Preface of the 11th World Sustainability Forum (WSF11) ^†

1. Introduction

The 11th World Sustainability Forum (WSF11) was held from 2 to 3 October 2025 in Barcelona, Spain.

The conference aimed to serve as a catalyst for urban resilience and environmental sustainability, with a clear focus on forging partnerships and harnessing innovation to develop novel solutions for today’s most pressing sustainability challenges. It provided a platform for translating ideas and visions into concrete actions, enabling measurable progress in ecology, sustainability, and environmental development.

2. Conference Committees

• Dr. José Luis Domínguez-García, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research IREC, Barcelona, Spain;
• Prof. Dr. Ricardo García Mira, Department of Psychology, University of A Coruna, A Coruña, Spain;
• Dr. Jorge García Ivars, Innovation Unit at AINIA, Paterna, Spain;
• Dr. Sara González García, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain;
• Dr. Francisco Javier Andrades Pena, Department of Finance and Accounting, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain;
• Prof. Dr. Assunta Di Vaio, Department of Law, University of Naples Parthenope, Naples, Italy;
• Prof. Mariarosaria Lombardi, Department of Economics, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy;
• Prof. Silvia Fiore, Department of Environmental, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Polytechnic University of Turin, Turin, Italy;
• Prof. Salvador García-Ayllón Veintimilla, Department of Mining and Civil Engineering, Polytechnic University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain;
• Dr. Shervin Hashemi, Institute for Environmental Research, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea;
• Prof., Federica Cucchiella, Department of Industrial and Information Engineering & Economics, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy;
• Dr. Muhammad Abdul Qyyum, Department of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering (PCED), College of Engineering, al-Seeb, Oman;
• Prof. Idiano D’Adamo, Department of Computer, Automatic and Management Enginnering. Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy;
• Prof. Andrew Kusiak, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Iowa, Iowa, USA;
• Prof. Andrea Nicolini, Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy;
• Professor Behnam Mohammadi-Ivatloo, Department of Electrical Engineering, LUT University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland;
• Prof. Dr. Kiran Sood, Chitkara Business School, Chitkara University, Punjab, India;
• Dr. Tommy Wijaya, School of Mathematical Sciences, Beijing Normal University, China;
• Dr. Michele Filippo Fontefrancesco, Department of Sociology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy;
• Prof. Dr. Ivo Machar, Palacký University, Faculty of Science, Czech Republic;
• Prof. Dr. Alexandru-Ionuț Petrișor, Doctoral School of Urban Planning, “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning, Romania;
• Dr. Rachid Oucheikh, Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Sweden;
• Dr. Teresa Albuquerque, Research Centre for Natural Resources, Environment and Society (CERNAS)—Polytechnic University of Castelo Branco, Castelo Branco, Portugal;
• Dr. Andres Annuk, Institute of Forestry and Engineering, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonia;
• Dr. Yifu Ou, School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, Heriot-Watt University, UK;
• Dr. Moaaz Kabil, Faculty of Urban and Regional Planning, Cairo University, Egypt;
• Dr. Aleksandra Rybak, Department of Physical Chemistry and Technology of Polymers, Faculty of Chemistry, Silesian University of Technology, Poland;
• Prof. Dr. Huantian Cao, Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies at the University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA;
• Dr. Slađana Popović, Department of Algology and Mycology, Institute of Botany and Botanical Garden “Jevremovac”, University of Belgrade, Serbia;
• Prof. Dr. Filiz Bektaş Balçık, Geomatics Engineering Department, İstanbul Technical University, Turkey;
• Dr. Evangelia Karasmanaki, Department of Forestry and Environmental and Natural Resources Management, Democritus University of Thrace, Orestiada, Greece;
• Prof. Max Stephenson, School of Public and International Affairs, Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance, Virginia, USA;
• Dr. Simona Azzali, Department of Architecture, Canadian University Dubai, Dubai, UAE;
• Dr. Javier Domínguez Bravo, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambiental y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT) Science, Innovacion and Universities Ministery, Spain.

3. Conference Sessions

The conference included six sessions:

• S1. Emerging Technologies Implementation for Sustainable and Resilient Cities and Communities;
• S2. Sustainable Reporting and Communication in the Private and Public Sector;
• S3. Climate Change and Socio-Ecological Systems;
• S4. Sustainable Urban Landscape;
• S5. Circular Economy;
• S6. Renewable Energy.

4. Conference Speakers

4.1. Keynote Speakers

• Prof. Dr. Cosimo Magazzino, Roma Tre University, Sapienza-University of Rome, Rome, Italy: “Economic Slowdowns and Green Outcomes: Testing the Environmental Phillips Curve in Advanced Economies”.
• Prof. Dr. Weiqi Zhou, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China: “A scaling law for predicting urban tree canopy cooling efficiency”.
• Prof. Dr. Adel Ben Youssef, Université Côté d’Azur, Nice, France: “Integrating Industry 4.0 with sustainability: Opportunities, challenges, and contemporary debates”.
• Prof. Dr. Federica Farneti, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy: “Sustainability reporting in private and public sector organisations”.
• Prof. Dr. Sara Gonzalez Garcia, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain: “Loops of Change: How Dairy Waste Can Power the Circular Bioeconomy”.
• Dr. Cor Schipper, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Utrecht, The Netherlands: “Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity”.
• Prof. Dr. Jim Lynch, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK: “Sustainability of Life in a Changing Climate”.
• Prof. Dr. Brian D. Fath, Towson University, Towson, MD, USA: “Sustainability: a configuration of autocatalytic processes”.

4.2. Invited Speakers

• Dr. Tommaso Caloiero, National Research Council of Italy—Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection (CNR-IRPI), Rende, Italy: “Climate Change in Calabria: Evidence, Challenges, and Strategies for Resilient and Sustainable Communities”.
• Prof. Dr. Donatella Valente, University of Salente, Lecce, Italy: “The fragility of special areas of conservation to enhance habitat resilience”.
• Prof. Philipp Aerni, Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, Zurich, Switzerland: “esg2go: a way to improve coherence, credibility and practicality of sustainability ratings for SMEs”.
• Prof. Cristina Baglivo, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy: “Towards Sustainable Buildings: Climate Impacts and Energy Demand Assessment”.
• Prof. Lucia Della Spina, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Italy.

5. MDPI Sustainability Foundation Awards

5.1. The World Sustainability Award

• Dr. Stuart Pimm, Professor of Conservation at Duke University, is a leading authority on biodiversity and the prevention of extinctions. As founder of the non-profit Saving Nature, he channels carbon offset donations into restoring degraded tropical habitats. With nearly 400 scientific papers and numerous prestigious awards, Pimm’s work spans continents, including decades of conservation efforts in Africa.
• Dr. Abdelbagi M. Ismail is a Principal Scientist and Regional Director for Africa with over 30 years of experience in crop improvement for climate resilience, focusing on stress-prone environments affected by floods, drought, and poor soils. He has led major regional programs advancing stress-tolerant varieties and system-based farming approaches, with significant impact across Asia and Africa. A prolific researcher with over 270 publications, he has held key leadership roles and is widely recognized for his contributions to agricultural science and development.

5.2. The Emerging Sustainability Leader Award

• Prof. Dr. Vhahangwele Masindi is a Distinguished Professor at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in South Africa. He is a goal-driven water treatment solution innovator and implementer with vast experience in integrated water resource management. His research focus is mostly focused on water security, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainability. He has developed, piloted, and implemented various technologies in waste (water) treatment and valorization. His premier goal is to foster circular economy, zero-liquid emission systems, closed-loop systems, and waste beneficiation and valorization in water and wastewater management and treatment. He endeavors to inspire circularity, ecological sustainability, and green initiatives in waste (water) treatment using prudent, novel, robust, and pragmatic solutions in the water sector. His groundbreaking scientific research and technologies are a panacea to tackling the issues of climate change and water security at a global scale with a quest to foster and drive the global agenda of enhancing water security for all.
• Prof. Dr. Myriam Ertz is a Full Professor of Marketing at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi, Director of LaboNFC, Canada Research Chair in Technology, Sustainability, and Society, co-responsible for the Research Network on the Circular Economy of Quebec (RRECQ) and associate editor of several journals (Frontiers in Psychology, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, and Frontiers in Sustainability). Recipient of MDPI’s Social Sciences 2020 Young Investigator Award and the University of Quebec’s 2022 Research Succession Award, she is also a Fellow of the College of the Royal Society of Canada, and has published over 100 articles and developed managerial tools with (inter)national academic and business partners to promote product lifetime extension, responsible marketing, pro-environmental behavior, and sustainable digitalization.