Sustainable Community Development Based on Transdisciplinary Integration of Natural Resource Management Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable management practices of diverse natural resources are embedded in complex social–ecological systems with potentials of trade-offs and opportunities for synergies. Integrations of multiple approaches for monitoring, managing, and enhancing status of natural resources are required coupled with community developments, improved capacities of collective actions, and governance and institutional arrangements to promote sustainable and equitable natural resource managements in the era of drastic and unpredictable social–ecological transitions. Transdisciplinary research enables integration of various knowledge types emerging from academia and among societal actors. Such collaborative approaches are fundamental to designing collective actions, interventions, and policy implementations to achieve sustainability of resources, and eventually to transform the social–ecological systems toward sustainable directions through contributions to the targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, transdisciplinary approaches are highly context dependent. Particularly when applied to natural resource management and community development, socio-cultural, historical, political, economic as well as organizational conditions impact the design, implementation, and outcomes of transdisciplinary research.

We are pleased to invite your contributions in the forms of theories, methodologies, qualitative and quantitative analyses, concept papers, case studies, and other types of creative research approaches in the studies of integrated natural resource managements in this Special Issue.  The Special Issue aims to open a new window to integrate diverse approaches addressing sustainability of individual natural resources, as well as to create platforms and mechanisms of cross-cutting management efforts across different categories of natural resources by identifying leverage points to create synergies among practices targeting different resources.  We are particularly interested in gathering contributions from around the world that take a critical and culturally sensitive approach to their own research. The collection of contributions in this Special Issue will certainly provide the readers with new insights to integrate fragmented resource management practices into wholistic and integrated approaches to tackle with the complexities and uncertainties associated with natural resource managements to co-create sustainable futures.

In this Special Issue, original research articles are welcome, both quantitative and qualitative, including descriptions of ground-breaking case studies in the form of narratives with empirical verifications.  The contributions of original reviews regarding cutting-edge approaches in integrated natural resource managements are highly appreciated. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following: agricultural and land resources, agroecology, water, fisheries resources, forests, agroforestry, tourism resources, protected areas, ecosystem-based approaches, human well-being, and integrated approaches for synergistic management of different resources.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Tetsu Sato
Prof. Dr. Ulli Vilsmaier
Prof. Dr. Daud Kassam
Prof. Dr. Mitsutaku Makino
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-anonymized 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.