Sustainable Pathways for Vernacular and Heritage-Built Environments
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Tourism, Culture, and Heritage".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 26 November 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: vernacular heritage; sustainability; heritage education; heritage communities; local construction
Interests: traditional architecture; cultural heritage; vernacular construction; heritage conservation; earthen architecture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: traditional building techniques; vernacular heritage; earthen architecture; timber structures; conservation techniques
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Vernacular and heritage-built environments embody extensive material knowledge, bioclimatic logics, and locally rooted practices that offer valuable perspectives for addressing contemporary sustainability challenges. In a context shaped by climate change, energy transitions, urban transformation, and the progressive loss of traditional know-how, strengthening the understanding of these architectural systems is essential to evaluate their adaptive capacities and their relevance for present and future design, conservation, and territorial strategies.
This Special Issue examines the sustainable potential of vernacular and heritage architectures across a wide diversity of geographical and cultural settings, including both urban and rural contexts. Its objective is to explore how traditional materials, passive environmental strategies, energy performance, risk and resilience dynamics, participatory processes, and technological integration contribute to the long-term sustainability of these environments. By emphasising methodological diversity and comparative perspectives, this Issue seeks to advance interdisciplinary dialogue and deepen the study of adaptation, transformation, and continuity within these architectural traditions.
Positioned within the current literature on sustainable heritage management, bioclimatic design, and resilience studies, this Special Issue contributes by bridging fields that are often addressed separately. It highlights the value of vernacular knowledge as an active framework for regenerative and climate-responsive approaches, expanding the conceptual and methodological tools available for understanding and designing more sustainable territorial and architectural futures.
Dr. Fernando Vegas López-Manzanares
Prof. Dr. Camilla Mileto
Dr. Alicia Hueto-Escobar
Dr. David Eduardo Morocho Jaramillo
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
- built heritage
- bioclimatic strategies
- environmental performance
- traditional materials
- urban and rural contexts
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