http://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/james-j-kay/ Dear Colleagues, My friend and colleague James Kay was a pioneer in this field. This special issue is to be devoted to the legacy and implications of the work on ‘ecosystem approaches’ that he shared in for so many years. The ‘ecosystem approach’ is amorphous and one aspect people have worked on is making it more specific and operational – some of this follows from James’ work on the thermodynamic based SOHO (self-organizing hierarchical open) systems framework. Others have embraced the approach as a means to open dialogue and, via citizen science and participation, link social and ecological challenges and solutions in the lives of those who probably have the most real power to change things. This does not imply that political leaders, scientists or technical experts have no role to play but if transdisciplinary ecosystem approaches are to be useful, they must be tractable and applicable by all citizens. In James’ work, he applied his ideas to eutrophic lakes (Lake Erie), parks and protected areas, urban areas, agroecosystems, industrial ecology, and ecological economics – all wrapped in his ideas of a ‘conserver society’. James was never one for claiming sole credit, which is why he had so many friends as coauthors. His work is carried on via organizations like the Network for Ecosystem Sustainability and Health (NESH) and via new generations of graduate students and recent Ph.Ds. With this special issue, we hope to capture the depth and breadth of the type of work James Kay devoted his life to – using ecosystem approaches for a more sustainable society. Dr. Stephen Murphy Guest Editor Submission All manuscripts should be submitted to sustainability@mdpi.com with a copy to the Guest Editor. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as 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 refereed through a 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 monthly journal published by MDPI. Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. Article Processing Charges (APC) for publication in this Open Access journal are 300 CHF (Swiss Francs) per accepted Paper. English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.