Production Landscapes Research Articles

“Do You Understand How Racially Motivated This Is?”: Institutional Discipline, Double Standards, and Projects of Media Fugitivity

AbstractMainstream imaginaries of success in the United States tend to center white men. This phenomenon, though increasingly criticized, pervades media systems, which have effectively served as major channels to facilitate, disperse, and popularize such ideals globally. Unsurprisingly, then, US mainstream media institutions have not generally favored non‐white and/or non‐men creators. Via code phrases such as best practices and professionalism, racialized and gendered assumptions continue to shape participatory landscapes of media production. Hence, for many Black women enrolled in formal media education and training programs, schooling's disciplinary norms—alongside society's inclination to mark and marginalize Black women as Other—both frustrate and inspire them to develop cunning, culturally mindful approaches that make use of accessible lessons, resources, and networks without abandoning the social issues and objectives that brought them to media in the first place. Framing their flexible methods of resource procurement and repurposing as projects of media fugitivity, this article explores how Black women navigate the overlapping social, technological, and ideological disciplines of institutional subjecthood and cultivate strategies through which to participate in these schooling infrastructures, while at the same time also protecting themselves from them; redistributing gains accrued in them; and selectively challenging hegemonic asks made, norms modeled, and compliances expected in them.

Disentangling the practice of landscape approaches: a Q-method analysis on experiences in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes

Landscape approaches are gaining momentum in both scientific and policy agendas. However, landscape approaches comprise a multitude of concepts, approaches and principles, which are in part similar, in some parts different or even contradictory. In this paper, we used a Q-method questionnaire to explore how landscape approaches are understood and employed in 45 case studies of socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes derived from the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI), as well as the motivations for employing them. Our analysis revealed that all landscape approaches pursued very similar goals, namely to ensure that local communities as landscape stewards have the capacity to preserve context-specific values in the face of socio-economic and environmental changes. The tools for reaching such goals are built upon people and nature feedback dynamics that crystalize in rich biodiversity and local ecological knowledge. However, our analysis also showed that the means to reach those goals differed depending on many contextual factors, such as the dominant ecosystems and socio-economic activities in the landscape, the constellation of actors or the most relevant drivers of change affecting the social–ecological system. In particular, we identified four distinct lenses in which landscapes approaches are applied in practice to landscape sustainability: (1) for the preservation of natural values, (2) for the preservation of socio-cultural values, (3) for the promotion of social justice and participatory governance, and (4) for securing food security and local livelihoods. Our results showed an association between the choice of a lens and the value types motivating the use of a landscape approach. Relational values were associated with a focus on landscape conservation and safeguard of social–ecological values. Our study highlights the relevant and beneficial role of landscape approaches as a boundary concept and emphasizes the need for transdisciplinary and participatory methods within landscape research and practice to navigate the context-specific options for implementation of landscape approaches.

Remnant habitat patches provide high value for a wide range of insect species in a timber plantation mosaic

Species present in transformed landscapes utilise resources from either the transformed patches, natural patches, or both. Depending on the degree to which species are specialised, species-specific responses to landscape transformation is both varied and dynamic. Understanding species-specific responses across a landscape is therefore essential to make informed conservation decisions. We investigate how spillover of stenotopic, cultural, and ubiquitous insect species respond to the different edge combinations present in a timber plantation mosaic. We use a multi-taxon approach, sampling two distinct insect assemblages (ground and foliage) across four different biotopes in a grassland-forest-plantation landscape in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, which forms part of the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany biodiversity hotspot. We show that in this landscape, ecological networks consisting of natural grassland and forest supported high insect diversity in both ground and foliage assemblages. The foliage assemblage displayed stronger responses to the different biotope combinations than the ground assemblage. There was remarkably little spillover of habitat specialist species of either the ground or foliage assemblages from grassland or forest into the plantation stands. The few species associated with plantation stands (cultural species) had consistent levels of spillover across different types of plantation blocks, but not into the natural areas. Natural biotopes in this landscape conserved many habitat specialists, whereas plantations maintained low levels of diversity. Thus, we recommend that conservation practitioners consider the fidelity and spillover of the species present in the local landscape before designing conservation plans in these dynamic production landscapes.

The who, what, and how of virtual participation in environmental research

As a group of social scientists supporting a large, national, multi-site project dedicated to studying ecosystem services in natural resource production landscapes, we were tasked with co-hosting kick-off workshops at multiple locations. When, due to project design and the Covid-19 pandemic, we were forced to reshape our plans for these workshops and hold them online, we ended up changing our objectives. This redesign resulted in a new focus for our team—on the process of stakeholder and rightsholder engagement in environmental and sustainability research rather than the content of the workshops. Drawing on participant observation, surveys, and our professional experience, this perspective highlights lessons learned about organizing virtual stakeholder workshops to support landscape governance research and practice. We note that procedures followed for initiating stakeholder and rightsholder recruitment and engagement depend on the convenors’ goals, although when multiple research teams are involved, the goals need to be negotiated. Further, more important than the robustness of engagement strategies is flexibility, feasibility, managing expectations—and keeping things simple.

Quo vadis Patria Gaucha? Uruguayan pathways of land use change

South American grasslands, socio-ecological systems used heavily for a long time, are currently experiencing dramatic land-use changes due to implementation of large-scale afforestation and agro-industrial cash crops. Applying the conceptual framework of “Multifunctional and sustainable productive landscapes” to Uruguay, we explored the impacts on rural ecosystems and communities based on a long-term monitoring network by assessing species richness of plant and terrestrial arthropods and socio-economic data from national census. We found that silvi- and agricultural industry established mainly at the expense of extensively grazed grasslands and local family farms with traditional techniques, accompanied by a deregulation of the rural labor market, depopulation and aging of rural society. Governmental nature protection efforts increase the native forest cover and establish nature protection areas focusing mainly on forests. We also discuss pathways of land-use change in recent decades and related discourses of local stakeholders.

Boosting Innovation in India: A Policy Framework

Boosting Innovation in India: A Policy Framework

Biomonitoring of heavy metal signatures in urbanized contaminated ecosystems of Southern India: A case study using raptor, Athene brama

Background: Heavy metals remain tenacious in the environment which further leads to emerging bioaccumulation, rising through the food chain. Birds are great environmental sentinels that can spot even the smallest changes. The aim of this study was to determine the quantity of heavy metals, specifically Ni, copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), and Se, in the feathers, liver, kidney, muscle, and bones of spotted owlets (Athene brama), which were opportunistically collected from a variety of contaminated ecosystems in the urbanized landscapes of Visakhapatnam on India’s East Coast. Methods: Opportunistic sample collection was done followed by necropsy. Following standard protocols, organic samples were digested by adding 10 mL HNO3 , 5 mL of HClO4 , and 2 mL of H2 O2 to eliminate the excess organic matter. Results: Based on the GIS data, raptors were shown to occur in production landscapes and mostly in urban spaces, and currently, are under several anthropogenic threats. The findings showed that the sequence of heavy metal concentrations was Ti>Al>Cu>Ni>Se, but the tissues of birds in which metals accumulated are in the following order: liver>kidney>bones>muscle. The tissues of A. brama showed the signs of significant concentrations of Ti and Al. The results obtained were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test. Conclusion: Heavy metal studies on various matrices of the environment have been performed over time with certain metals either neglected or not being documented properly. The main finding of this study is the first report of Ti and Al in bird species from India as there is a lacuna in this context.

Soil Bacterial Assemblage Across a Production Landscape: Agriculture Increases Diversity While Revegetation Recovers Community Composition

Aboveground ecological impacts associated with agricultural land use change are evident as natural plant communities are replaced with managed production systems. These impacts have been extensively studied, unlike those belowground, which remain poorly understood. Soil bacteria are good candidates to monitor belowground ecological dynamics due to their prevalence within the soil system and ability to survive under harsh and changing conditions. Here, we use soil physicochemical assessment and 16S rRNA gene sequencing to investigate the soil physical and bacterial assemblage changes across a mixed-use agricultural landscape. We assess soil from remnant vegetation (Eucalyptus mallee), new and old vineyards, old pasture, and recently revegetated areas. Elevated concentrations of nitrogen (NO3−) and plant-available (Colwell) phosphorus were identified in the managed vineyard systems, highlighting the impact of agricultural inputs on soil nutrition. Alpha diversity comparison revealed a significant difference between the remnant mallee vegetation and the vineyard systems, with vineyards supporting highest bacterial diversity. Bacterial community composition of recently revegetated areas was similar to remnant vegetation systems, suggesting that bacterial communities can respond quickly to aboveground changes, and that actions taken to restore native plant communities may also act to recover natural microbial communities, with implications for soil and plant health. Findings here suggest that agriculture may disrupt the correlation between above- and belowground diversities by altering the natural processes that otherwise govern this relationship (e.g. disturbance, plant production, diversity of inputs), leading to the promotion of belowground microbial diversity in agricultural systems.

Harnessing Insights from Indicators-Based Resilience Assessment for Enhancing Sustainability in the Gurage Socio-Ecological Production Landscape of Ethiopia.

Even though the mosaic of different land-use/land-cover types has long contributed to the resilience of socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes in Ethiopia, recent data indicate that their sustainability is under threat. This study aims to evaluate landscape resilience by adopting a set of indicators for enhancing sustainability in the Gurage socio-ecological production landscape in Ethiopia. The authors employed a toolkit of indicators in the production landscape through a community-based scoring approach (1-5 Likert scale). The information from household surveys, land-use/land-cover analysis, and satellite-based drought incidents assessment was integrated with the ranking analysis to support the evaluations. The results revealed that landscape diversity, ecosystem protection, local governance, and social equity indicators had the highest landscape resilience ranks. In contrast, lower ranks are associated with knowledge, innovation, livelihoods, and well-being indicators. The overall resilience of the Gurage socio-ecological production landscape was estimated to be below average. Thus, strategies that enhance the resilience and sustainability of this socio-ecological landscape are essential. The findings could help draw the attention of policymakers and natural resource managers to building and strengthening the resilience of the landscape. This study demonstrates that indicators could aid in evaluating landscape resilience status along with other ancillary information, particularly in data-sparse regions. Methods of assessing resilience must be creative in such regions, and this paper may inform such efforts. In addition, the study recommends that landscape resilience indicators be improved by reducing subjective matter and including spatial-explicit dimensions for evaluating resilience.

Opportunities and Challenges for the Creation and Governance of Productive Landscapes in Urban Transformations: The Case of Klosterøya Urban Fruit Forest Park

Former industrial areas in Europe are being redeveloped into residential and recreational spaces, often including sustainability initiatives. This study explores how the co-governance and management of a productive urban open space contributes to sustainable transformations, and aims to identify the opportunities and challenges that multi-actor design teams face when co-designing sustainable solutions. To achieve this goal, the landscape design process in Klosterøya urban park in Skien municipality, Norway, a privately owned yet publicly regulated park, is used as a case study in co-governance and analysed using the theoretical combined governance and management model developed. Data were collected through the observations of project meetings, document analysis and semi-structured interviews with the multi-actor design team. The results indicated that the working method, through co-creation, produced opportunities for sustainable urban agriculture, enhanced biodiversity, testbeds and water and resource circularities in the landscape, while ensuring a learning process and users’ involvement. Willingness to invest due to the lack of technical knowledge and soil contamination are revealed as key challenges. Conclusions emphasise the significance of co-creative landscape practices for productive urban open spaces and sustainable urban transformations, providing insights for an informed analysis of co-governance cases through the combined governance and management model.

Spaces, Systems and Infrastructures: From Founding Visions to Emerging Approaches for the Productive Urban Landscape

The proliferation of urban agriculture on an array of urban spaces is one of the more visible responses to perceived failures of contemporary food systems. This paper seeks to identify fundamental strategies connected to food system change efforts, linking these with diverse attempts at designing and planning the productive city. It first situates the contemporary concept of the productive city within a broader historical dialogue of foundational figures in urban and regional planning, architecture, and landscape architecture for whom food production was a central component of future cities. Recently, a growing number of practitioners have theorized the need for integrating urban agriculture in urban design and planning. Across this spectrum of emerging theory and practice, we identify three approaches to designing productive cities. First, spatial design strategies identify new territories for food production. These offer the potential for systems design thinking that links the individual spaces of production to other sectors of food systems that extend across networks of spaces and multiple scales. Finally, both spatial and systems design involve strategies of designing productive infrastructures of soils, water, nutrients, and other essential flows. The engagement with spaces of production, food systems, and productive infrastructure opens up a range of challenges as well as opportunities for emerging forms of practice and design thinking for the productive city.

A saliency mapping approach to understanding the visual impact of wind and solar infrastructure in amenity landscapes

ABSTRACT Shifts from fossil fuels toward renewable energy (RE) introduce profound changes to landscapes, including visual impacts that are often investigated during environmental and social impact assessment. Moreover, RE transitions are among many visual changes happening in rural areas that are increasingly serving amenity functions and becoming destinations for wide ranges of users. This diversity introduces complexities during infrastructure siting discussions. Emerging grape and wine production landscapes in Canada serve amenity and production purposes, and this study was designed to understand the impacts of RE development using case studies of solar panels and wind turbines in two vineyard landscapes in Ontario (ON) and British Columbia (BC). We applied novel mixed methods, including content analysis and saliency-based visual impact analysis, to textual and image-based representations posted on Instagram of those vineyards. In this case, the addition of low-density RE infrastructures did not seem to disturb the vineyard experience. The technique presented can be applied in a wide range of infrastructure siting contexts, both before and after construction, but requires additional research and calibration.

Experimental study of rock wool on the farmland soil erosion and crop growth of winter wheat and its comprehensive evaluation

Introduction: Droughts and flooding occur frequently due to climate change and human activities, which have significantly affected the ecological environment of farmland and crop production. Rock wool (RW) has some properties like high porosity and water retention capacity, and it is widely used in green roofing and agricultural production to reduce flood and drought disaster.Methods: We set 24 artificial rainfall experiments to analyze the impact of RW on the farmland runoff, soil water storage capacity (SWSC), nitrogen and phosphorus loss and crop growth. Finally, the Critic-Entropy comprehensive evaluation method was used to select the best solution for RW embedding.Results: The result shows that RW could reduce the runoff by 49.6%–93.3%, and it made the SWSC increase by .2%–11% Vol in the 10–70 cm depth. During the runoff process, the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus decreased with the increase of the RW volume, while the nitrogen and phosphorus loss reduced by 51.9%–96.6% and 72.4%–96.4% respectively when RW was buried in the farmland, so RW could effectively promote soil and water conservation. Finally, RW increased the plant biomass and yield by a maximum of 12.1% and 20.4% respectively due to the large retention of water and nutrients. Therefore, combined with the above experimental result, this study indicates that RW could obtain the best comprehensive benefit in the embedding volume of 536.73 m3/ha.Discussion: When the volume of RW embedding was too large, RW easily caused insufficient water storage in short-duration rainfall or irrigation, which made the RW unable to release water to alleviate the soil water deficit during the critical growth period, which may result in drought events being aggravated and crop yield reduced. Overall, this study is conducive to clarifying the comprehensive application effect of RW in agricultural production, pollution control, and urban landscape, and it provides an important basis for expanding its application field and promoting the stability of farmland ecosystems.

Geometry-structure models for liquid crystal interfaces, drops and membranes: wrinkling, shape selection and dissipative shape evolution.

We review our recent contributions to anisotropic soft matter models for liquid crystal interfaces, drops and membranes, emphasizing validations with experimental and biological data, and with related theory and simulation literature. The presentation aims to illustrate and characterize the rich output and future opportunities of using a methodology based on the liquid crystal-membrane shape equation applied to static and dynamic pattern formation phenomena. The geometry of static and kinetic shapes is usually described with dimensional curvatures that co-mingle shape and curvedness. In this review, we systematically show how the application of a novel decoupled shape-curvedness framework to practical and ubiquitous soft matter phenomena, such as the shape of drops and tactoids and bending of evolving membranes, leads to deeper quantitative insights than when using traditional dimensional mean and Gaussian curvatures. The review focuses only on (1) statics of wrinkling and shape selection in liquid crystal interfaces and membranes; (2) kinetics and dissipative dynamics of shape evolution in membranes; and (3) computational methods for shape selection and shape evolution; due to various limitations other important topics are excluded. Finally, the outlook follows a similar structure. The main results include: (1) single and multiple wavelength corrugations in liquid crystal interfaces appear naturally in the presence of surface splay and bend orientation distortions with scaling laws governed by ratios of anchoring-to-isotropic tension energy; adding membrane elasticity to liquid crystal anchoring generates multiple scales wrinkling as in tulips; drops of liquid crystals encapsulates in membranes can adopt, according to the ratios of anchoring/tension/bending, families of shapes as multilobal, tactoidal, and serrated as observed in biological cells. (2) Mapping the liquid crystal director to a membrane unit normal. The dissipative shape evolution model with irreversible thermodynamics for flows dominated by bending rates, yields new insights. The model explains the kinetic stability of cylinders, while spheres and saddles are attractors. The model also adds to the evolving understanding of outer hair cells in the inner ear. (3) Computational soft matter geometry includes solving shape equations, trajectories on energy and orientation landscapes, and shape-curvedness evolutions on entropy production landscape with efficient numerical methods and adaptive approaches.

Technology Focus: Well Integrity (January 2023)

Moving into 2023, perhaps it will be safe to say that the era of the low-carbon energy mix has begun as the primary energy production landscape is changing fast. Until now, fossils fuels have dominated, and may still for the next few years dominate, the energy mix; however, a shift is taking place that will gain momentum, driven by global efforts toward addressing climate-change challenges and the large cost to human health caused by fossil fuels. Several cleaner energy solutions such as renewables are expanding global footprints. Some of these mix options require wells similar to those for oil and gas but with convoluted integrity challenges. This means that in the future, well integrity will become even more important and will continue to be part of the energy-mix solution. It is time to double down on how we, as part of the energy-mix industry, understand the many aspects of well integrity. Repurposing of existing oil and gas wells for carbon storage driven by cost optimization currently is under discussion in many parts of the world. While this makes sense commercially, it is critical to assess the in-situ state and, more importantly, the suitability of the existing flow-wet well barriers’ metallurgy for repurposing because failure conditions and risk envelopes change. A holistic review of flow-wet material conformance for repurposing is currently a subject of low focus, but due diligence on a case-by-case basis is imperative lest these wells present well-integrity issues with consequences when operational. As the well-integrity role grows, well surveillance and complete monitoring with artificial intelligence also will play a crucial role in the journey ahead. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. IPTC 21472 Features, Events, and Processes-Based Model Development for Assessing Well-Integrity Risk Related to CO2 Storage in Central Luconia Gas Fields in Sarawak by Parimal A. Patil, Petronas, et al.

Global Production Networks in the Regional Analysis Framework: Case of the EU Peripheral Automotive Manufacturing

Recent transformations following the global financial crisis of 2009, COVID-19 pandemic, supply chains disruptions and newest shocks have radically reshaped global production landscape and challenged comparative benefits of global production networks (GPN) vs global value chains (GVC) paradigms in international production analysis. The study tests the hypothesis that GPN concept allows for a better identification of structural shifts in international production structures while revealing regional patterns of cooperation. In the first section, the main methodological constraints of GVC paradigm are specified. Additionally, the reasons for the application of network-based approach to international production are outlined. The second section dissects the EU automotive manufacturing to support the theoretical propositions. While comparing GVC and GPN quantitative toolkits, the possible trade-off has been reached which is to calculate network indicators (transitivity, centrality, etc.) on the inter-country input-output tables. As a result, the hypothesis was confirmed. Specifically, betweenness centrality metric suggests that Czechia and Slovakia have immediately favoured a positive effect of the entry into the EU, whereas neither of GVC indicators reveals such a shift. Simultaneously, 2008 crisis is depicted via GVC indicators, whilst network metrics suggest no structural changes in the production system. These results corroborate to our theoretical juxtaposition of GVC/GPN approaches. The methodological cohesion of two sets of indicators further advances the views on European regional coreperiphery integration and automotive production networks dynamics. At the same time, the findings may contribute to the reassessment of regional integration developments in Europe, as well as in Latin America and Eurasia.

Spatial trade-offs between ecological and economical sustainability in the boreal production forest

Economically-oriented forestry aims to sustain timber harvest revenues, while ecologically-oriented management supplies suitable habitat for species using deadwood as primary habitat. As these objectives are conflicting, planning for economic and ecological sustainability involves compromise and trade-offs. We analyze the spatial trade-offs between the economic value from timber harvesting and the volume of deadwood in the boreal forest. We assess these trade-offs from three perspectives: (1) landscape characteristics, affected by conservation strategies; (2) forest management promoting either economic or ecological values; (3) uncertainty in inventory errors undermining the estimate of the two sustainability objectives. To reveal the tradeoffs between the forest economic and ecological values we simulated and optimized a production landscape in Finland 30 years into the future accounting for uncertainty in biomass and deadwood inventories. We found that, with a limited reduction in timber harvesting (7%), (i) the amount of deadwood increased more in non-aggregated (45%) than in aggregated (16%) stands, (ii) constraining stands in adjacent areas further increased deadwood (21%) respect to the matrix and (iii) 7% of connected stand area harbored ≥20 m3/ha deadwood supporting survival of near-threatened species. Our results demonstrate that the structure of the landscape for biodiversity can be improved with limited economic losses. However, improving habitat configuration requires larger economic losses than only increasing habitat amount, but its ecological benefits are larger both for common and red-listed species. We found that management oriented towards stand aggregation not only creates connected areas with high deadwood of high value biodiversity but also improves the value of the whole matrix by decreasing intensive timber harvesting and energy wood collection. Finally, we found that uncertainties alter the estimate of the potential of the forest landscape to supply deadwood, and this can affect the choice of management actions to allocate over the landscape. To conclude, our results demonstrate the trade-offs between economic forest use and conservation are affected differently by landscape characteristics, forest management and uncertainty in inventory errors. As such these drivers should be considered when optimizing the forest for multiple uses.

Modeling a localized metropolitan food system in the Midwest USA: Life cycle impacts of scenarios for Des Moines, Iowa

Food systems are energy-intensive, causing ≈25 % of anthropogenic global warming potential (GWP) and contributing to challenges across the food-energy-water nexus. The state of Iowa, USA, is of particular interest as a rainfed agricultural region of the upper Midwest; despite its highly productive landscape, a large proportion of food consumed by Iowa residents is imported. This study focused on the Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area (DM-MSA), a six-county area in central Iowa with a 2020 population of ≈700,000. A life cycle assessment approach was used to quantify environmental impacts (GWP, fossil energy and water consumption, land use); scenarios modeled provision and consumption of 50 % of nutritional requirements for the current DM-MSA population by food group (e.g., grains, proteins, vegetables). The four DM-MSA food system scenarios were: 1) current conditions (baseline), 2) local production for 50 % of food, 3) consumption changed to follow USA dietary guidelines, and 4) combined changes to production and consumption. Localizing food production reduced all environmental impacts more than following USA dietary guidelines. Compared to the baseline, 50 % local production scenarios reduced GWP and energy consumption (18–24 %) and water use (35–41 %) annually. Decreases by food group were least for protein (−10 % GWP) and greatest for fruits and vegetables (−58–62 % GWP). Local scenario alternatives could further reduce some environmental impacts if paired with a nutritionally- and environmentally-optimized diet (EAT-Lancet) providing the greatest change (−30–38 % for GWP and energy use) compared to the local scenario. A 50 % local production scenario for the DM-MSA could decrease GWP by 102 million CO2eq yr−1 and water use by 44 billion L yr−1. However, this would require dietary changes based on seasonal food availability. Further development and co-simulation with other metropolitan-scale biophysical and social models will enhance understanding of food system drivers and support effective decision-making for urban food system improvements in the Midwest.

Using satellite data to assess spatial drivers of bird diversity.

Birds are useful indicators of overall biodiversity, which continues to decline globally, despite targets to reduce its loss. The aim of this paper is to understand the importance of different spatial drivers for modelling bird distributions. Specifically, it assesses the importance of satellite-derived measures of habitat productivity, heterogeneity and landscape structure for modelling bird diversity across Great Britain. Random forest (RF) regression is used to assess the extent to which a combination of satellite-derived covariates explain woodland and farmland bird diversity and richness. Feature contribution analysis is then applied to assess the relationships between the response variable and the covariates in the final RF models. We show that much of the variation in farmland and woodland bird distributions is explained (R 2 0.64-0.77) using monthly habitat-specific productivity values and landscape structure (FRAGSTATS) metrics. The analysis highlights important spatial drivers of bird species richness and diversity, including high productivity grassland during spring for farmland birds and woodland patch edge length for woodland birds. The feature contribution provides insight into the form of the relationship between the spatial drivers and bird richness and diversity, including when a particular spatial driver affects bird richness positively or negatively. For example, for woodland bird diversity, the May 80th percentile Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for broadleaved woodland has a strong positive effect on bird richness when NDVI is >0.7 and a strong negative effect below. If relationships such as these are stable over time, they offer a useful analytical tool for understanding and comparing the influence of different spatial drivers.

Successful scaling of Edible City Solutions to promote food citizenship and sustainability in food system transitions

Sustainable, productive and biodiversity-friendly urban landscapes are a strategic step in transitioning to future-proof, liveable and healthy cities Edible nature-based solutions, otherwise known as “Edible City Solutions”, comprise a wide range of different forms of sustainable urban food production, distribution and consumption which use innovative principles of ecological design combined with closed material and energy flows. Edible City Solutions contribute to a local green economy, reduce cities' overall ecological footprint, enhance social cohesion, human health and wellbeing and contribute to bridging the gap between “farm and fork”. These benefits have been tested and monitored in Living Labs where a wide portfolio of different solutions have been implemented and scaled in order to accelerate their uptake and use in urban landscapes. The study documents and analyses different scaling practices and activities of the co-created Living Labs – together with local actors within the “scaling community” in Andernach, Berlin, Havanna, Oslo and Rotterdam. We follow a mixed method approach and analyse data by applying the different scaling pathways of scaling up, scaling deep, scaling wide, scaling across and scaling soft previously identified through a systematic literature review. Results are presented as ongoing scaling stories, experiences and challenges in the Living Labs. The study also highlights examples of scaling practices beyond the Living Labs and suggests strategic plans for future scaling. Scaling processes, strategies and approaches are critically reviewed and discussed. Observations are condensed into eleven recommendations for scaling edible nature-based solutions.