This study examines the effects of farmers’ participation in short food supply chains on the ecological efficiency of cash crop cultivation. The analysis draws upon data collected from 1099 farmers located in China’s primary kiwifruit-producing regions. First, ecological efficiency scores for small-scale farmers are estimated using stochastic frontier analysis. Second, to address selectivity bias arising from observable and unobservable factors, multinomial endogenous switching regression models are employed. The empirical analysis shows that participation in short food supply chains significantly enhances the ecological efficiency of farmers’ cash crop cultivation. Compared to relying solely on direct sales channels, the integration of middlemen with direct sales more effectively promotes improvements in farmers’ ecological efficiency.

Fauna-sensitive road design (FSRD) seeks to reduce the ecological impacts of transport infrastructure, yet its application in Australia remains inconsistent and context-dependent. This study examines how FSRD is shaped by policy and institutional settings in Queensland and Victoria, combining Institutional Grammar Tool (IGT) analysis of key guidance documents with interviews from 22 practitioners. Results revealed a strong reliance on non-binding language, with guidance framed as recommendations rather than enforceable requirements. Practitioners identified barriers including unclear legislation, poor data access, fragmented responsibilities, and limited influence during early project design. Suggested improvements focused on clearer specifications, stronger legislative mandates, improved interagency coordination, and national standardisation. The findings highlight that FSRD is as much a governance challenge as a technical one. This study provides a timely baseline for assessing reforms such as Queensland’s 2024 Fauna Sensitive Transport Infrastructure Delivery (FSTID) Manual and underscores the need to further embed ecological priorities into infrastructure planning.

We test the “double dividend” hypothesis across four environmental tax types (total, energy, pollution, transport) and heterogeneous economic and institutional settings in 71 developing countries (1994–2020). Using a stacked identification strategy–system GMM, difference-in-differences with generalized propensity scores, and instrumental-variable three-stage SUR with leave-one-out regional diffusion and Bartik-style instruments – we estimate both total and mediated (via CO2) effects on real GDP. We find that environmental taxes reduce emissions across settings, with larger effects under stronger institutions. Transport taxes are comparatively pro-growth, while energy and pollution taxes are more distortionary; revenue recycling from less-distortionary taxes can offset income losses from others. Our results highlight that realizing a double dividend is conditional on tax design and institutional capacity, underscoring the value of tailoring tax mixes and investing in governance to support both environmental and economic goals.

In attempting to address environmental degradation through participatory processes, planners need to be cognisant of societies becoming more ethnically diverse. This poses challenges to both engage with recent migrants, and to provide education and opportunities for involvement in host governance systems. Here, freshwater values of concern to ethnic Chinese in Aotearoa New Zealand are explored, along with involvement in participatory freshwater management processes. Results from surveys (n = 151), and interviews with public officials and prominent ethnic Chinese (n = 10), showed that values centred strongly on drinking water quality. While there was clear support for involvement in planning; very few had previously engaged due to a range of surmountable barriers. Given ∼30% population were born overseas, planners should expand engagement methods to facilitate the participation of diverse ethnicities. Such an approach would help to build relationships between local government and diverse publics that may aid collaborative responses to environmental change.

The widespread use of single-use plastic tableware (SUPT) poses environmental and health risks, highlighting the need for effective interventions to reduce consumption and mitigate plastic pollution. This study examines interventions to raise awareness of SUPT health and environmental impacts using a theoretical mathematical model informed by behavioral insights from a US survey and grounded in the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Consumer decision-making was simulated within four distinct theoretical social network structures (7,000 individuals each) under different intervention scenarios to evaluate their impact. An evolutionary process tracked behavioral changes over time within the social network. The findings highlight the crucial role of awareness-raising interventions in reducing SUPT consumption, with health-focused interventions being the most effective. However, their impact varies by network structure, shaping how awareness spreads and influences behavior. These results underscore the need for tailored strategies to maximize, support policy and plan to reduce plastic pollution and promote sustainable consumption.

Collective agri-environmental schemes (cAES) have been introduced in Brandenburg, Germany. This study analyses how the institutional design of cAES should be developed according to the region’s farmers. The results of a Q study reveal three perspectives: a benefit-focused, a business-focused and a stewardship-focused viewpoint. Each viewpoint highlights different aspects essential to engage farmers in the new approach. Farmers agree about increased flexibility and involvement in monitoring and decision making within the collective as well as remuneration to motivate farmers and enable professionalisation. While the farmers see potential benefits of cooperating with external actors, strong caveats exist that conservation organisations will undermine the farmers’ interests. As trust between farmers and towards other actors is limited, the collectives will need to invest in connectedness and social capital. While the governmental, socioeconomic and environmental context needs to be considered when designing new cAES, results may offer insights for newly developing farmer collectives elsewhere. Highlights Different perspectives exist among farmers on the new collective agri-environmental scheme in Brandenburg, Germany. Farmers hope for increased self-governance, feasibility, and effectiveness, as well as reduced bureaucracy. New collectives will need to invest in social capital for successful collaboration.

Landscape designations for heritage-rich areas have generally focused on preventing change and preserving continuity – defensive approaches – in the face of perceived threats. However, in an era of climate breakdown, preservation of cultural landscapes may no longer be viable. Drawing lessons from wider debates on cultural heritage, we explore the potential for developing more adaptive, rather than defensive, approaches to planning for cultural landscapes in an era of climate breakdown. This reflects the growing recognition of the need for adaptive responses that are not only technically effective but also socially and culturally grounded. We argue that planning approaches for cultural landscapes will increasingly need to embrace evolutionary and values-based perspectives to cope with uncertainties and the inevitability of cultural loss. We emphasise local knowledge, intangible heritage, values and lived experience in relation to cultural heritage, contending that these are better suited to assessing vulnerability and to building adaptive capacity.

Recent electrification of propulsion systems can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from waterborne tourism transport. Information on tourists’ preferences for cleaner boat tours may help in designing effective policies, tour packages, and pricing schemes to promote the transition to cleaner transportation. This study implements a choice experiment to investigate preferences of tourists for tour attributes (i.e. destination, boat size, and guide services) and the mix of electrical energy and fossil fuels used by boats in Guatemala. Results from mixed logit models indicate that tourists are willing to pay for cleaner boat tours, although foreign and national tourists have different preferences. While foreigners’ willingness to pay increases with the share of electricity used as propulsion energy at a decreasing rate, national tourists prefer electric boats or hybrid boats with an equal share of electricity and fuel. This study provides useful insights to promote sustainable tourism and the decarbonization of waterborne transport services.

This paper assesses the contribution of Urban Greening Plans (UGPs) to achieving objectives of biodiversity conservation, restoration, and enhancement. Through a systematic content analysis of UGPs adopted by provincial capital cities in Italy, the study investigates which biodiversity-related attributes are relevant in greening plans and what level of commitment local governments demonstrate in planning, implementing, and monitoring biodiversity actions. The research highlights that, despite being sectoral, voluntary, and soft-policy instruments, quality UGPs have the potential to metaphorically generate a “butterfly effect,” sparking small-scale transformations that lead to broader, transformative changes, influencing socio-ecological structures and institutional dynamics. However, the analysis reveals significant challenges, including a lack of baseline data and standardized protocols for measuring urban biodiversity, which undermines the translation of the objectives into concrete actions. Additionally, a weak commitment to implementation, reflected in the limited use of monitoring indicators and biodiversity-related targets, is underlined. The study identifies examples of high-quality greening plans that benefit from strong political support and institutional commitment, as evidenced by the allocation of financial and human resources, and the use of shared governance tools that foster collaboration among diverse stakeholders and enhance the likelihood of successful implementation. Highlights Local governments lack clear and systematic approaches to set goals and act on biodiversity loss. Biodiversity planning faces a knowledge-to-action gap driven by weak political support, poor monitoring, and the absence of standardized indicators. Quality urban greening plans have the potential to drive a nature-positive future, influencing both socio-ecological structures and institutional dynamics.

Assessing the effectiveness of protected area network policies meets two objectives: measuring changes in biodiversity state relative to the objectives set, and providing managers with tools to guide their actions. For Natura 2000 network, few studies link conservation status to the effectiveness of the network, particularly at site-level. This article proposes an operationalisation at the site-level of the “Strategic Environmental Management Analysis” (SEMA), concern-focused evaluation framework, based on an emblematic case study of French Special Areas of Conservation, maintenance of open environments. Although methods for evaluating N2000 sites exist, they do not sufficiently explain the strategic importance of prioritising biodiversity issues to be targeted, and the actions to be taken accordingly inside and outside the site, as the SEMA framework allows. This article addresses this gap by providing managers with the means to assess whether their measures improve the conservation status of habitats and species targeted by Natura 2000.