Agriculture, Food, and Environment: Farming, Food Systems and Landscape Planning towards Healthy and Environmentally Friendly Productions

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few decades, growing emphasis has been placed on the need for a comprehensive multi-actor strategy to tackle the challenges that our planet has to face from an environmental point of view. Since the launch of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (205), embedded in the conceptual–operational framework stemming from the 1992 Rio Conference, a variegated repertoire of actions, policies, and programs at different scales have been supporting environmental, social, and economic sustainability in a cohesive, integrated, and measurable way.

In the context of a global-scale environmental degradation, in terms of loss of biodiversity and growing anthropic rates, sustainability has become a blueprint in several territorial agendas, particularly in those sectors directly involved in environmental protection, such as agriculture, food production, and landscape planning.

The aim of this Special Issue is to explore research perspectives and scientific approaches put forward to identify current challenges for achieving a more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient future, by harmonizing the three main pillars of economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection. The main research topics include:

-    Sustainable natural resource management;

-    Sustainable agriculture;

-    Ecosystem services and rural–urban connections;

-    Landscape protection and planning;

-    Territorial food systems;

-    Bioeconomy, circular economy.

This Special Issue is also open for the publication of original articles that report results obtained from experimental degree theses conducted at the Department of Agriculture, Food, and Environment (Di3A) of the University of Catania (Sicily, Italy). The Di3A (https://www.di3a.unict.it/en) “aims to support and enhance sustainability, efficiency and productivity in agriculture, food production and environment protection, particularly in the Mediterranean basin, through impactful cutting-edge research and high-level education”.

The objective is to demonstrate the importance of transferring scientific knowledge in teaching activities to train technicians who have the skills to carry out their work according to the paradigm of sustainability.

Prof. Dr. Simona M. C. Porto
Prof. Dr. Agatino Russo
Dr. Teresa Graziano
Guest Editors

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