Search Results (90)

This study presents the scientific and methodological foundation of Spain’s first national framework for the ethical management of community cat populations: the Action Plan for the Management of Community Cat Colonies (PACF), launched in 2025 under the mandate of Law 7/2023. This pioneering legislation introduces a standardized, nationwide obligation for trap–neuter–return (TNR)-based management of free-roaming cats, defined as animals living freely, territorially attached, and with limited socialization toward humans. The PACF aims to support municipalities in implementing this mandate through evidence-based strategies that integrate animal welfare, biodiversity protection, and public health objectives. Using standardized data submitted by 1128 municipalities (13.9% of Spain’s total), we estimated a baseline population of 1.81 million community cats distributed across 125,000 colonies. These data were stratified by municipal population size and applied to national census figures to generate a model-ready demographic structure. We then implemented a stochastic simulation using Vortex software to project long-term population dynamics over a 25-year horizon. The model integrated eight demographic–environmental scenarios defined by a combination of urban–rural classification and ecological reproductive potential based on photoperiod and winter temperature. Parameters included reproductive output, mortality, sterilization coverage, abandonment and adoption rates, stochastic catastrophic events, and territorial carrying capacity. Under current sterilization rates (~20%), our projections indicate that Spain’s community cat population could surpass 5 million individuals by 2050, saturating ecological and social thresholds within a decade. In contrast, a differentiated sterilization strategy aligned with territorial reproductive intensity (50% in most areas, 60–70% in high-pressure zones) achieves population stabilization by 2030 at approximately 1.5 million cats, followed by a gradual long-term decline. This scenario prioritizes feasibility while substantially reducing reproductive output, particularly in rural and high-intensity contexts. The PACF combines stratified demographic modeling with spatial sensitivity, offering a flexible framework adaptable to local conditions. It incorporates One Health principles and introduces tools for adaptive management, including digital monitoring platforms and standardized welfare protocols. While ecological impacts were not directly assessed, the proposed demographic stabilization is designed to mitigate population-driven risks to biodiversity and public health without relying on lethal control. By integrating legal mandates, stratified modeling, and realistic intervention goals, this study outlines a replicable and scalable framework for coordinated action across administrative levels. It exemplifies how national policy can be operationalized through data-driven, territorially sensitive planning tools. The findings support the strategic deployment of TNR-based programs across diverse municipal contexts, providing a model for other countries seeking to align animal welfare policy with ecological planning under a multi-level governance perspective. Full article

Machine learning (ML) has established itself as an innovative tool in sustainable forest management, essential for tackling critical challenges such as deforestation, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Through the analysis of large volumes of data from satellites, drones, and sensors, machine learning facilitates everything from precise forest health assessments and real-time deforestation detection to wildfire prevention and habitat mapping. Other significant advancements include species identification via computer vision and predictive modeling to optimize reforestation and carbon sequestration. Projects like SILVANUS serve as practical examples of this approach’s success in combating wildfires and restoring ecosystems. However, for these technologies to reach their full potential, obstacles like data quality, ethical issues, and a lack of collaboration between different fields must be overcome. The solution lies in integrating the power of machine learning with ecological expertise and local community engagement. This partnership is the path forward to preserve biodiversity, combat climate change, and ensure a sustainable future for our forests. Full article

In June 2025, a two-year-old female brown bear (Ursus arctos) appeared in the streets of Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania. This sparked significant public, institutional, and media responses. This paper analyzes the event through ecological, social, and symbolic lenses to explore how large carnivores are perceived and managed at the wildland–urban interface. Through an examination of media reports, policy responses, and theoretical perspectives from environmental sociology and narrative studies, we explore how the bear’s presence became a public safety concern and a culturally significant symbol. Public discourse revealed tensions between institutional authority and local ethical values, as evidenced by hunters’ refusal to carry out a kill permit. This case also illustrates the growing use of technology, such as drones, in urban wildlife management. The bear’s peaceful departure reinforced the effectiveness of nonlethal conflict resolution. This case underscores the importance of integrating ecological realities with social perceptions, media framing, and symbolic interpretations in large carnivore conservation. It emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary approaches that address the emotional and cultural aspects of human–wildlife interactions in rapidly urbanizing areas. Full article

Deep-sea mining presents a critical sustainability paradox; it offers access to essential minerals for the technologies of the green transition (e.g., batteries, wind turbines, electric vehicles) yet threatens fragile marine ecosystems. As the terrestrial sources of these materials face mounting geopolitical, environmental, and ethical constraints, undersea deposits are increasingly being viewed as alternatives. However, the extraction technologies remain unproven at large scales, posing risks related to biodiversity loss, sediment disruption, and altered oceanic carbon cycles. This paper explores how deep-sea mining might be reconciled with sustainable development, arguing that its viability hinges on addressing five interdependent challenges—technological readiness, environmental protection, economic feasibility, robust governance, and social acceptability. Progress requires parallel advancements across all domains. This paper reviews the current knowledge of deep-sea resources and extraction methods, analyzes the ecological and sociopolitical risks, and proposes systemic solutions, including the implementation of stringent regulatory frameworks, technological innovation, responsible terrestrial sourcing, and circular economy strategies. A precautionary and integrated approach is emphasized to ensure that the securing of critical minerals does not compromise marine ecosystem health or long-term sustainability objectives. Full article

This study explores the role of public theology in addressing contemporary societal challenges, emphasizing ethical dialogue in response to secularization, pluralism, technological transformation, and social and environmental issues. It situates pastoral theology in the Christian tradition as an active social practice aimed at promoting justice, equality, and the common good. The study highlights the emergence of public theology as a response to the participation of religious discourse in the public arena, considering communication and digital technology, and articulating theological reflection with real-world social issues. Additionally, it examines the profound significance of dialogue within religious discourse and stresses the importance of ethical reflection in technological advancements, particularly concerning AI (Artificial Intelligence). Moreover, Catholic social thought and the concept of integral ecology are analyzed in dialogue with the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), underlining the potential of public theology to promote socio-environmental justice through a holistic approach. Full article

The growing recognition of animal sentience has led to notable progress in European Union animal welfare legislation. However, a significant inconsistency remains: while mammals, birds, and cephalopods are legally protected as sentient beings, honeybees (Apis mellifera)—despite robust scientific evidence of their cognitive, emotional, and sensory complexity—are excluded from such protections. This manuscript examines, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the divergence between emerging evidence on invertebrate sentience and current EU legal frameworks. Honeybees and cephalopods serve as comparative case studies to assess inconsistencies in the criteria for legal recognition of sentience. Findings increasingly confirm that honeybees exhibit advanced cognitive functions, emotional states, and behavioral flexibility comparable to those of legally protected vertebrates. Their omission from welfare legislation lacks scientific justification and raises ethical and ecological concerns, especially given their central role in pollination and ecosystem stability. In general, we advocate for the inclusion of Apis mellifera in EU animal welfare policy. However, we are aware that there are also critical views on their introduction, which we address in a dedicated paragraph of the manuscript. For this reason, we advocate a gradual and evidence-based approach, guided by a permanent observatory, which could ensure that legislation evolves in parallel with scientific understanding, promoting ethical consistency, sustainable agriculture, and integrated health under the One Health framework. This approach would meet the concerns of consumers who consider well-being and respect for the environment as essential principles of breeding, and who carefully choose products from animals raised with systems that respect welfare, with indisputable economic advantages for the beekeeper. Full article

This study investigates how human will is articulated, negotiated, and reimagined within the discourses about Shamanism of Northeast China, with a particular focus on user-generated content from the Douyin platform (Chinese TikTok). Drawing on the data collected from comments between 2020 and 2024, this research employs a triangulated methodology integrating Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling, the Discourse–Historical Approach (DHA), and virtual ethnography. In traditional Shamanic belief systems, human will is conceptualized not as purely autonomous, but as inherently relational—interwoven with ecological responsibilities, ancestral spirits, and cosmological forces. While previous studies have explored Shamanism’s cultural and performative dimensions, they have largely overlooked the ethical and philosophical constructs of human agency embedded within Shamanic practices, especially in their digital adaptations. This study reveals that contemporary digital discourse simultaneously preserves, transforms, and commodifies Shamanic concepts of human will. Users express reverence, nostalgia, critique, and playful reinterpretations, demonstrating that digital platforms serve both as spaces for cultural continuity and dynamic meaning-making. By analyzing online discursive practices, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of how indigenous spiritual frameworks negotiate modern visibility, identity, and ethical agency in the digital era. Full article

Urbanization is reshaping landscapes and posing unprecedented sustainability challenges, necessitating more integrative approaches to urban observation. This review synthesizes recent advancements in traditional remote sensing and emerging social sensing technologies, emphasizing their convergence within urban science. A systematic thematic analysis of 667 peer-reviewed articles highlights the methodological progress, practical applications, and theoretical innovations arising from this integration. Traditional remote sensing effectively captures urban physical features but lacks insights into human behaviors. Conversely, social sensing, leveraging digital traces from social media and mobile data, introduces essential human-centered dimensions into urban monitoring. The fusion of these complementary paradigms through advanced data analytics and multimodal integration has produced transformative methodologies, enhancing urban resilience frameworks, functional zone delineation, and real-time disaster responses. Despite significant progress, the integration faces persistent challenges, including data heterogeneity, representational bias, ethical concerns, and scalability limitations. Differing from previous reviews that survey the landscape, the current work argues that current integration efforts remain ad hoc and technologically driven, lacking a unifying theory for real-time urban governance. To address this critical gap, I develop and operationalize a new systems-based framework for hybrid urban observatories. This framework is built on a socio-ecological foundation and explicitly integrates technical components with an essential governance layer, advancing both methodological rigor and actionable guidance for the field. Such a framework will enable a more holistic, responsive, and equitable approach to urban governance and sustainability. Full article

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) have emerged as an influential framework in climate and water governance, promoted as cost-effective, resilient, and ecologically sound responses to environmental degradation. This interdisciplinary review critically examines the conceptual foundations, governance models, and systemic risks associated with NbS in urban and coastal water management. While NbS are often presented as sustainable and multifunctional alternatives to grey infrastructure, the literature reveals recurring vulnerabilities—ranging from ecological side effects to socio-political inequities and epistemological overconfidence. Drawing on contemporary case studies and classical environmental thought—from authors such as Virgil, Lucretius, and Seneca—the paper challenges the prevailing assumption that nature-based interventions are inherently beneficial or resilient. Instead, it argues for a reflexive and context-sensitive approach to NbS, one that integrates historical awareness, ethical reflection, and adaptive governance. The review proposes a typology of systemic risks, synthesizes unintended consequences across global examples, and calls for greater integration of environmental humanities into NbS research and policy design. Full article

Background/Objectives: Traditional nutritional knowledge, shaped by centuries of cultural and ecological adaptation, offers holistic and sustainable dietary frameworks that remain highly relevant to modern health challenges. However, current digital nutrition platforms often fail to reflect this diversity, relying instead on standardized models with limited cultural sensitivity. This paper aims to explore how traditional nutritional wisdom can be integrated into digital health platforms to promote more inclusive and effective approaches to personalized nutrition. Methods: This perspective paper employs a cultural adaptation framework to analyze the integration of traditional food knowledge into digital contexts. Drawing from interdisciplinary research across nutrition science, anthropology, digital health and implementation science, we utilize the Knowledge-to-Action (KTA) Framework and the PEN-3 Cultural Model to structure our analysis. A systematic scoping review of literature published between 2010 and 2025 was conducted to identify integration challenges and opportunities. Additionally, we analyzed case studies of three traditional dietary systems (Argentina, Italy and Japan) and evaluated five leading digital nutrition platforms for their degree of cultural inclusivity, using qualitative comparative methods. Results: The analysis highlights significant challenges in adapting traditional knowledge to digital formats, including standardization barriers, contextual loss and technological limitations. However, successful integration initiatives demonstrate that through participatory design, flexible data architectures and culturally-informed algorithms, traditional food systems can be meaningfully represented. Our proposed four-phase integration framework—documentation, digital adaptation, implementation and evaluation—provides a structured approach for developers and researchers. Conclusions: Bridging traditional nutrition with digital platforms represents a vital opportunity to enhance personalization and preserve food heritage while improving health outcomes for diverse populations. This integration requires interdisciplinary collaboration, user-centered design processes and ethical approaches that respect cultural ownership and context. Full article

This paper introduces the Transition Intervention Point System (TIP-System), a Taoist-inspired theoretical framework aimed at supporting sustainability transitions by integrating multidimensional sustainability research by leveraging point theory. The TIP-System consists of 21 Transition Intervention Points (TIPs), each defined by the intersection of five sustainability dimensions (ecological, social, economic, cultural, and inner) with distinct intervention levels (deep and shallow). The TIP-System endeavors to bridge qualitative and quantitative approaches by drawing on cross-cultural insights. It integrates deep interventions—Taoist-inspired meta-coordination, core values, and spiritual-ethical leverage points—with shallow interventions and technical transition pathways, underpinned by continuous adaptive feedback and systemic interdependencies. Preliminary empirical evidence from eight social innovation initiatives and an ongoing EU-funded rural transition project in Southern Europe suggests that the dynamic interplay among the 21 TIPs may facilitate the identification of transition states and support targeted sustainability change. However, the conceptual complexity of the TIP-System also indicates the need for further refinement to improve its practical accessibility. Future research should aim to develop more user-friendly evaluation tools and assess the framework’s performance across diverse contexts. Overall, the TIP-System provides a promising foundation for guiding transformative change across diverse contexts. Although further empirical validation is warranted, the framework’s novel perspective enriches both theoretical inquiry on and the practical application of sustainability transitions. Full article

The pressing need to address climate change and environmentally related challenges highlights the importance of reimagining educational approaches to equip students with the skills required for innovation and sustainability. This study proposes a novel holistic pedagogic framework for architectural education that integrates biomimicry, systems thinking, and Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy to advance innovation, sustainability, and transformative learning. Developed through a triangulated methodological approach—combining reflective practitioner inquiry, design-based research, and conceptual model development—the framework draws from multiple theoretical perspectives to create a cognitively structured, interdisciplinary, and ecologically grounded educational model. Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a scaffold for learning progression, while the Function–Structure–Behavior (FSB) schema enhances the establishment of cross-disciplinary bridges to enable students to address complex design challenges. The framework is informed by insights from the literature and patterns observed in bio-inspired studios, student projects, and interdisciplinary workshops. These examples highlight how the approach supports systems thinking, ecological literacy, and ethical decision-making through iterative, experiential, and metacognitive learning. Rather than offering a fixed intervention, the framework is presented as a flexible, adaptable model that aligns learning outcomes with real-world complexity. It enables learners to navigate interdisciplinary knowledge, reflect critically on design processes and co-create regenerative solutions. By positioning nature as mentor, model, and measure, this pedagogic framework reimagines architectural education as a catalyst for sustainability and systemic change in the built environment. Full article

Recently, increased global awareness of environmental sustainability and ethical consumerism has amplified the demand for sustainable alternatives to animal-derived leather. Traditional leather manufacturing faces significant ethical and ecological challenges, including greenhouse gas emissions, excessive water consumption, deforestation, and toxic chemical usage. Vegan leather has emerged as a promising solution, predominantly fabricated from petroleum-based synthetic materials such as polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). However, these materials have sustainability limitations due to their non-biodegradability and associated environmental burdens. To overcome these issues, this review critically explores the feasibility of developing vegan leather using gel-based materials derived from natural and synthetic polymers. These materials offer precise structural controllability, excellent biodegradability, and the potential for significantly improved mechanical performance through hybridization and nanocomposite strategies. Despite their promising attributes, gel-based materials face significant limitations, including insufficient tensile strength, poor abrasion resistance, susceptibility to swelling, limited long-term stability, and challenges in scaling up for industrial production. This paper outlines the structural and physical properties required for viable leather substitutes, reviews opportunities provided by gel-based materials, addresses associated technical challenges, and proposes comprehensive strategies for enhancing mechanical properties and developing sustainable, eco-friendly production processes. Future research directions emphasize hybrid composite development, nanoparticle integration, circular manufacturing processes, and multi-disciplinary collaboration to establish gel-based vegan leather as a viable, sustainable, and market-competitive alternative to conventional animal leather. Full article

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and forestry is driving transformative advances in precision monitoring, disaster management, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity conservation. However, significant knowledge gaps persist in cross-ecological model generalisation, multi-source data fusion, and ethical implementation. This review provides a comprehensive overview of AI’s transformative role in forestry, focusing on three key areas: resource monitoring, disaster management, and sustainability. Data were collected via a comprehensive literature search of academic databases from 2019 to 2025. The review identified several key applications of AI in forestry, including high-precision resource monitoring with sub-metre accuracy in delineating tree canopies, enhanced disaster management with high recall rates for wildfire detection, and optimised carbon sequestration in mangrove forests. Despite these advancements, challenges remain in cross-ecological model generalisation, multi-source data fusion, and ethical implementation. Future research should focus on developing robust, scalable AI models that can be integrated into existing forestry management systems. Policymakers and practitioners should collaborate to ensure that AI-driven solutions are implemented in a way that balances technological innovation with ecosystem resilience and ethical considerations. Full article

This study critically analyses the urgency of establishing an ethos of discourse and action for the realization of an integral planetary ethic that is capable of addressing the challenges of our time. To this end, this study seeks to systematize ethos propositions for the implementation of intercultural education based on integral ecological ethics, aligning with the concept of Common Home. The outputs indicate that integral ecological ethics serves as a teleological, epistemic, and methodological support for intercultural education, while also proposing concrete pathways for the application of the values articulated in the encyclical Laudato si’ within educational contexts. The development of this study is guided by a qualitative research approach, integrating literature review and field study methodologies, which illuminate the perspectives of educators, students, and their families regarding well-being in both current and future contexts. The conclusions underscore the urgency of establishing an ethos of discourse and action in the implementation of integral planetary ethics, which relates to the integrative and dialogical propositions of intercultural education aimed at sustaining the integrity of both human and planetary dimensions. Full article