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Sustainability
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Environmental Protection and Sustainable Ecological Engineering Volume II
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Environmental Protection and Sustainable Ecological Engineering Volume II

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 953

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Slobodan B. Mickovski

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Guest Editor
Built Environment Asset Management Centre, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow G4 0BA, UK
Interests: nature-based solutions; ecological engineering; geoenvironmental engineering; environmental civil engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Olavo F. Santos Jr.

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Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Centre of Technology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte-UFRN, Natal, Brazil
Interests: geotechnical engineering; coastal erosion; natural hazards; landslide; slope stability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Alejandro Gonzalez-Ollauri

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Built Environment Asset Management Centre, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow G4 0BA, UK
Interests: ecosystem services; environmental protection; hydro-meteorological risk management; GIS; machine learning; co-design and co-deployment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Jovan Br. Papić

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Civil Enigneering, Ss Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje 1000, Republic of Macedonia
Interests: geoenvironmental engineering; landslides; restoration; green infrastructure; soil erosion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental protection is usually defined as the practice of protecting the natural environment and is undertaken by individuals, groups and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair damage and reverse detrimental trends. In the past few decades, ecological engineering has proven to be a powerful tool for environmental protection. Ecological engineering is known to combine ecology and engineering to predict, design, construct or restore, and manage ecosystems in a manner which integrates human society with its natural environment for the benefit of both. In this respect, this Special Issue aims to bring together science, engineering, and socio-economics related to ecological engineering employed for environmental protection. A multi-disciplinary approach is needed to address the sustainability challenges which lie at the core of and define the scope of this journal.

Authors are invited to submit original research articles and reviews to this Special Issue. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: 

  • Nature-based solutions for environmental protection.
  • Green infrastructure.
  • Soil and water bioengineering techniques for environmental protection.
  • Efficiency of ecological engineering measures.
  • Life-cycle analysis of environmental protection measures.
  • Building information modeling for environmental protection.
  • Geo-environmental engineering.
  • Environmental science.
  • Socio-economic analysis of environmental protection.
  • Co-design and co-creation of environmental protection measures.
  • Geo-hydrological ecoengineering design.
  • Design for resilience.
  • Use of vegetation for environmental protection.
  • Aesthetics drivers for environmental protection.
  • Mitigation of hydro-meteo hazards.
  • Geotechnical engineering.
  • Bio-stabilization and bio-reinforcement of soils.

We look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Prof. Dr. Slobodan B. Mickovski
Prof. Dr. Olavo F. Santos Jr.
Dr. Alejandro Gonzalez-Ollauri
Prof. Dr. Jovan Br. Papić
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. 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

  • environmental protection
  • sustainability
  • ecological engineering
  • green infrastructure
  • nature-based solutions
  • resilience

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Research

18 pages, 3218 KB  
Article
Application of Opalized Tuff as an Aggregate in Lightweight Concrete
by Todorka Samardzioska, Dimitar Goshev and Slobodan B. Mickovski
Sustainability 2026, 18(3), 1547; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18031547 - 3 Feb 2026
Viewed by 666
Abstract
Lightweight concretes have gained great momentum in construction in the last decade, due to the large number of sustainable characteristics and construction advantages associated with them. The sustainability of lightweight concrete depends mainly on the application of sustainable aggregates, such as the amorphous [...] Read more.
Lightweight concretes have gained great momentum in construction in the last decade, due to the large number of sustainable characteristics and construction advantages associated with them. The sustainability of lightweight concrete depends mainly on the application of sustainable aggregates, such as the amorphous opalized tuff, found in large quantities in Eastern Macedonia. It is economically viable, easy to extract from surface mines, and easy to process. The physical, chemical, and mechanical properties, porosity, and water absorption of the tuff as a stone aggregate were examined as the aim of this study, with the objective of assessing its potential application in lightweight concrete. The tuff showed an average bulk density 87.2% lower than that of limestone. The compressive strength of the tested opalized tuff samples was 41.16 MPa, or 48.5% of the average strength of limestone rock (84.88 MPa). Furthermore, three concrete mixes with different aggregates were tested: with 100% limestone, with 50% tuff and 50% limestone, and with 100% tuff. The increase in the amount of tuff in the concrete mix required a larger amount of water, due to the high porosity of the tuff; the high water absorption of the tuff aggregate reduced the consistency of the concrete mix, so the bulk density decreased significantly with increasing tuff content. The concrete with 100% tuff aggregate was 44% lighter than concrete with 100% limestone aggregate, which means that concrete–tuff mixes can be classified as lightweight concrete. Our results further showed that by increasing the amount of opalized tuff aggregate in the concrete, the compressive strength of the hardened concrete decreased. The 50:50 mix showed an average compressive strength of 25.68 MPa at 28 days, i.e., 42% lower than the average compressive strength for limestone concrete (44.27 MPa). The tuff-only mix exhibited a compressive strength of 10.46 MPa that was 76.4% lower than limestone-only concrete. The increase in the amount of tuff in the concrete was shown to reduce the thermal conductivity; i.e., concrete with tuff aggregate showed a thermal conductivity coefficient of 0.3585 W/m·K, which is 5.58 times lower than that of conventional concrete with limestone aggregate. The results from the laboratory analyses provide guidance for the application of the local amorphous opalized tuff as a natural stone and as a filler for producing lightweight mortars and concretes. Every alternative and possibility for its application would contribute to reducing waste, reducing energy consumption in buildings, and thus creating an ecologically safe environment. The application of opalized tuff in lightweight concrete will support green jobs and the circular economy using locally available, alternative material, through reducing transportation emissions and decreasing waste. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Protection and Sustainable Ecological Engineering Volume II)
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