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World
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Regional Sustainability Transitions: Economic Pathways, Policy Innovations, and Institutional Resilience
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Regional Sustainability Transitions: Economic Pathways, Policy Innovations, and Institutional Resilience

A special issue of World (ISSN 2673-4060).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 2376

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Akm Mohsin

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Business and Management, Logistikum, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, 4400 Steyr, Austria
Interests: sustainability transitions; regional economics; policy innovation; institutional resilience; green growth; decarbonization
Prof. Dr. Markus Gerschberger

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Business and Management, Logistikum, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, 4400 Steyr, Austria
Interests: regional sustainability transitions; sustainable supply chain policy and regulation; regional economic resilience; decarbonization strategies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As the global community moves closer to achieving carbon neutrality, regional systems are assuming an increasingly decisive role in shaping sustainable transformation. Global frameworks such as the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement provide overarching direction, but the realization of sustainability goals ultimately depends on how effectively these ambitions are translated into regional economic structures and institutional practices. Persistent differences in innovation capacity, policy implementation, and institutional coordination continue to challenge the achievement of inclusive and balanced sustainability transitions. Many regions face the dual challenge of fostering innovation while addressing structural constraints such as limited fiscal resources, skill gaps, and weak policy integration. Strengthening regional institutions, enhancing coordination among stakeholders, and supporting localized innovation ecosystems are therefore vital to promoting equitable and resilient regional growth. Understanding how economic, policy, and governance mechanisms interact to enhance resilience at the regional level is fundamental to achieve balanced, efficient, and sustainable regional development.

This Special Issue aims to bring together interdisciplinary research that deepens understanding of regional sustainability transitions by examining the economic pathways, policy frameworks, and institutional mechanisms that drive or constrain sustainable transformation. The Issue directly aligns with the scope of Sustainability, addressing the intersection of regional economics, policy innovation, and governance for sustainable development across diverse territorial contexts. We particularly welcome studies that explore how regional economies adapt to the challenges of decarbonization, industrial restructuring, and social inclusion. Conceptual, empirical, and comparative analyses are encouraged to identify the enabling conditions, trade-offs, and policy instruments that support low-carbon industrial growth, circular economy development, and institutional resilience. The aim is to advance actionable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers working toward balanced and equitable sustainability transitions.

In this Special Issue, we welcome original research articles, conceptual papers, comprehensive reviews, and comparative case studies that contribute to the understanding of regional sustainability transitions. Contributions may adopt quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method approaches and are expected to provide strong policy or managerial implications. Research areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following themes:

  • Economic and industrial pathways that drive regional sustainability transitions
  • Policy innovations and governance models for circular and low-carbon regional economies
  • Institutional capacity building and multi-level coordination for sustainable transformation
  • Regional innovation systems, smart specialization, and technological diffusion for green growth
  • Sustainable infrastructure, logistics, and supply chain integration in regional transitions
  • Environmental taxation, green finance mechanisms, and investment strategies supporting regional development.
  • Data-driven evaluation frameworks and modeling tools for assessing transition dynamics
  • Labor market adaptation, social inclusion, and equity in sustainable regional policy
  • Comparative analyses of regional policy performance and sustainability outcomes across countries or sectors

We look forward to receiving your contributions and fostering a dynamic exchange among scholars, policymakers, and practitioners dedicated to advancing sustainable regional transformation.

Dr. Akm Mohsin
Prof. Dr. Markus Gerschberger
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. World is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 1200 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

  • regional sustainability transitions
  • regional economics
  • economic pathways
  • policy innovation
  • institutional resilience
  • governance
  • circular economy
  • green growth
  • sustainable infrastructure
  • regional policy

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

43 pages, 3265 KB  
Article
Latent Regimes in Sustainability Transitions: How Digital Connectivity and Governance Quality Shape Development Trajectories
by Oksana Liashenko, Dmytro Harapko, Olena Mykhailovska, Ihor Chornodid, Nadiia Pysarenko and Dmytro Horban
World 2026, 7(4), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/world7040053 - 24 Mar 2026
Viewed by 744
Abstract
Global progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains critically off track, with current trends indicating that only 17% of targets will be met by the deadline. As sustainability transitions increasingly depend on regional and institutional capacity, understanding heterogeneous transition pathways and [...] Read more.
Global progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains critically off track, with current trends indicating that only 17% of targets will be met by the deadline. As sustainability transitions increasingly depend on regional and institutional capacity, understanding heterogeneous transition pathways and resilience across territorial contexts is essential. This study investigates whether observed divergence in SDG performance reflects temporary setbacks or persistent structural regimes characterised by distinct institutional and technological configurations. Using panel data from over 160 countries (2019–2024), we employ annual latent class analysis to identify hidden structures in SDG performance across 15 goals, introducing intertemporal volatility as a dimension of development dynamics. We complement this with ordered logistic regression to examine structural determinants of regime membership, including governance quality, digital infrastructure, health investment, and macroeconomic indicators. Our analysis identifies three temporally stable development regimes—lagging, transitional, and leading—with fewer than 15% of countries transitioning between classes over the observation period. ANOVA results reveal that internet access and government effectiveness exhibit the most substantial between-regime differences. Ordered logit models indicate that governance quality and digital connectivity are the strongest correlates of regime membership (government effectiveness: β = 0.943, p < 0.001; internet penetration: β = 0.049, p < 0.001), whereas short-term GDP growth exerts negligible influence (p > 0.10). These findings challenge assumptions of linear convergence in sustainable development and provide a data-driven framework for evaluating transition dynamics across diverse territorial contexts. The results suggest that achieving the SDGs requires that deep structural constraints be addressed—particularly digital divides and institutional quality—through regionally targeted policy design rather than relying solely on incremental adjustments or economic growth. The identified regimes provide a basis for place-based targeting by distinguishing contexts where governance and digital capacity constraints are binding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regional Sustainability Transitions: Economic Pathways, Policy Innovations, and Institutional Resilience)
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17 pages, 431 KB  
Article
Institutional Resilience and Democratic Sustainability in Post-Transition Europe: Lessons from Romania and Central-Eastern Europe
by Cristian Pîrvulescu
World 2026, 7(1), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/world7010007 - 9 Jan 2026
Viewed by 1117
Abstract
This paper conceptualizes institutional resilience as a core condition of democratic sustainability in post-transition Europe. Building on neo-institutionalist approaches and recent scholarship on democratic resilience, we argue that democracies endure when three capacities align: policy coherence, procedural legitimacy, and civic/monitory participation. Using a [...] Read more.
This paper conceptualizes institutional resilience as a core condition of democratic sustainability in post-transition Europe. Building on neo-institutionalist approaches and recent scholarship on democratic resilience, we argue that democracies endure when three capacities align: policy coherence, procedural legitimacy, and civic/monitory participation. Using a comparative, theory-guided design, we analyze Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia (2007–2025), triangulating V-Dem/Eurostat indicators with documentary evidence (EU Rule of Law reports, CEPEJ) and interpretive analysis. Romania illustrates “reactive resilience” anchored in judicial independence and civic vigilance; Slovakia shows “restorative resilience” after corruption scandals; Poland exhibits “societal compensatory resilience,” where civic mobilization offsets institutional regression; Hungary demonstrates “instrumental resilience without democracy,” combining administrative capacity with normative decay. We integrate these findings into a three-dimensional model—institutional, normative, and communicative—showing how feedback loops convert crisis into learning. The paper concludes that sustainable democracy depends less on constitutional design alone and more on the institutionalization of learning: redundant veto points, impartial procedures that generate trust, and a monitory public sphere that sustains continuous accountability. For EU policy, the shift from conditionality to capacity (e.g., RRF) can foster endogenous resilience when supranational norms are domestically internalized rather than externally imposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regional Sustainability Transitions: Economic Pathways, Policy Innovations, and Institutional Resilience)
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