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Challenges
Volume 16
Issue 2
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Challenges, Volume 16, Issue 2 (June 2025) – 5 articles

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19 pages, 258 KiB  
Article
Fostering Community Ownership for Sustainable Social Innovations in Pastoral and Agro-Pastoral Regions
by Mulye Tadesse, Tafesse Matewos, Samuel Jilo Dira, Fekadu Israel Alambo and Tenaw Fentaw Dessie
Challenges 2025, 16(2), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/challe16020023 - 23 Apr 2025
Viewed by 468
Abstract
Social innovation has emerged as a prominent strategy in development practice, attracting substantial scholarly attention. In Ethiopia’s pastoral and agro-pastoral areas, characterized by vulnerability and persistent development challenges, non-governmental organizations have begun implementing social innovations as alternatives to traditional interventions. However, the empirical [...] Read more.
Social innovation has emerged as a prominent strategy in development practice, attracting substantial scholarly attention. In Ethiopia’s pastoral and agro-pastoral areas, characterized by vulnerability and persistent development challenges, non-governmental organizations have begun implementing social innovations as alternatives to traditional interventions. However, the empirical understanding of the uptake of these innovations and the degree to which communities perceive ownership is limited. This study aims to investigate the adoption patterns of social innovations and evaluate community ownership of these innovations towards sustainability in specific Ethiopian contexts. Methods included partial participant observation, 12 case studies, 33 key informant interviews, and a sample survey of 392 respondents. The findings indicate that the average age of respondents is approximately 41 years old, with the youngest being 15 and the oldest being 94. Descriptive and inferential statistics showed that social innovations improved the management of the water system in Meda Wollabu and the enhanced goat market in Dasenech, with a developed sense of ownership benefitting and improving communities’ livelihood and sustainable development. The study concludes that developed sense of community ownership effective information dissemination, relative advantage and participation in training, highlighting the importance of tailored social innovation strategies that enhance community resilience and sustainability. Full article
20 pages, 2106 KiB  
Review
Unseen Drivers of Antimicrobial Resistance: The Role of Industrial Agriculture and Climate Change in This Global Health Crisis
by Madeline E. Graham, Brenda A. Wilson, Davendra Ramkumar, Holly Rosencranz and Japhia Ramkumar
Challenges 2025, 16(2), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/challe16020022 - 21 Apr 2025
Viewed by 328
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an urgent global health threat with many anthropogenic drivers outside of healthcare. The impacts of modern agriculture on human health are manifold, from the food systems and dietary patterns they support to the less apparent effects of environmental stresses [...] Read more.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an urgent global health threat with many anthropogenic drivers outside of healthcare. The impacts of modern agriculture on human health are manifold, from the food systems and dietary patterns they support to the less apparent effects of environmental stresses and biodiversity loss in ecosystems. Intensive practices, such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, induce abiotic stresses that deplete biodiversity and drive AMR in soil and aquatic microbiomes. The overuse of antibiotics in livestock production is another major driver of AMR. Changes in weather patterns due to climate change have the potential to exacerbate these issues as warmer and wetter weather increases the potential for bacterial infection. While practices exist to address healthcare-associated drivers, the impact of agriculture and environmental destruction are not widely appreciated in healthcare and biomedical sciences. It is imperative that healthcare professionals and public health experts understand these connections to properly address the emergent issue of AMR. This review aims to summarize the current data on important agricultural and environmental drivers of AMR for educational purposes, to fill gaps in knowledge, and to improve current practices and stimulate further research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planetary Health: From Evidence to Action–Confronting Reality (Including Submissions Associated with the 2024 Planetary Health Summit (PHAM2024))
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21 pages, 2157 KiB  
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Eco-Systemic Flourishing: Expanding the Meta-Framework for 21st-Century Education
by Wendy Ellyatt
Challenges 2025, 16(2), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/challe16020021 - 19 Apr 2025
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Abstract
This paper expands on the anthropocentric focus of the Self-Directed Flourishing (SDF) framework by introducing the Eco-Systemic Flourishing (ESF) framework. The primary contribution of the ESF is the integration of ecological systems thinking, place-based education, and regenerative learning into existing flourishing frameworks. Methodologically, [...] Read more.
This paper expands on the anthropocentric focus of the Self-Directed Flourishing (SDF) framework by introducing the Eco-Systemic Flourishing (ESF) framework. The primary contribution of the ESF is the integration of ecological systems thinking, place-based education, and regenerative learning into existing flourishing frameworks. Methodologically, the paper synthesizes interdisciplinary perspectives from developmental psychology, systems theory and sustainability education and to propose a transformative educational approach. The results outline how the ESF framework positions education as a crucial driver for fostering relational awareness and ecological literacy, thus promoting both human and planetary flourishing. The framework’s implications are significant, offering a scalable model for sustainability integration in educational systems, curriculum design, and policy development. Future empirical validation, through longitudinal studies, is recommended to evaluate ESF’s effectiveness in enhancing educational outcomes and ecological stewardship. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nurturing Connected Consciousness in the Anthropocene: Addressing Calls for Cultural and Spiritual Transformation as a Path to Personal, Collective, and Planetary Health)
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15 pages, 459 KiB  
Article
Climate Change Impacts on Household Food Security in Sri Lanka’s Dry Zones: A Qualitative Analysis
by Sisira Kumara Naradda Gamage, Solanga Arachchige U. Niranjala, Jayasooriya Mudiyanselage Harshana M. Upulwehera, Allayarov Piratdin, Kumara Bandage Thilini Udesha K. Bandara, Hatharakorale Gedara Kolitha N. Bandara, Hetti Arachchige Buddhika W. Hettiarachchi, Adikari Mudiyanselage P. Adikari, Sumanapalage D. Amasha Sumanapala, Manamendra K. Nilakshi Pabasara and Ran Pathige Indika R. Prasanna
Challenges 2025, 16(2), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/challe16020020 - 10 Apr 2025
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Abstract
Climate change is a substantial threat to worldwide food security, affecting the supply, stability, accessibility, and quality of food. This study aimed to explore the impact of climate change on household food security of farming communities in dry zones in Sri Lanka, focusing [...] Read more.
Climate change is a substantial threat to worldwide food security, affecting the supply, stability, accessibility, and quality of food. This study aimed to explore the impact of climate change on household food security of farming communities in dry zones in Sri Lanka, focusing on water resource limitations and agricultural productivity, using a qualitative case study method with 13 cases. The impact of climate change on farming and food security was identified under the key themes of food production and yield, income and economic stability, water resources and management, food availability and access, nutrition quality, and dietary diversity. The findings revealed that climate change can indirectly affect food security by impacting household and personal incomes. It also influences health, access to clean water, and the ability to utilize food effectively. Such climatic changes significantly impact household food security and distinctly affect nutrition quality and dietary diversity, which are identifiable as the primary food security elements. This study suggests moving other income sources to enhance the economic stability of farming households, adopting new farming techniques, organizing government assistance programs, and establishing social safety nets such as food aid programs and financial support for affected households. Such activities will help to address the decline of yield production that is caused by climate change, and will mitigate the effect that climate change has on household food security. It further emphasizes the need to combine modern policy interventions and the existing domestic adaptation framework. This investigation employs a qualitative research method to explore how communities experience actual climate change effects, including water issues and farm failures. It effectively captures and contributes detailed knowledge to the current research on this subject. Full article
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19 pages, 252 KiB  
Perspective
Environmental Humanities South: Decolonizing Nature in Highland Asia
by Dan Smyer Yü, Ambika Aiyadurai, Mamang Dai, Razzeko Delley, Rashila Deshar, Iftekhar Iqbal, Chi Huyen Truong, Bhargabi Das, Mongfing Lepcha, Thinley Dema, Madan Koirala, Zainab Khalid and Zhen Ma
Challenges 2025, 16(2), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/challe16020019 - 26 Mar 2025
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Abstract
We, a group of native scholars based in the Himalayan region, co-author this article to propose an environmental humanities South—concurrently as an Asia-specific interdisciplinary field and a planetary human–nature epistemology of the Global South inextricably entwined with that of the Global North. Framed [...] Read more.
We, a group of native scholars based in the Himalayan region, co-author this article to propose an environmental humanities South—concurrently as an Asia-specific interdisciplinary field and a planetary human–nature epistemology of the Global South inextricably entwined with that of the Global North. Framed in the broader field of planetary health, this article begins with a perspectival shift by reconceptualizing the Global South and the Global North as the Planetary South and the Planetary North for the purpose of laying the epistemological groundwork for two interconnected arguments and subsequent discussions. First, the Planetary South is not merely epistemological, but is at once geographically epistemological and epistemologically geographical. Our debates with the currently dominant epistemologies of the South open up a decolonial conversation with what we call the Australian School of the environmental humanities, the initial seed bank of our interdisciplinary environmental work in Asia’s Planetary South. These multilayered epistemological debates and conversations lead to the second argument that the South and the North relate to one another simultaneously in symbiotic and paradoxical terms. Through these two arguments, the article addresses the conundrum of what we call the “postcolonial continuation of the colonial environmentality” and attempts to interweave the meaningful return of the eroding Himalayan native knowledges of nature with modern scientific findings in a way that appreciates the livingness of the earth and is inclusive of nonwestern environmental worldviews. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planetary Health: From Evidence to Action–Confronting Reality (Including Submissions Associated with the 2024 Planetary Health Summit (PHAM2024))
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