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Sustainability
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Sustainable Development: Environmental, Social and Economic Pillars of Contemporary Challenges
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Sustainable Development: Environmental, Social and Economic Pillars of Contemporary Challenges

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 988

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Anna Sobczak

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Economics, The Jacob of Paradies University, 66-400 Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland
Interests: renewable energy development and sustainability; green energy; management; enterpreneurship

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable development is no longer just a theoretical concept, but a real challenge shaping contemporary economic, social and environmental processes. The special issue of Sustainable development: environmental, social and economic pillars of contemporary challenges provides a space for interdisciplinary debate on the directions of responsible development in the face of dynamic global changes. I invite authors to co-create a publication covering a wide range of issues - from sustainable entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility and implementation of ESG principles, to energy transformation, renewable energy sources and environmental protection. An important element of the monograph will also be research on sustainable tourism, sustainable logistics and supply chains, the concept of smart city and regional development. I also encourage you to take up topics related to education for sustainable development, health protection and quality of life, sustainable finances and human capital management. The publication aims to integrate various research perspectives and present solutions that can actually support the construction of a resilient, innovative and responsible future.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

  1. Theoretical and conceptual foundations of sustainable development
  2. Entrepreneurship, innovation and business models
  3. CSR, ESG and responsible management
  4. Sustainable tourism and regional development
  5. Education for sustainable development
  6. Sustainable health care and quality of life
  7. Sustainable finance and green economy
  8. Sustainable human resources (HR) management
  9. Sustainable logistics and supply chains
  10. Smart City and sustainable development of cities
  11. Energy, energy transformation and renewable energy
  12. Environmental protection and natural resources management
  13. Public policies and sustainable development management

I look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Dr. Anna Sobczak
Guest Editor

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. 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.

Keywords

  • sustainable development
  • sustainable development goals (SDGs)
  • sustainable tourism
  • environmental protection
  • energy transformation
  • renewable energy sources (RES)
  • corporate social responsibility (CSR)
  • ESG
  • sustainable entrepreneurship
  • sustainable logistics
  • smart city
  • sustainable finance
  • human capital and education

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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36 pages, 4031 KB  
Article
Township-Scale Identification of Social–Ecological System Resilience in a Small Basin: A Case Study of the Erhai Lake Basin
by Lian Liu, Hanshen Li and Yao Wang
Sustainability 2026, 18(10), 4840; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18104840 - 12 May 2026
Viewed by 336
Abstract
Small plateau lake basins are sensitive social–ecological systems in which ecological protection, rural development, and institutional governance are closely intertwined. Therefore, fine-scale resilience assessment is needed to support adaptive basin governance. However, integrated township-scale assessments of social–ecological system resilience in such basins remain [...] Read more.
Small plateau lake basins are sensitive social–ecological systems in which ecological protection, rural development, and institutional governance are closely intertwined. Therefore, fine-scale resilience assessment is needed to support adaptive basin governance. However, integrated township-scale assessments of social–ecological system resilience in such basins remain limited. Taking 13 township-level units in the Dali City portion of the Erhai Lake Basin as a case study, this paper integrates social–ecological system theory with the pressure–state–response framework to construct a 30-indicator resilience evaluation system. It measures social resilience, ecological resilience, and comprehensive social–ecological resilience at four time points from 2010 to 2025, and examines their temporal trends, spatial differentiation, and governance implications. The results show that average social resilience rose from 0.509 to 0.682, ecological resilience from 0.503 to 0.658, and comprehensive resilience from 0.506 to 0.668. Linear mixed-effects modelling confirmed a significant upward trend in comprehensive resilience, with an average increase of 0.053 per five-year interval, while Global Moran’s I indicated weak but consistently positive spatial clustering. However, township-level heterogeneity persisted in improvement magnitude and resilience sources. Neither ecological advantages nor social development alone can sustainably enhance comprehensive resilience; stronger coordination between the two is required. Based on an “ecological protection × social development” matrix, the townships are classified into four types: dual vulnerability, economic priority, ecological priority, and coordinated development. This typology provides a basis for differentiated adaptive governance in ecologically fragile basins. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development: Environmental, Social and Economic Pillars of Contemporary Challenges)
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Review

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37 pages, 3108 KB  
Review
Agroecology in Morocco at a Crossroads: Structural Limits, Transition Constraints, and Pathways for a Water-Resilient Transformation
by Moussa El Jarroudi, Rachid Lahlali and Ghizlane Echchgadda
Sustainability 2026, 18(10), 4860; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18104860 - 13 May 2026
Viewed by 362
Abstract
Background: Agroecology is increasingly discussed as a strategic response to the combined challenges of drought, ecological degradation, and rural vulnerability. In Morocco, this debate has become particularly urgent because agriculture now operates under persistent hydro-climatic stress, declining water availability, and strong territorial disparities [...] Read more.
Background: Agroecology is increasingly discussed as a strategic response to the combined challenges of drought, ecological degradation, and rural vulnerability. In Morocco, this debate has become particularly urgent because agriculture now operates under persistent hydro-climatic stress, declining water availability, and strong territorial disparities between rainfed, irrigated, mountain, and oasis systems. Methods: This article is based on a structured critical review combined with an interpretive bibliometric synthesis of Moroccan and North African literature on agroecology, water stress, agricultural transition, and food-system resilience. The review was organized through conceptual framing, targeted source selection, thematic screening, and integrative synthesis. Results: Morocco is not an agroecological blank slate. Practices compatible with agroecological transition already exist across the country, including crop diversification, legume rotations, crop–livestock integration, biological regulation, organic amendments, and multifunctional production systems. However, previous reviews have mainly documented practices, projects, or sustainability initiatives without fully explaining why these remain weakly connected, poorly scaled, and insufficiently institutionalized under Moroccan conditions. This review shows that the principal barrier is not the absence of relevant practices but the absence of a coherent transition architecture capable of aligning water governance, farm economics, advisory systems, public incentives, territorial differentiation, and market valorization. The Moroccan case reveals a central paradox: agroecology is most necessary precisely where the structural conditions for its adoption are most fragile. To capture this contradiction, the paper proposes the concept of a Hydro-Agroecological Transition Trap, defined as a condition in which worsening water stress simultaneously intensifies the need for agroecological redesign and reduces the ability of farms and institutions to implement it. Conclusions: The manuscript concludes by proposing a six-pillar transition framework for Morocco based on water-smart agroecology, territorially differentiated pathways, participatory innovation, transition finance and risk-sharing, market construction, and multidimensional assessment. The originality of the study lies in shifting the analysis from a shortage of practices to a shortage of transition architecture, thereby contributing to international debates on agroecological scaling under chronic hydro-climatic stress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development: Environmental, Social and Economic Pillars of Contemporary Challenges)
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