Search Results (231)

This study investigates the environmental dimension of sustainable development across fifteen post-Soviet republics in 2022. While sustainability is generally understood as a triadic construct—economic, social, and environmental—this paper isolates the ecological pillar to highlight cross-country differences shaped by industrial legacies, institutional capacity, and governance models. A composite Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is developed using the Mazziotta–Pareto Index (MPI), which captures both average performance and internal consistency across three SDG-related domains: SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). The study adds to existing literature as it includes a non-compensatory composite index and cluster analysis, and in policy terms, it provides a benchmarking system for facilitating ecological transition in the post-Soviet context. The results reveal strong divergence across the region: Baltic countries and Moldova achieve higher scores, reflecting policy convergence with the European Union and stronger environmental institutions, while Central Asian republics lag due to resource dependence, water scarcity, and weaker governance. Geographic cluster analysis corroborates these differences, showing clear spatial patterns of environmental convergence and divergence. Correlation analysis further demonstrates that environmental sustainability is positively associated with GDP per capita, HDI, and life expectancy, while negatively linked with inequality and fertility rates. These findings stress the need for context-sensitive and evidence-based policies, intra-regional cooperation, and integrated governance mechanisms to advance ecological transition in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Full article

In socio-ecological systems, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives play a critical role in enhancing forest multifunctionality, including climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation. However, corporate integration and disclosure related to forests remain limited. Effective and sustainable ESG implementation for forests requires close collaboration among corporations, governments and NGOs. This study applied the resource-based view to identify the resources and capabilities of corporations, governments, and NGOs. The Delphi method was used to capture multi-sector expert opinions on the roles of governments and NGOs in supporting corporate forest-related ESG activities in the Republic of Korea. Through a three-round Delphi survey, consensus was achieved on 11 government roles and 14 NGO roles. The most frequently agreed-upon roles were related to technological and informational resources. Although these roles were linked to similar resource categories, government roles primarily encompassed macro-level and scientific functions, whereas NGO roles emphasized field-specific information and practical capabilities. To enhance the effectiveness of corporate ESG implementation through such collaboration, stakeholders must further develop both the quantity and quality of their resources and capabilities. Furthermore, an institutional structure that ensures balanced stakeholder participation is essential to minimize potential value conflicts. Full article

Mountain regions are increasingly affected by the interplay of climate change, infrastructure stress, and evolving socio-ecological systems, intensifying pressure on both water and energy systems. This systematic review investigates how recent scientific literature addresses the management and integration of water and energy systems in mountainous contexts. Following PRISMA guidelines, 88 peer-reviewed studies from 2022 to 2025 were selected through structured database queries and thematic screening. Two key imbalances emerge. First, a geographical imbalance is evident: while the majority of studies come from Asia, Europe shows a strong record of applied efforts, the Americas are moderately represented, and research from Africa remains scarce. Second, a thematic imbalance: water management research is conceptually and methodologically mature, while energy-focused studies remain limited in number and scope. Efforts toward integrated water–energy management are emerging but are mostly confined to pilot projects or modelling exercises, often lacking systemic framing and institutional support. From these findings, three priority directions are identified: advancing adaptive co-design approaches that link water supply, energy storage, ecological flows, and human demand; harmonizing methods, metrics and cross-regional benchmarks to enhance comparability and transferability; strengthening social and institutional pathways to foster resilient, adaptive water–energy systems in mountain environments. Full article

Knowledge translation (KT) is an essential process in bridging the gap between research evidence and healthcare practice, particularly in community health and primary care settings. In Saudi Arabia, KT is gaining increasing importance as the healthcare system undergoes a major transformation under Saudi Vision 2030 and the new Saudi Model of Care. The new model of care emphasizes the importance of healthy communities and primary care as early elements of healthcare service delivery before reaching the secondary and tertiary healthcare levels. Additionally, healthcare transformation under Saudi Vision 2030 encourages the utilization of evidence and KT to improve healthcare services provided to individuals and enhance the standardization of healthcare delivery. Nonetheless, the application of KT principles in community health and primary care contexts has faced some challenges during the period preceding the establishment of the new Saudi Model of Care. While Saudi Arabia has achieved significant advances in health research and institutional capacity building, KT remains underutilized in local community health initiatives. This narrative review aims to provide a conceptual overview of KT and explore its implications within the contexts of community health and primary care in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the review introduces the key components of KT—evidence synthesis, dissemination, exchange, and application—and examines how these can be implemented in community and primary care contexts. The review emphasizes the necessity of stakeholder engagement, community-based participatory research, and the integration of frameworks such as the knowledge to action and social–ecological models to ensure effective KT in community health settings. Future directions should focus on expanding KT training, promoting its integration across health institutions involved in primary care delivery, and sustaining community health through strong partnerships among academic, governmental, and community stakeholders. Full article

Effective and fair governance of protected areas (PAs) is essential for their ecological and social sustainability, particularly in contexts of high biodiversity and sociopolitical tensions. This study assessed the governance system of the Serranía del Perijá Regional Natural Park (SPRNP) in Colombia using criteria of effectiveness and justice, through a qualitative methodology grounded in thematic analysis. The research was based on semi-structured interviews and a focus group, with intentional coding supported by artificial intelligence using ATLAS.ti 25 software, which enhanced efficiency and pattern recognition in the construction of a semantic network. This AI-assisted coding approach represents an innovative methodological contribution to the qualitative assessment of PA governance. The findings highlight centralized governance, weak community participation, limited institutional presence, and power asymmetries that undermine equity in decision-making. The exclusion of the Yukpa people from the PA declaration process illustrates broader challenges of Indigenous recognition in Latin American governance contexts. Based on these findings, the study proposes three prospective governance scenarios—community-centered, inter-institutional coordination, and public–private articulation—which offer practical pathways for transforming governance. The study concludes that achieving more equitable and inclusive governance requires institutional strengthening, power redistribution, and the recognition of local knowledge. A viable solution may emerge from an adaptive combination of the proposed scenarios. Full article

Background/Objectives: As global aging accelerates, there is a pressing and empirically substantiated demand for integrated and sustainable strategies, as evidenced by the rising prevalence rates of chronic conditions, social isolation, and digital exclusion among older adults worldwide. These factors underscore the urgent need for multidimensional interventions that simultaneously target physical, psychological, and social well-being. The HOPE-FIT (Hybrid Outreach Program for Exercise and Follow-up Integrated Training) model and the SAGE (Senior Active Guided Exercise) program were designed to address this need through a hybrid framework. These programs foster inclusive aging by explicitly bridging digitally underserved groups and mobility-restricted populations into mainstream health promotion systems through tailored exercise, psychosocial support, and smart-home technologies, thereby functioning as a scalable meta-model across healthcare, community, and policy domains. Methods: HOPE-FIT was developed through a formative, multi-phase process grounded in the RE-AIM framework and a Hybrid Type II effectiveness–implementation design. The program combines professional health coaching, home-based and digital exercise routines, Acceptance and Commitment Performance Training (ACPT)-based psychological strategies, and smart-home monitoring technologies. Empirical data from pilot studies, large-scale surveys (N = 1000), and in-depth user evaluations were incorporated to strengthen validity and contextual adaptation. Culturally tailored content and participatory feedback from older adults further informed ecological validity and program refinement. Implementation Strategy/Framework: The theoretical foundation integrates implementation science with behavioral and digital health. The RE-AIM framework guided reach, fidelity, and maintenance planning, while the Hybrid E–I design enabled the concurrent evaluation of effectiveness outcomes and contextual implementation strategies. Institutional partnerships with community centers, public health organizations, and welfare agencies further facilitated the translation of the model into real-world aging contexts. Dissemination Plan: The multi-pronged dissemination strategy includes international symposia, interdisciplinary academic networks, policy briefs, localized community deployment, and secure, authenticated data sharing for reproducibility. This design facilitates evidence-informed policy, empowers practitioners, and advances digital health equity. Ultimately, HOPE-FIT constitutes a scalable and inclusive model that concretely addresses health disparities and promotes active, dignified aging across systems and disciplines. Full article

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) has emerged globally as a governance tool to balance marine conservation and blue economy objectives. While many studies have described the legal and institutional frameworks underpinning MSP, fewer have critically assessed the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in monitoring and evaluation (M&E). This paper integrates a cross-national comparative analysis (Australia, Germany, Seychelles, and England) with a systematic review of the MSP governance literature (2010–2024) to assess how NGO involvement enhances MSP effectiveness. By performing a systematic literature review mapping of 70 peer-reviewed studies, we identify common governance elements and evaluate their links to reported ecological, social, and institutional outcomes. Results show that MSP systems with formal NGO participation—such as Seychelles’ debt-swap initiative and England’s co-managed conservation zones—exhibit higher levels of stakeholder legitimacy and adaptive monitoring. In contrast, centralized systems with limited NGO integration (e.g., Germany) face implementation fragmentation. These findings demonstrate that NGOs play a critical role in strengthening M&E, building cross-scalar coordination, and ensuring policy legitimacy. The study contributes novel insights into the predictive and comparative dimensions of NGO-led MSP frameworks, bridging descriptive governance analysis with outcome-based effectiveness. This study finds that Seychelles’ MSP demonstrates how NGO co-leadership can deliver both ecological and social benefits, while Germany’s federal fragmentation limits effective NGO institutionalization. Australia illustrates the value of integrating NGOs into scientific monitoring, whereas England shows partial but constrained NGO participation in statutory processes. These cross-national findings highlight NGO integration as a key predictor of effective and legitimate MSP outcomes. Full article

This study is based on the theory of social embedding and selects the entrance community of Baoping County in the Giant Panda National Park as a case to explore the five core dimensions of cognitive embedding, relational embedding, structural embedding, institutional embedding, and cultural embedding and their mechanisms of influence on pro-environmental behaviors (mainly the five dimensions discussed). The study constructs a “stimulus—organism—response” (S-O-R) model, introduces two mediating variables, tourism impact perception and place attachment, and conducts empirical analysis based on 326 valid questionnaire responses using structural equation modeling. The results show that all dimensions of social embedding have a significant positive impact on pro-environmental behaviors, but the mechanisms and transmission paths vary. Each dimension indirectly influences pro-environmental behaviors through the chain path of “tourism impact perception → place attachment.” The study reveals the key role of social relationship networks, tourism perception, and emotional belonging in stimulating environmental behaviors and emphasizes the need to systemically enhance residents’ ecological responsibility awareness and action willingness through community co-construction, optimization of tourism benefits, and cultural atmosphere creation. Full article

As digital technology continues to embed and influence everyday life, its social and environmental impacts need to be addressed seriously. This article introduces and clarifies the concept of Ecological Citizenship (EC), defining it as a form of citizenship that extends rights and duties beyond the human social sphere into ecological systems, requiring individuals, communities, and institutions to take responsibility for the environmental consequences of their digital practices. Unlike traditional forms of citizenship tied to legal or territorial boundaries, EC is grounded in shared ecological accountability and civic responsibility. We argue that EC offers a distinctive lens for shaping the evolution of a Sustainable Digital Society (SDS), where digital innovation and sustainability are co-aligned. Through theoretical analysis and case studies, this article examines how EC can support community-based, policy-led, and design-focused approaches towards digital sustainability. We look to highlight ways in which EC can be embedded in digital behaviour, infrastructure, and product design while acknowledging barriers such as the digital divide, unequal resource allocation, and adverse policy settings. This research aims to offer policymakers, technologists, and educators’ pragmatic advice for realising sustainable design, environmental literacy, and universal digital access. The study looks to argue for a more systemic reconsideration of digital development, a consideration which places environmental values at the forefront of technological progress, to ensure that digital transformation is both socially equitable and beneficial to planetary well-being. Full article

Background: Urban loneliness is rising worldwide and is a recognised public-health threat. Nature-Based Social Prescriptions (NBSPs), guided group activities in natural settings, are being piloted in six cities through the EU project RECETAS. However, in new contexts such as Marseille, its implementation is constrained by professionals’ limited knowledge of the concept. Objectives: (i) Exploring how professionals in Marseille (France) conceptualise NBSPs; (ii) Identifying perceived facilitators and barriers to implementing NBSPs among residents facing social isolation and loneliness. Methods: Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with health, social-care, and urban–environment professionals selected via network mapping and snowball sampling. Verbatim transcripts underwent inductive thematic analysis informed by Social Representation Theory, with double coding to enhance reliability. Results: Five analytic themes emerged: (1) a holistic health paradigm linking nature, community, and well-being; (2) stark ecological inequities with limited green-space access in deprived districts; (3) work challenges due to the urgent needs of individuals facing significant socio-economic challenges in demanding contexts; (4) a key tension between a perceived top-down process and a preference for participatory approaches; (5) drivers and obstacles: strong professional endorsement of NBSPs meets significant systemic and institutional constraints. Conclusions: Professionals endorse NBSPs as a promising approach against loneliness, provided programmes tackle structural inequities and adopt participatory governance. Results inform the Marseille RECETAS pilot and contribute to global discussions on environmentally anchored health promotion. Full article

This essay proposes a transdisciplinary framework that positions cooperation as a foundational principle for ecosystem stewardship in the Anthropocene. Drawing from microbial ecology, evolutionary theory, and sustainability science, we argue that cooperation, rather than competition, is a robust and scalable strategy for resilience across biological and institutional systems. In particular, microbial behaviors such as biofilm formation, quorum sensing, and horizontal gene transfer are especially pronounced in extreme environments, where cooperation becomes essential for survival. These strategies serve as functional analogues that illuminate the structural logics of resilience: interdependence, redundancy, distributed coordination, and adaptation. As the Anthropocene progresses toward increasingly extreme conditions, including potential “Hothouse Earth” scenarios driven by climate disruption, such ecological heuristics offer concrete insights into how human institutions can adapt to stress and uncertainty. Rather than reiterating familiar calls for hybrid governance, we use microbial cooperation as a heuristic to reveal the functional architecture already present in many resilient governance practices. These microbial strategies emerging from life in extreme environments demonstrate how interdependence, redundancy, and distributed coordination can create system resilience and sustainability in the long run. By translating microbial survival strategies into institutional design principles, this framework reframes ecosystem stewardship not as a normative ideal, but as an ecological imperative grounded in the evolutionary logic of cooperation. Full article

The transition towards sustainable agri-food systems requires understanding factors influencing innovation adoption across agri-food companies. This systematic literature review, following PRISMA methodology, examines innovation types, their intended purposes, and adoption determinants among worldwide stakeholders. Data were extracted from Scopus and Web of Science databases using rigorous selection criteria, covering publications from January 2014 to January 2025. From 775 initial records, 80 publications were selected for quantitative analysis, of these 74 empirical studies included in qualitative analysis. Innovations were categorized based on ecological, economic, social, and institutional purposes, revealing ecological purpose innovations predominated. Subsequently, adoption factors were classified using the tripartite framework based on extrinsic, intrinsic, and intervening variables. Findings reveal developing regions (Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia) representing 65% of studies. Agriculture sector dominated research attention, with cereals as the most investigated value chain, reflecting their fundamental role in global food security and nutrition. Analysis demonstrates that adoption decisions result from complex interactions between external structural conditions, individual psychological factors, and support mechanisms. Results underscore the context-dependent nature of innovation adoption and the need for context-sensitive, multi-stakeholder approaches facilitating sustainable and digital food system transformations. Full article

Since the onset of gas extraction in Groningen province, the Netherlands, more than 1700 earthquakes have taken place. This has resulted in damage to properties and safety issues for almost 28,000 buildings. As a result, an extensive reinforcement and damage repair operation started, due to which, many residents were temporarily relocated. Although the need for compensation and restoration was recognized from 2012, recent years are characterized by unclear and shifting responsibilities, bureaucratic complexities, and evolving compensation standards, leading to disparity and a further escalation of social impacts. This paper examines developments in the case from 2015 onwards, when the last overview article on this case was published. We observe that even after a decade of compensation efforts, many residents experience loss of trust in the government and endure chronic stress that impacts their well-being, family dynamics, and overall quality of life. We analyze the government-led mitigation and compensation system that in essence fails to address the grievances of local people. Even after broad recognition of the flawed system, the parliament did not fundamentally change it. In nine lessons, we underscore the global imperative for robust social impact assessments, ongoing social monitoring, and well-coordinated compensation frameworks. This is not only crucial to address socio-ecological distress, but also to build more accountable and sustainable institutional responses to future extraction endeavors. Full article

This article examines shifting practices of commoning among the Jola in the Casamance region of Senegal. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and a theoretical background of New Institutional Political Ecology as well as commoning, it explores how a collective social security system formed through collectively labored rice fields is increasingly strained by socio-economic pressures and environmental change. While migration due to environmental change is often cited as a primary cause for labor shortages in the rice fields, the study highlights deeper transformations linked to a powerful naturalist ontology leading to deagrarianization. Newly formed systems of solidarity, such as the association Servir Bubajum Áyii, adapt persisting commoning principles to contemporary needs, maintaining commoning principles rooted in pre-colonial commons and support mechanisms with values such as discretion and dignity despite the changes. Full article

Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) is intensifying in Japan, driven by complex socio-ecological changes. While the Social–Ecological Systems (SES) framework offers a valuable analytical tool, standard applications often fail to capture the crucial cultural specificities, demographic pressures, and institutional dynamics that define the Japanese context. This paper addresses these limitations by conducting a scoping review of academic and policy literature in order to synthesize the evidence needed to develop a culturally and institutionally attuned adaptation of the SES framework. The review’s findings confirm that profound demographic change (kaso and kōreika), unique institutional arrangements (the Ryōyūkai crisis), deep-seated cultural values, and asymmetric power relations are core systemic drivers of HWC, not external factors. Building on this evidence, we propose a theoretically grounded adapted framework that internalizes these factors as endogenous variables. The resulting framework serves as a more robust diagnostic tool for understanding and navigating HWC in Japan. It facilitates the identification of context-specific leverage points and offers a transferable methodological model for adapting SES analysis to other culturally distinct and rapidly changing societies. Full article