Ecological Transformation Research Articles

Ecological Turn of Humanities, Science, and Technology with examples from Mexico's Conahcyt and China's Global Influence

This article emphasizes the importance of integrating humanistic knowledge into the ecological transformation within the fields of humanities, science, and technology, with a particular focus on how these ideas align with China's green development initiatives. The article critically explores the role of humanistic knowledge in fostering a sustainable relationship between humanity and nature, challenging the capitalist economic model that has historically alienated nature through the relentless exploitation of natural resources. This exploitation has prompted the development of new paradigms centered on sustainable growth, which prioritize environmental protection, the development of ecological industries, and the preservation of biodiversity. By using a comparative case study approach, the article analyzes the practices of Mexico's Conahcyt and China in global ecological governance, demonstrating how the adoption of these sustainable paradigms promotes a more inclusive approach to development. The ecological Marxism movement finds particular resonance in China's concept of Ecological Civilization, i.e., Eco-Marxism being Chinese in orientation. Additionally, the article examines how Mexico has integrated the humanities with science and technology through its Research and Development (R&D) initiatives, led by Conahcyt, to restore the balance between nature and society. The article further reviews the implications of these paradigms for global cooperation, highlighting China's Ecological Civilization Thinking as a guiding framework for global environmental governance, particularly during the 2021 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15). This work underscores the need for innovative strategies that combine human knowledge with scientific and technological advancements to achieve sustainable development goals.

Knowledge, behaviours, practices, and expectations on climate change among French health workers

Abstract Introduction Hospitals face a dual challenge with climate change (CC): reducing emissions and preparing for its impacts. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, behaviours, and practices (KBP) of health workers (HWs) in French hospitals regarding CC and environmental sustainability (ES). The secondary objectives were to understand their expectations and identify associated factors with the KBP of HWs. Methods A multicenter cross-sectional KBP study was carried out among HWs of six French hospitals from June 2021 to December 2022. A structured questionnaire was designed and consisted of five parts: i) participant characteristics, ii) CC knowledge and perceptions, iii) behaviours, iv) practices concerning ES actions, and v) expectations. A multilevel logistic regression model assessed associations between HWs’ KBP and both individual and hospital characteristics. Results Out of 57034 HWs, 4552 (8.0%) participated in the study. Only 15.4% identified the activities with the greatest environmental impact. On a scale of 1 (Not a priority) to 10 (High priority), the average median rating attributed to commitment to ecological transformation in their hospitals was 5.0/10. Among the participants, 1079 (23.7%) had already initiated at least one ES action. To implement ES-related projects, main barriers were reported including lack of dedicated time (40.4%), hierarchical support (32.5%), methodological support (28.9%), and training access (23.7%). The presence of a sustainable development steering committee, especially active for over 5 years, positively correlated with better information for HWs (ORa=1.78 [1.29-2.45]), better knowledge (ORa=1.83 [1.32-2.53]), and more ES actions initiated (ORa=1.74 [1.33-2.29]). Conclusions French HWs demonstrate a commitment to making their hospitals more environmentally sustainable. Some drivers and barriers were identified to further support these essential transformations. Key messages • First national study on knowledge, behaviours, practices, and expectations on climate change and environmental sustainability among French health workers. • Among the drivers to strengthen dynamics within hospitals, the need for training among French health workers and institutional support has been identified.

Green Financial Policy for Fostering Green Technological Innovation: The Role of Financing Constraints, Science Expenditure, and Heightened Industrial Structure

The environment has become an increasing concern due to the accelerated expansion of the world’s economy. Green finance is a crucial strategy for China to address challenges in fostering green innovation and achieving sustainable development. By employing the difference-in-differences (DID) method, this study assessed the influence of green financial policy (GFP) on green technological innovation (GTI) in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB). The results indicate that GFP significantly improves GTI, especially in cities with a lower level of green finance development, cities with a medium level of GTI, and cities upstream of the Yangtze River. A mechanism analysis found that GFP promotes GTI in the YREB by alleviating financing constraints and increasing science expenditures. However, it fails to improve GTI through the heightened industrial structure. The findings provide empirical proof and policy direction for the reformation of green financing and the achievement of ecological transformation in the river basin economy in accordance with the ‘dual-carbon’ goal.

Construction and Optimization Strategies for Rural Residential Spatial Models Based on the Concept of Resource Metabolism: A Case Study of Rural Areas in the Shandong Plain

Rural communities can be conceptualized as spatial organisms interconnected by optimized resource utilization systems. Investigating the efficient utilization of rural resources and spatial construction methods grounded in resource metabolism is a pivotal step toward achieving the ecological transformation of rural spaces. This paper examined rural settlements in the Shandong Plain as a case study, exploring the relationships among three scales: village, neighborhoods, and courtyards. This analysis was based on elucidating the interaction mechanisms between “space and resource” and the integration of key resources and spatial elements. From the perspective of resource circulation and metabolism, this study aimed to elucidate the equilibrium of each resource element within three resource metabolism subsystems: the agricultural production system (core element), the ecological technology system (technological link), and the human life system (spatial carrier) in Shandong Plain’s villages, considering general climatic conditions. To achieve this, this research utilized the resource production volume, the utilization and transformation volume of resource metabolism technology facilities per unit area, and the average per capita resource consumption as fundamental measurement units. The concept of a rationing relationship is introduced to clarify resource allocation. Combining the aforementioned research on spatial resource metabolism in ecological villages in Shandong Province with the material flow analysis method, this study constructed a bottom–up spatial model of resource metabolism at three scales, courtyards, neighborhoods, and villages, under various resource metabolism scenarios. This study is anticipated to significantly contribute to the theoretical understanding of rural habitat environments, offering novel methods and perspectives for constructing ecological rural settlements.

Exploring an adaptive management model for “status-optimization-regulation” of mining city in transition: A case study of Huangshi, China

Mining cities face the challenges of ecological transformation and sustainable development after mineral depletion. Thus, ecological space optimization and adaptive management are pivotal after ecological restoration project, but easily neglected. Taking Huangshi in Hubei Province as an example, a top-down adaptive management model for regional mining ecological space integrating status-optimization-regulation (SOR) was established based on land system resilience (LSR) evaluation, circuit theory, complex network model and community discovery algorithm. The results showed that i) As the LSR increased, the land use structure shifted from non-ecological zones to forest and cropland, indicating that balancing agriculture and forest protection was crucial for increasing LSR in Huangshi. i) The ecological networks (ENs) of Huangshi had an irregular fishnet pattern, with densely intricate corridors in the south and broader, sparser ones in the north, and numerous ecological barriers near the mining area. Furthermore, the distribution of ecological sources and corridors displayed complementarity and hierarchy. iii) The optimized ENs exhibited higher connectivity and efficiency under disturbance, reducing corridor redundancy and migration costs. iv) The ENs clusters were classified into five types based on ecological connectivity: ecological buffer zone, priority restoration zone, moderate restoration zone, natural restoration zone, and moderate development zone, and tailored ecological regulatory strategies were proposed. The findings provide practice-oriented guidance for the sustainable development of mining cities, and offer a direct approach to support conscious, clear, and coherent adaptive management of ecological restoration in rapidly changing environments.

Exploring the nexus of oil price shocks: Impacts on financial dynamics and carbon emissions in the crude oil industry

This empirical study delves into the intricate interplay between oil price shocks (OPS) and their dual impacts on both carbon emissions and the financial performance of the crude oil industry. Utilizing a sophisticated econometric approach, the study employs a Nonlinear ARDL model to meticulously scrutinize the enduring and immediate associations between oil prices and key financial indicators such as stock prices, dividends, and profit ratios of oil exploration industries. Given the significant fiscal and ecological transformations in China during this period, the chosen factors provide a robust framework for measuring changes at both microeconomic and macroeconomic levels, contributing valuable insights to sustainable economic development strategies. Our findings elucidate a statistically significant influence of OPS on the financial performance of the oil industry, particularly in the short term. The increase in the volatility level of OPS manifests a discernible decline in stock prices and profit ratios. Intriguingly, the study further uncovers a nuanced facet of OPS, revealing a prolonged and beneficial impact on carbon emissions in the long term. More importantly, heightened oil prices serve as a catalyst, motivating oil exploration companies to intensify production and exploration activities, thereby increasing carbon emissions in a direct relationship. The implications of these findings are pivotal for policy making, underscoring the imperative for decision-makers and industry stakeholders to pivot towards cleaner, more sustainable energy sources. The research augments the ongoing discourse surrounding the intricate nexus between energy costs and carbon emissions, furnishing invaluable insights that could steer the development of policies geared towards fostering sustainability and mitigating the adverse effects of climate change.

From aquatic to terrestrial: An examination of plant diversity and ecological shifts

Abstract Our study focuses on plant diversity in the Allal El Fassi dam, a semi-arid continental bioclimate, to understand human-impacted aquatic ecosystems. We analyzed plant, soil, and water samples from 40 stations using various indices. We identified 55 plant species across 35 families, with Poaceae, Asteraceae, Asparagaceae, and Rosaceae being dominant. The transition zone (formerly Zone 2) is characterized by dense vegetation of hydrophytes, hemicryptophytes, and therophytes. The transformed (formerly Zone 1) and terrestrial zones (formerly Zone 3) have less diverse vegetation, dominated by phanerophytes, geophytes, and chamerophites. Phanerophytes, due to their developed root systems, are suited to dam soil types. Predominant species like Tamarix gallica L., Nerium oleander L., Juncus acutus L., and Arundo donax L. indicate the dam’s ecological transformation into a terrestrial ecosystem isolated from the river by sedimentary deposits following floods. These species are opportunistic, and adapted to water level variations.

Ecological transformation of capitalism

The UN Conference COP 28 (2023) showed the failure of the global strategy contained in the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. This encourages us to return to the problem of additional measures to protect natural habitats through a transition to moderate rates of economic growth, population growth and anthropogenic pressure on the environment. The article analyzes the ecological limits of growth of the world capitalist system, its economy and the global population. In order to preserve the natural habitat, capitalism inevitably faces transformation into a new post-capitalist formation capable of providing a moderate anthropogenic load on the environment accompanied by an increase in welfare and the preservation of the natural habitat for future generations. In dangerous proximity to the ecological limits of growth, it is necessary to abandon the prevailing goals of maximizing the scale of global economy and population, to reorient the population of the developing countries towards moderate fertility due to an increase in human development and quality-of-life indices, especially in the countries with low levels of above-mentioned indices accompanied by high population growth rates. A three-dimensional system of measuring economic growth is proposed. The conditions for economic growth balanced with the state of the environment are formulated.

The Ecological Consequences of Developmentalist Modernism

This commentary argues that Stevan Harrell’s An Ecological History of Modern China offers valuable insights into the transformation of ecosystems, which reflect the lived experiences of Chinese people. It examines some of the more contentious claims found in the book, particularly its treatment of politics. It suggests that, while Harrell downplays the importance of party politics and ideological campaigns, the ecological transformations he describes are inextricable from the turbulent political contexts in which they unfolded, from the local politics of village governance to the global politics of the Cold War. It concludes by suggesting that it is Harrell’s extensive research experience as an ethnographer that has allowed him to write such a vivid and insightful history of modern China.

Cycles, Breakthroughs, and Histories of Ecological Change: 1949 or 1972?

These reflections on Stevan Harrell’s An Ecological History of Modern China evaluate the book in relation to existing historiography of the ecological transformations that have accompanied China’s development since the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). After outlining the theoretical underpinnings of Harrell’s history of modern China as a “system of social-ecological systems” and his revisionist periodization of PRC history in terms of the “adaptive cycle,” the commentary contrasts Harrell’s central arguments with those advanced in earlier studies. Interpretative differences relate to whether 1949 constituted a watershed in China’s ecological history or a continuation of longer-term environmental trends, and the significance of the PRC’s acquisition of technology for synthetic fertilizer plants after rapprochement with the United States in 1972 in making it possible for China to replenish its nutrient-depleted soils, increase agricultural productivity, and overcome environmental constraints that limited economic growth. Despite bringing unprecedented economic prosperity, as Harrell shows, that growth has decreased ecological resilience and increased vulnerability. The commentary concludes by asking how Harrell’s arguments might be reconciled with alternative understandings of modern China’s ecological and environmental history.

Evolution and driving mechanism of multiple ecosystem services in resource-based region of Northern China

Understanding the spatiotemporal characteristics and comprehensive service capabilities of various ecosystem services is crucial for maintaining regional ecosystem security, and clarifying the driving mechanisms of ecosystem services plays a guarantee for achieving regional sustainable development. Based on the ecological issues of Shanxi Province (SXP) in China, an assessment system covering eight targeted ecosystem services were constructed to quantitatively analyze the spatio-temporal patterns and contribution rates of driving factors. The water conservation, sand fixation, environment purification and habitat quality in the Loess Hills of western SXP have improved, with significant increase in hotspots. The comprehensive service capacity of ecosystem services in the Fenwei Basin (central SXP) has deteriorated, and the coldspots have expanded. The water conservation, carbon storage, habitat quality and recreation culture in the Yanshan-Taihang Mountains (eastern SXP) were enhanced, while product supply, carbon storage and environment purification were deteriorated. Land use is the dominant influencing factor on product supply. Water and soil conservation, sand fixation, and environment purification are dominated by climate factors. Carbon storage, habitat quality and recreation culture are influenced by underlying surface conditions. The current study provided a research paradigm, which will help the government with appropriate management policies to ensure the effectiveness of ecological protection and restoration, and offers insights for facilitating ecological sustainability and economic transformation in resource-based regions worldwide.

Climate governance and industrial ecological transformation

Climate governance and industrial ecological transformation

Digital and Ecological Transformation in Companies - Challenges and potential in interaction

Digital and Ecological Transformation in Companies - Challenges and potential in interaction

Addressing Rural Decline: China’s Practices in Rural Transformation and Farmers’ Income Growth

In the context of global rural decline, fostering endogenous momentum through rural transformation to increase farmers’ incomes is a challenge that nations worldwide must address. This study utilizes the 2022 “China Rural Micro-Economic Data” to construct a multidimensional rural transformation index system at the village level, encompassing demographic, land, industrial, social, digital, and ecological transformations. This study evaluates the levels of rural transformation across 15 surveyed provinces in China. Furthermore, it empirically examines the impact of rural transformation on farmers’ incomes, the underlying mechanisms, and the heterogeneity of different transformation models. The findings are as follows: (1) Coastal economically developed regions exhibit higher levels of rural transformation, while inland agricultural provinces show significant lag; (2) Rural transformation effectively promotes the upgrading of agricultural value chains, increases farmers’ market participation, and enhances their access to financial services, thereby boosting farmers’ incomes; and (3) The impact of different transformation models on farmers’ incomes varies significantly; industrial, social, and demographic transformations contribute most prominently to income growth. While digital transformation shows some positive effects, it remains relatively limited. Land and ecological transformations have yet to demonstrate a significant positive impact on farmers’ incomes.

‘We are ignored rather than attacked politically’. Youth participation in regional sustainability transformation in eastern Germany

ABSTRACT In the context of Germany's coal phase-out, substantial resources are allocated to transform coal regions economically and socially. This study examines the opportunities and aspirations of young people in shaping local spaces, focusing on four participatory processes in Lusatia, eastern Germany. Utilising document analysis and 17 interviews with youth service workers, participants, and politicians, the study combines Massey, Doreen. 2005. For Space. London: Sage concept of space with Cahill, Helen, and Babak Dadvand. 2018. “Re-conceptualising Youth Participation: A Framework to Inform Action.” Children and Youth Services Review 95:243–253 model for youth participation. It bridges the gap between young people's goals and motivations and the quality of participation formats, with a regional focus. Findings reveal that young people's aspirations align with adult-developed projects in transport, digital and business infrastructure, energy transition, and technology, but youth advocate for a more ambitious ecological transformation, digital solutions, and democratic decision-making. Despite well-designed participatory programmes demonstrating youth ability to contribute to transformation, their ideas are often publicly praised but rarely integrated into political decisions due to inadequate procedures. Some formats allowed youth to reposition themselves, highlighting the fluidity of power. The study calls for further research on youth participation from a spatial perspective, and emphasizes the need to better prepareyoung participants and policymakers to manage expectations and responsibilities in participatory processes.

Karyotypic and phenotypic condensation in allotetraploid wheats accompanied with reproductive strategy transformation: from natural evolution to domestication.

Allotetraploid wheat reflects evolutionary divergence and domestication convergence in the karyotypic and phenotypic evolution, accompanied with the transformation from r- strategy to K- strategy in reproductive fitness. Allotetraploid wheat, the progenitor of hexaploidy bread wheat, has undergone 300,000years of natural evolution and 10,000years of domestication. The variations in karyotype and phenotype as well as fertility fitness have not been systematically linked. Here, by combining fluorescent in situ hybridization with the quantification of phenotypic and reproductive traits, we compared the karyotype, vegetative growth phenotype and reproductive fitness among synthesized, wild and domesticated accessions of allotetraploid wheat. We detected that the wild accessions showed dramatically high frequencies of homologous recombination and copy number variations of simple sequence repeats (SSR) comparing with synthetic and domesticated accessions. The phenotypic traits reflected significant differences among the populations shaped by distinct evolutionary processes. The diversity observed in wild accessions was significantly greater than that in domesticated ones, particularly in traits associated with vegetative growth and spike morphology. We found that the active pollen of domesticated accessions exhibited greater potential of germination, despite a lower rate of active pollen compared with the wild accessions, indicating a transformation in reproductive fitness strategy for pollen development in domesticated accessions compared to the wild accessions, from r-strategy to K-strategy. Our results demonstrate the condensation of karyotype and phenotype from natural wild accessions to domesticated accessions in allotetraploid wheats. Ecological strategy transformation should be seriously considered from evolution to domestication in polyploid plants, especially crops, which may provide a perspective on the adaptive evolution of polyploid plants.

Arthropod traits as proxies for abundance trends in the Azorean Islands

Human activities drive ecological transformation, impacting island ecosystems from species diversity to ecological traits, mainly through habitat degradation and invasive species. Using two unique long‐term datasets we aim to evaluate whether species traits (body size, trophic level, dispersal capacity and habitat occupancy) can predict temporal variations in the abundance of endemic, indigenous (endemic and native non‐endemic) and exotic arthropods in the Azores Islands. We found that body size is crucial to predict arthropod abundance trends. Small‐bodied herbivorous arthropods showed a decrease in abundance, while large‐bodied indigenous arthropods increased in abundance, mainly in well‐preserved areas. Also, large‐bodied exotic arthropods increased in abundance across the entire archipelago. Moreover, endemic canopy dwellers increased in abundance, while endemic ground‐dwellers decreased in abundance. Simultaneously, exotic arthropods showed the opposite result, increasing in abundance in the ground while decreasing in abundance in the canopy. Finally, habitat influenced both endemic and exotic spider abundance trends. Endemic spiders that occupy solely natural habitats experienced a decline in abundance, while exotic spiders in the same habitats increased in abundance. Our study underscores the significance of arthropod species traits in predicting abundance changes in island ecosystems over time, as well as the importance of monitoring species communities. Conservation efforts must extend beyond endangered species to protect non‐threatened ones, given the increased extinction risk faced by even common species on islands. Monitoring and restoration programs are essential for preserving island ecosystems and safeguarding endemic arthropod populations.

Reading the Agrarian, National, and Ecological Questions in Contemporary Kisan Politics in Pakistan

In the 2010s, the Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) emerged in Punjab as a militant movement that brought together different fractions of agrarian producers against the IMF-proposed removal of electricity subsidies for agricultural tube wells. The article draws on fieldwork with the PKI in 2018–2019 to understand its trajectories since its contestation of one aspect of the agenda of structural reform. I argue that the analytical framework of “agrarian populism,” which has recently come back into use to understand agrarian politics, poses limitations in differentiating agrarian movements from each other. By focusing on how the PKI navigates the intersection between the agrarian, national, and ecological questions, the article shows how the movement has approached agrarian market reform, ecological crisis, and national development. Through this discussion, it undertakes a critical assessment of the PKI and situates it with longer histories of class differentiation, agrarian change, and ecological transformation.

Auto/biography and mobilities in the time of climate emergency

The auto/biographical genre offers theoretical and methodological starting points that are key to a just and ecological mobilities transformation. Just as the COVID-19 pandemic response and its impacts made diverse lifecourse visible, climate change and its contingencies will have similar effects. Simultaneously, digital cultures provide new scope for practising auto/biography and telling about diverse life stories. Through a critical review of the literature and drawing on the new insights of this Special Issue, the paper argues that a research agenda grounded in the auto/biographical is a priority. In contrast to some of the anti-biographical positions that have been influential in mobilities scholarship, the paper argues that: i) the feminist auto/biographical genre accommodates a human subject that is social and historical before being individual, with its performativity being a crucial form for unheard voices to be heard; 2) that it plays a significant role in contesting the frameworks of lifecourse that inform institutional and policy contexts; and, 3) that there is scope for a re-engagement of the non-human and the more-than-human within auto/biographical studies, which though contentious, provides a way to radically re-think how diverse life stories are (im)mobile, and the ways that human and non-human lives are valued.

Irrigation and food security in the context of water shortage: legal issues and perspectives

The article examines the legal problems and prospects of ensuring the irrigation of agricultural land in conditions of a lack of traditional water resources. Modern hydromelioration reform in the form in which it is currently implemented is not a panacea. It mostly solves property and administrative-functional issues, but leaves a call for attention to environmental and natural resource problems. In view of the tendency to decrease the quantity and quality of water in the country, the question arises about the prospects of irrigation under such conditions. In recent decades, there has been a constant search for innovative solutions of not only technological, but also legal nature in the world for solving the complex problems of distributing limited resources and providing agriculture with vital moisture for maintaining food security. The objective problem of the lack of water suitable for irrigation against the background of the rapid growth of such needs is getting worse every year and in the long run can endanger the food security of the country. World experience demonstrates the approbation of various approaches to solving the problem of sufficient irrigation. According to the main way of achieving the goal, these approaches are presented by us in the form of three groups: 1) use of alternative sources of water resources (use of underground water, treated wastewater, desalinated salt water); 2) application of alternative irrigation technologies (modernization of irrigation systems; use of micro-irrigation); 3) use of alternative crops (voluntary and mandatory transition). Having analyzed the foreign and domestic experience of the legal regulation of selected methods of solving the problem of water shortage for irrigation, it is possible to trace some general trends: a) self-removal of the state from the implementation of large-scale irrigation projects, the need for which is generated by global environmental challenges; b) slow ecological transformation of legislation regulating agricultural irrigation; c) the predominance of separate legal norms and separate legal mechanisms aimed at regulating alternative irrigation, and the lack of comprehensive regulatory and legal support for the reconstruction of the irrigation system taking into account objective environmental problems.