Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Andrew Kliskey
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Center for Resilient Communities, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-2461, USA
Interests: human response and adaptation to environmental change; spatial methodologies for understanding coupled natural human systems; spatial approaches for representing indigenous and traditional knowledge; social-ecological systems and place-based science

Assist. Prof. Daniel Cronan
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Center for Resilient Communities, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA
Interests: digital representation; landscape planning; implementation of Stormwater Green Infrastructure (SGI) facilities

Assist. Prof. David Griffith
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Center for Resilient Communities, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA
Interests: social-ecological systems science; community-based observing; stakeholder and community engagement

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The engagement of researchers with stakeholders and communities can lead to significant impacts on research outcomes, empowerment of communities to shape their own futures, and the co-creation of knowledge. In the context of food, energy, and water systems (FEWS) research, outcomes and knowledge can affect policy decisions and suggest solutions which, in turn, can have effects on the futures of communities and infrastructure at the landscape scale. As researchers, we are tasked with disseminating both positive and negative externalities to our peers through the use of unbiased and consistent methodologies, but we also must understand and accept that the stakeholders and communities we work with have vested interests in certain outcomes. The purpose of this Special Issue is to explore the intersection of FEWS science and community-engaged research methodologies and, in particular, efforts to understand how FEWS research can explore landscape-scale futures and trajectories of change affecting communities and social–ecological systems.

Prof. Dr. Andrew Kliskey
Assist. Prof. Daniel Cronan
Assist. Prof. David Griffith
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 papers will be 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 1900 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

Alternative futures
Community-based
Food–energy–water systems
Sustainable landscapes
Scenarios
Stakeholder
Community
Social–ecological systems

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Open AccessArticle

Using Comprehensive Scenarios to Identify Social–Ecological Threats to Salmon in the Kenai River Watershed, Alaska

and

Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5490; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105490 - 14 May 2021

Viewed by 344

Abstract

Environmental changes caused by climate change in Alaska pose a serious threat to the food, energy and water systems that support the culturally diverse communities statewide. The fishing industry, watershed managers and other stakeholders struggle with understanding and predicting the rates, magnitude and location of changes occurring in their regions primarily because of the significant range of uncertainty inherent in these changes. With the guidance of stakeholders, we demonstrate a scenario analysis methodology to elucidate the interactions among various components and uncertainties within the food, energy and water systems of the Kenai River Watershed. Alternative scenario analysis provided stakeholders with a venue and process to consider plausible futures in which rates of change in critical uncertainties were modeled to elucidate potential responses. Critical uncertainties ranged from climatic impacts on freshwater systems, to new energy development proposals, to changes in sport and personal use fisheries. Working together, stakeholders developed narratives that reflected different combinations of future uncertainty to guide potential management actions now and in the future. Five scenarios were developed by stakeholders that capture the complex interactions in the Kenai River Watershed as a social–ecological system. This process provides a way for managers and stakeholders to plan for the future in a richer way than extrapolating trends for obvious drivers of change. We present this framework as a platform for integrating climate, landscape and cultural change data into actionable decisions, crafted by stakeholders, to improve future food, energy and water resource management at the watershed scale. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trajectories of Change in Food-Energy-Water Systems: Exploring Futures of Landscape-scale Systems Using Community Engagement Methodologies)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Open AccessArticle

Thinking Big and Thinking Small: A Conceptual Framework for Best Practices in Community and Stakeholder Engagement in Food, Energy, and Water Systems

and

Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2160; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042160 - 17 Feb 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1033

Abstract

Community and stakeholder engagement is increasingly recognized as essential to science at the nexus of food, energy, and water systems (FEWS) to address complex issues surrounding food and energy production and water provision for society. Yet no comprehensive framework exists for supporting best practices in community and stakeholder engagement for FEWS. A review and meta-synthesis were undertaken of a broad range of existing models, frameworks, and toolkits for community and stakeholder engagement. A framework is proposed that comprises situational awareness of the FEWS place or problem, creation of a suitable culture for engagement, focus on power-sharing in the engagement process, co-ownership, co-generation of knowledge and outcomes, the technical process of integration, the monitoring processes of reflective and reflexive experiences, and formative evaluation. The framework is discussed as a scaffolding for supporting the development and application of best practices in community and stakeholder engagement in ways that are arguably essential for sound FEWS science and sustainable management. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trajectories of Change in Food-Energy-Water Systems: Exploring Futures of Landscape-scale Systems Using Community Engagement Methodologies)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Special Issue "Trajectories of Change in Food-Energy-Water Systems: Exploring Futures of Landscape-scale Systems Using Community Engagement Methodologies"

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (2 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI