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Digital Technologies as Enabling Strategies for the Sustainable Transition of Productive Systems

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2025) | Viewed by 1002

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Independent Researcher, Bolzano, Italy
Interests: sustainability; digitalization; circular economy; bio-economy

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy
Interests: agricultural engineering; smart agriculture; farm and forestry mechanization; digitalization; sustainability

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is well known that “technology” has slowly but progressively pervaded our lives. Even in production processes, technology is no longer new, and it cuts across all sectors, from industrial to agro-forestry, to the point of conditioning the personal lives of each and every one of us.

The focus on a more sustainable economy represents awareness on the part of entrepreneurs and their stakeholders.

We are now living in a double transition, dealing with both digital–technological and sustainability needs (often defined as the Twin Transition).  In this era, managing production processes requires a strong ability to revisit business models as well as the concept of production itself to be contextually based on the satisfaction of benefits coming from three different strategies: (a) well-balanced economic, social, and environmental interactions, (b) industrial symbiosis, and (c) circular models.

Digital technologies must first be understood and evaluated in order to support and respect the “DNSH principle”. Indeed, digital technologies can create new challenges that must be consciously taken into account. Therefore, the objective of this Special Issue is to provide an overview of the current state of the art on applied research and best practices regarding the use of digital technologies to support production processes in order to move them towards a more robust "global sustainability" vision as far as companies themselves, their stakeholders, and the social communities as a whole are concerned.

We encourage the presentation of both practical research from case studies and empirical research from any theoretical perspective that falls broadly within one of the following areas:

  • Positive and negative technological and management impacts of digitalization in production systems;
  • Methods to assess and measure the impacts generated by production activities (e.g., including LCA and/or multi-criteria approaches);
  • Social issues still open in the digitalization of production systems;
  • Large or specific implications of regulatory issues, including product/process certification tasks;
  • Needs and tools for certification tasks from an integrated sustainable perspective;
  • Digital twin models to provide planning tools for designing and evaluating integrated sustainability applications;
  • Digital tools to monitor and manage sustainability aspects in current production systems;
  • Any practical case study from different productive sectors;
  • Ways to combine technology, computer science, and biology in biointelligent production systems and processes;
  • The impact of digital technologies on people’s work and their potential to increase inclusion and diversity;
  • Techno-ethical considerations related to the introduction of digital technologies.

Dr. Pasqualina Sacco
Prof. Dr. Fabrizio Mazzetto
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 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 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 digitalization
  • sustainable production systems
  • twin transition

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

34 pages, 4095 KiB  
Article
Integrating LCA and Multi-Criteria Tools for Eco-Design Approaches: A Case Study of Mountain Farming Systems
by Pasqualina Sacco, Davide Don, Andreas Mandler and Fabrizio Mazzetto
Sustainability 2025, 17(14), 6240; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17146240 - 8 Jul 2025
Viewed by 313
Abstract
Designing sustainable farming systems in mountainous regions is particularly challenging because of complex economic, social, and environmental factors. Production models prioritizing sustainability and environmental protection require integrated assessment methodologies that can address multiple criteria and incorporate diverse stakeholders’ perspectives while ensuring accuracy and [...] Read more.
Designing sustainable farming systems in mountainous regions is particularly challenging because of complex economic, social, and environmental factors. Production models prioritizing sustainability and environmental protection require integrated assessment methodologies that can address multiple criteria and incorporate diverse stakeholders’ perspectives while ensuring accuracy and applicability. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and multi-actor multi-criteria analysis (MAMCA) are two complementary approaches that support “eco-design” strategies aimed at identifying the most sustainable options, including on-farm transformation processes. This study presents an integrated application of LCA and MAMCA to four supply chains: rye bread, barley beer, cow cheese, and goat cheese. The results show that cereal-based systems have lower environmental impacts than livestock systems do, although beer’s required packaging significantly increases its footprint. The rye bread chain emerged as the most sustainable and widely preferred option, except under high-climatic risk scenarios. In contrast, livestock-based systems were generally less favorable because of greater impacts and risks but gained preference when production security became a priority. Both approaches underline the need for a deep understanding of production performance. Future assessments in mountain contexts should integrate logistical aspects and cooperative models to enhance the resilience and sustainability of short food supply chains. Full article
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