Transforming Rural Landscapes: Resilience, Innovation, and Sustainability for the Future

Dear Colleagues,

Territories around the world are confronted with exceptional challenges stemming from climate change, population dynamics, economic transformation, and environmental deterioration. Such pressures require novel strategies for territorial planning and management that reconcile resilience with sustainability, harmonising ecological constraints with social justice and economic feasibility. Contemporary research emphasises the pressing need for comprehensive approaches that tackle territorial fragilities whilst promoting adaptive capabilities across different spatial dimensions, ranging from rural settlements to urban–metropolitan areas.

This Special Issue seeks to compile papers (both original research and review articles) that provide perspectives on approaches, methods, and empirical examples promoting resilient and sustainable territorial development. We invite contributions examining climate adaptation strategies, transformations in land use towards sustainability, nature-based interventions, collaborative governance frameworks, and comprehensive risk management models. Areas of particular interest encompass rural–urban connections, the incorporation of ecosystem services, territorial systems of innovation, the conservation of cultural landscapes, sustainable tourism planning, and community-led adaptation initiatives.

Thus, this Special Issue corresponds with Land’s multidisciplinary remit by investigating how territorial planning, land governance, and sustainable resource stewardship converge to foster more resilient socio-ecological systems. We especially welcome submissions showcasing novel methodological approaches, cross-territorial comparative studies, and practical implementations that connect scientific evidence with policy application. Through assembling state-of-the-art research, this compilation aspires to enhance theoretical knowledge whilst offering practical orientation for practitioners, decision-makers, and communities pursuing sustainable territorial pathways.

We welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:

• Agri-food systems, forestry, and circular economy;
• Climate transitions, landscapes, and environment;
• Social vulnerabilities and opportunities underlying the rural transformations: communities, cultures, and identities;
• Social and spatial inequalities in rural areas;
• The role of creative villages in sustainability in rural territories;
• Impact of tourism, heritage, and creative economies on rural areas;
• Governance and planning in rural areas;
• Rural–urban dynamics;
• Changes in rural areas facing the complexity of new challenges;
• Digital transition, innovation, and rural infrastructures;
• New theory and methods in research on rural areas;
• Sustainable Development Goals and synergies for rural areas.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Prof. Dr. Hossein Azadi
Prof. Dr. André Samora-Arvela
Dr. Paula Remoaldo
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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.

• regional resilience
• sustainable development
• climate adaptation
• rural–urban linkages
• socio-ecological systems
• rural innovation