protect human health from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and as of March 2021 evidence regarding consequences on human health, ecosystems and the interconnected production and consumption systems are mounting. However, their long-term consequences for energy and material flows and the structure of the economy, are open for speculations, but may also become the result of political and industrial strategies.

Several authors point to possible links between actions to limit the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and sustainability transitions (Mazzucato 2020, Sterner et al. 2020) and the potential to use governments’ recovery stimulus for investments in low-carbon energy systems has been especially highlighted (e.g. Pihl et al. 2021).

This special issue will contribute to an informed scientific debate based on empirical studies and comparisons, both between nations/regions and over time in historical accounts, regarding possible connections between the current pandemic and sustainability transitions. Scientific evidence related to larger long-term shifts should however acknowledge the limited possibilities in terms of comparing situations in multifactorial nested and open systems. The Anthropocene, with the unprecedented size of the human population, technological possibilities for production, transport and communication, and increasing resource constraints, together with the societal challenges, poses a set of difficult questions, challenging scholars to both look back, trying to learn from evidence and systemic patterns, and to look forward cautiously using evidence, models, and values, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, to try to advise on the change of current unsustainable development paths (Reyers et al. 2018).

This special issue will provide original articles, compilation of data describing the experiences, reviews containing important contributions, together with historical examples of possible links between the pandemic and sustainability transitions from a multidisciplinary perspective, thus providing perspectives and selected evidence giving readers an overview of the important interfaces in the socio-technical-ecological system connecting short-term large events with long-term structural changes related to COVID-19.

Mazzucato, M., 2020. The Covid-19 crisis is a chance to do capitalism differently, The Guardian Wed 18 Mar 2020.

Reyers, B., Folke, C., Moore, M-L., R. Biggs, Galaz. V., 2018. Social-Ecological systems insights for navigating the dynamics of the Anthropocene. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 2018. 43:267–89

Pihl, E. et al 2021, Ten New Insights in Climate Science 2020 - a Horizon Scan, Global Sustainability 4(e5):1-18, DOI: 10.1017/sus.2021.2  

Sterner, T., Cantillion, E., Kåberger, T., Henry, C., 2020. COVID response: Use public finances to support change, Springer Nature Sustainability Community, Apr 21, 2020

Prof. Dr. Sverker Molander
Prof. Dr. Tomas Kåberger
Dr. Magnus Bengtsson
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• economic recovery policy
• sustainable development
• energy transition
• globalization
• sustainability transitions
• socio-technical-ecological systems