Socio-environmental Challenges Research Articles

The role of the Environmental Education in tackling the Climate Emergency and biodiversity decline: articulating Brazilian experiences

Abstract: The transition to more sustainable societies is permeated by interests, conflicts, and predatory use of natural resources, generating vulnerability, socio-environmental injustice, and poverty. Considering that we are living in an era of uncertainty and multiplication of complex and wicked issues due to the prevailing logic of society, there is an urgent and unquestionable need to re-think educational paradigms, considering the need to redesign actions within transitional and transformational perspectives. This work describes and analyzes two educational experiences related to central and connected socio-environmental challenges: biodiversity loss and climate emergency. Both experiences encompass ways created to empower teachers to understand the complexity and create paths for action, highlighting the crucial role of participation and cooperation among different social institutions such as Governmental, Universities and NGOs. The challenge is to build communities as territory transformative agents in the use of active learning methodologies that promote meaningful knowledge from a perspective of the global South. Key Words: Social learning. Sustainable societies. Climate schools. Teacher training.

Comparison of Planted Pine versus Natural Mix Forests in Nepal

This study aimed to compare the socio-environmental benefits of one of the most widely planted forest species, i.e., Pinus roxburghii (Sarg., hereafter ‘Pine’ or ‘Pinus’) with naturally regenerated mixed forests in two community forests of Nepal. By analyzing tree rings, we estimate biomass production, carbon accumulation, and growth enhancement in both forest types using regression models, offering insights into sustainable forest management. Pinus forests exhibit instant social benefits through direct economic conversion and a higher rate of carbon sequestration. However, the lack of perpetuated production, due to unimodal stand structures, necessitates anthropogenic interventions for long-term sustainability. Challenges such as the absence of natural regeneration, frequent fires, limited undergrowth, limited species diversity, and likely soil erosion hinder long-term sustainability in Pinus forests. In contrast, natural regenerated mixed forests offer slow carbon sequestration with less opportunity for immediate economic conversion, yet they maintain a proportional age-class distribution and experience minimal fire incidence, abundant regeneration, higher biodiversity, and lower regeneration costs. Although no abrupt environmental disasters were observed through the dendrochronological assessment, a significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) was found between age and girth at breast height, biomass, and volume of the forests. This study underscores the crucial role of human intervention beyond conventional management focusing on the protection motive to production-oriented forests in optimizing the socio-economic and environmental benefits of both forest types in the changing socio-environmental challenges through informed management planning.

Urban trees as a lever for citizen engagement in public consultation processes: the case of Paris, France.

In the present context of increasing human population demography, worldwide social crises, and rapid ecological global change, large cities are facing major socio-environmental challenges. This convokes authorities to adapt their governance and urban planning to reconcile urban development, ecological systems, and city dwellers in the most sustainable way. To achieve such goals, local officials have to associate all local actors, including city-dwellers, to the decision-making process through participatory governance and/or participatory systems. Here, we elaborated an original pilot project governance system for a "Participatory System Combining Town Planning and Science" (the 2PS-CiTy), as part of the revision of the Local Urban Plan (LUP) of Paris, France, into a Bioclimatic LUP held from 2020 to 2024. By implementing 2PS-CiTy, we aimed to answer "How to turn trees into a lever for inhabitants' engagement in urban consultation systems?" Trees were chosen because they are emblematic elements of nature with significant roles in ecosystemic services such as urban climate regulation. Parisians were invited to (i) share in the first questionnaire some information on their knowledge about the LUP and their engagement in it, (ii) identify urban trees they consider remarkable, (iii) explain their choice in a second questionnaire, (iv) contribute to the urban consultation as part of the LUP revision, and finally, (v) give their feedback during a dedicated survey. Out of the 41 Parisians who took part in 2PS-City, 83% declared they were motivated to participate because they could contribute to the tree census, which in turn can constructively contribute to the Parisian LUP revision to bring more nature and sustainability in town. This study demonstrates that trees can be used as a lever for inhabitants' engagement in urban consultation systems to make cities more sustainable. Our survey also showed that the 2PS-CiTy governance system could be improved by (1) developing a participatory culture among decision-makers and (2) preventing nowadays silo governance from developing the most promising public governance systems that involve the departments of green space, urban planning, and local democracy.

China’s nature-based solutions in the Global South: Evidence from Asia, Africa, and Latin America

China increasingly engages in environmental diplomacy through South-South cooperation across the developing world. Since 2019, the rise of the discourse of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) within this cooperation has been exponential. Coined just over ten years ago, NbS refers to the underexplored potential of leveraging the natural world to address socio-environmental challenges. The concept finds particular resonance in China, where it demonstrates strong parallels with the domestically-pioneered concept of Ecological Civilization – the ruling paradigm when it comes to all realms of Chinese environmental governance. Building on the global discourse, NbS has been adapted to the Chinese context, creating what some call “Chinese-style” NbS that prioritizes large-scale interventions and ecological engineering over grassroots preservation. China’s NbS are not only being pursued domestically, but also increasingly abroad through the country’s Belt and Road Initiative. From Southeast and Central Asia to Africa and Latin America, this article surveys Chinese-led or financed projects that fall under the broad umbrella of NbS. We provide a comparative analysis of these interventions – or the conspicuous lack of such interventions – to show the current status and future prospects for China’s growing sphere of influence when it comes to advancing NbS in the Global South. We find that China’s embrace of this concept in environmental diplomacy is directly related to the potential for NbS to serve as a tool for helping the country’s vision of an Ecological Civilization “go global.” The consonance between the rhetoric of NbS and Ecological Civilization, combined with the global reach of NbS, provides a powerful platform for taking Chinese environmental discourse to the global level.

Dialogues between agroecology and environmental education amidst contemporary socio-environmental challenges: A systematic literature review

This study presents a systematic literature review to explore the connections between agroecology and environmental education. Its objective is to address the query: How can agroecology contribute to environmental education? It categorizes research into three areas: non-formal environmental education, environmental education at school, and environmental education within undergraduate studies. Drawing on the results, this paper explores the potential for dialogue between these domains and delineates the contributions agroecology can provide to the field of environmental education. This approach broadens the epistemic and methodological frameworks of educational education, enhancing their capability to understand and address global injustices and oppressions.

Assessing the socio-environmental challenges by floods in 2017: a case from an Upazila of Northern Bangladesh

Assessing the socio-environmental challenges by floods in 2017: a case from an Upazila of Northern Bangladesh

Water Energy Food Nexus in Urbanizing Wetlands: Challenges and Solutions Explored through Choremes and Focus Maps

Addressing complex interactions within water, energy, and food (WEF) resources, innovative tools for in-depth analysis and decision-making are imperative. This study introduces chorematic focus maps (CFMs) as a groundbreaking method to visualize and tackle the WEF nexus’s complexities, focusing specifically on the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (DDBR). By merging geospatial analysis with on-site validation, this research reveals intricate interdependencies within the nexus and positions CFMs as an effective tool for stakeholders. This study adopts a methodological approach that focuses on identifying human activities and evaluating their impacts on the WEF nexus, with the goal of developing practical and grounded strategies for managing these essential resources. By testing this approach within the DDBR, the potential for wider application is demonstrated, offering a promising framework for addressing similar socio-environmental challenges across various regions. Future research directions include refining CFMs’ precision and practicality through extended fieldwork and stakeholder engagement, testing the framework’s adaptability across various locations and nexus dynamics. Additionally, incorporating cutting-edge technologies such as machine learning could provide deeper insights and reinforce CFMs’ role in decision support for the WEF nexus. Conclusively, this investigation into the WEF nexus through CFMs emphasizes the critical need for strategies that navigate the complexities of environmental management and resource optimization, marking CFMs as a significant tool for both decision-makers and researchers.

Narratives of research collaboration for sustainability at the global science-policy interface: A vehicle for inequality or transformation?

Collaborative science has become a ‘gold standard’ in sustainability science, to address increasingly complex socio-environmental challenges and knowledge divides. Inequalities shaping research collaborations (RCs) however remain unexplored in the science-policy interface. To address this gap, we carry out a critical discourse analysis of texts by international policy and research actors engaged in the global discourse on science for sustainability. We examine which narratives of RC they mediate, and how these address inequalities related to RC. Our study shows that documents of United Nations bodies primarily mediate a deficit narrative, with focus on a lack of resources and innovation capacity in ‘less developed’ countries. The alternative transformation narrative of RC mediated by reports of UNESCO and other science-policy institutions implementing science for the SDGs offers a more complex picture, which accounts for epistemic inequalities and frames RC as essential to address global challenges. The latter narrative holds most potential for change yet emerges with a varying prevalence, which we explain by institutional contexts and disciplinary diversity of experts. We find a disparity in the visibility of the transformation narrative in texts by policy actors and academic actors implementing science for sustainability. This may have structural implications for RC in global science and the inequalities they (re-)produce or counter. We suggest a more nuanced engagement with RC as policy and research subject for science to deliver the holistic transformation the 2030 Agenda strives for.

Implementation of Partnerships Between Companies and Civil Society Organizations to Promote Financial Education in The Context of Intersectoral Esg Strategies

Research objective: To verify how the relationship between the Third Sector and the Second Sector collaborates with the ESG agenda, aiming to answer the question “how partnerships between non-profit organizations and private companies can contribute to enabling actions focused on social, environmental and of governance, which are becoming increasingly relevant given the serious socio-environmental challenges we face?”. Theoretical framework: Fischer (2002) says that the bases for building intersectoral alliances are, in Brazil, fragile and small for reasons such as: the distrust of non-profit organizations in relation to private companies and their leaders, and the lack of sensitivity of the Second Sector with socio-environmental issues. Methodology: Case study of a financial education action carried out by C6 Bank in partnership with Fundação Almerinda Malaquias, in the city of Novo Airão, Amazonas, in 2022, through interviews and analysis of posts. Results: It is possible to understand the important role that digital banks have been playing in financial inclusion. Social impact actions tend to be incorporated into the company's culture. The survey confirmed that C6 Bank actually went to Amazonas with the aim of providing financial education content and not just promoting itself. Originality: Contributes to the understanding of a topic that is still little explored. Theoretical and practical contributions: Creating and maintaining diverse partnerships can be a strategy in Third Sector organizations that contribute to the fulfillment of their mission and their institutional strengthening, as this process opens up new perspectives of collaboration and action for innovative organizational forms of community participation. civil society.

The Relationality of Collective Property. Commons and Convivial Conservation in Umbria, Italy

This article, within the field of mountain geographies, proposes a critical analysis of collective property, as a virtuous example of territorial governance, connecting property studies with the concepts of common and convivial conservation. Structuring a series of social relations based on mutual obligations and shared values between community members, within an active participation to the territorial management fostered by the collective status of land property, collective land structures represent peculiar commons that local communities use and take care of. In particular, collective land property and collective territorial management foster convivial conservation processes at the socioecological level, while the implementation of individual private property relations tends to promote uncontrolled phenomena of exploitation of resources and individualistic attitudes. The analysis of the case studies, that are the Umbrian Comunanze Agrarie of Massa Martana and Colpetrazzo, confirms the positive relationality of collective property, counterposed to the socialisation of people and spaces linked to the territorialisation of individual private property, as it allows the maintenance of common goods and spaces which guarantee a direct and democratic territorial governance able to contrast the present socio-environmental challenges.

Adding value by national reporting to sustainability approaches of the local-regional level: The case of Germany

Global socio-environmental challenges and local impacts, global agendas, and local implementation: multi-level governance has never been more important – or more complex. To keep track of progress and the challenges in sustainable urban development, monitoring systems at all levels are at different stages of development and in need of harmonisation. In this context, national reporting can link the global level with the local one by identifying and reviewing framework conditions, and setting indicator and data standards for cities, counties, and municipalities. This raises questions about the awareness of different issues, resource imbalances and, not least, the effectiveness of standardised monitoring. This paper provides valuable insights into the lessons learned from the preparation of the first national progress report on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. The reflections could support further governance and monitoring efforts not only at the national level but also across all levels.

Sustainability impacts of sediments on the estuary, ports, and fishing communities of Cartagena Bay, Colombian Caribbean

AbstractThis article reviews research on sediment flux impacts on the receiving estuary, ports, and society in Cartagena, Colombia. The city hosts both the country's largest touristic and coastal industrial sectors and is home to vulnerable coastal communities whose health and livelihoods are impacted by pollution. These marginalized artisanal fishing communities lack basic water and health services but have finally been recognized in a new intersectoral committee for Cartagena Bay's environmental management. To support the governance of these complex socioenvironmental challenges, the Cartagena Bay Observatory has been developed as a scientific tool to monitor the bay's conditions and forecast the effects of future sediment remediation plans. Cartagena Bay receives large freshwater discharges from the Dique Canal, draining from the 260,000 km2 Magdalena River watershed where 80% of the national population resides. This runoff transports sediment loads of 2.3 Mt/year, dispersing large plumes that affect the marine ecosystems and tourism and make the bay one of the Caribbean's largest sediment‐receiving estuaries. Following decades of watershed deforestation and erosion, the upward trending sediment inputs and accretion of the Dique delta have resulted in deposition rates of 1.8 cm/year, and the need for frequent dredging. Mercury dumped by a chemical industry in the 1970s can be found in concentrations as high as 18.8 μg/g buried below the bay's bottom. Mercury has also been found in the bay's biota and human populations, and so the dredging needed for the port's sustainability thereby presents a health risk by allowing this trapped mercury to surface.This article is categorized under: Science of Water > Hydrological Processes Science of Water > Water Quality Science of Water > Water and Environmental Change

Challenging the Growth Paradigm: A Multifaceted Examination of Development, Disparity, and Environmental Concerns in Modern Economies

In the intricate landscape of developmental dynamics, understanding growth requires a deep dive into diverse factors, including urban-rural imbalances, dual economies, environmental ramifications, and gender disparities. Historically, colonial policies often favored urban development, exacerbating rural-urban divides, as seen in movements like Brazil's Landless Workers'. Furthermore, the dichotomy in economic structures elevates societal equity challenges, especially between traditional and modern sectors. As exemplified by India's Chipko movement, the environmental aftermath of colonial resource extraction lingers. The gender discourse has matured, with campaigns such as #MeToo spotlighting workplace equity. China, post-1976, epitomizes the potential and pitfalls of swift industrialization, providing invaluable insights for emerging economies. Given these multifaceted considerations, the essence of growth has become a pivotal research topic today. Dissecting the nuances of development encompasses disparities, regional variances, and environmental hurdles, weaving a complex tapestry that underscores the criticality of comprehensive developmental evaluations. As nations evolve, differences intensify, leading to significant socio-environmental challenges. This essay unravels these complexities, merging historical insights with present-day implications and setting the stage for future discourses in development.

Blockchain technology as an enabler for sustainable business ecosystems: A comprehensive roadmap for socioenvironmental and economic sustainability

AbstractBlockchain technology is a core technology expected to play a highly instrumental role in competing with socioenvironmental challenges. The literature hypothesizes various blockchain functions for building a sustainable business ecosystem. This study unifies these diverse perspectives into an interpretive strategy roadmap that provides a holistic overview of how blockchain should be leveraged to deliver sustainability functions optimally. The study first identified the sustainability functions of blockchain through a content‐centric literature review. The study applied interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and drew on experts' opinions to model how and in which order blockchain delivers these sustainability functions. The study further drew on the ISM output and interpretive logic‐knowledge base to develop the promised roadmap. Results revealed that blockchain promotes a decentralized decision system that facilitates automation and real‐time information sharing (RIS) across supply chains. Blockchain introduces traceability and transparency into supply chain operations. These conditions offer monitoring of business operations and the development of trust across value‐chain stakeholders. These driver functions lead to value chain optimization and circularity integration into business and supply chain operations. When these necessary functional conditions are met, businesses can further draw on blockchain to promote economic and environmental aspects of sustainability through more complex functions enabling resource efficiency, cost reduction, pollution prevention, and higher profit margins. The order in which businesses can leverage these functions would define blockchain sustainability performance. Each function is uniquely valuable to sustainability, and none of them can be overlooked.

Mainstreaming nature-based solutions through five forms of scaling: Case of the Kiiminkijoki River basin, Finland.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are considered as means to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss while simultaneously enhancing human well-being. Yet, it is still poorly understood how NBS could be mainstreamed. We address this gap by proposing a framework on NBS and employing it in Finland's Kiiminkijoki River basin through participatory workshops and a questionnaire. We examine socio-environmental challenges and visions, existing and emerging NBS to reach the visions, and ways to scale-up NBS to a river basin level. In the river basin, water quality is the priority challenge, due to its relationships with local culture, climate change, and biodiversity. Our results consider how (1) to ensure the relevance of NBS for local actors, (2) instrumental, intrinsic, and relational value perspectives can be enhanced simultaneously by NBS, and (3) site specific NBS can be mainstreamed (i.e., by scaling up, down, out, in, deep) to the river basin level and beyond.

Sustainability Assessment of Economic and Environmental Impacts: A Critical Systems Thinking Approach to Tackle Complex Environmental Challenges

Complex and interconnected vicious cycles of problems such as climate change, epidemics, poverty, and pollution create wicked environmental challenges. These transcend both conceptual and spatial boundaries, presenting a formidable challenge to contemporary society. Recognizing the diverse perspectives held by different quality individuals, this paper explores the necessity of involving key stakeholders in decision-making processes to effectively address these challenges. However, the exclusion of stakeholders from power-sharing mechanisms within existing social systems is a significant impediment. To address these multifaceted issues, an additional focus on emancipatory commitment and methodologies is required. One approach that holds promise in this regard is Ulrich's critical systems heuristics, a critical systems methodology that provides practical tools for achieving the goal. Through a comprehensive case analysis of a gas blow-out tragedy, this paper explores the application of critical systems heuristics and underscores the importance of extending its use beyond planning situations to encompass a critical evaluation of existing institutions. Introducing the contextual background of the mishap, it explores the extensive social, economic, political, and environmental consequences resulting from the incident. It highlights the fundamental cause of the wicked problem and employs the critical systems approach as a prospective tool to augment accountability and involve stakeholders in overcoming such wicked socio-environmental challenges.

Innovation in Green Building Projects: An Exploratory Inquiry

Green building (GB) projects, although being developed and operated for more than two decades, may still be regarded as innovative. To address the socio-environmental challenges of the built environment, GBs need to continuously innovate. A comprehensive account of the innovation frontiers and factors affecting GB project innovation is missing in previous studies. In this study, for an in-depth understanding of what makes these projects innovative and how to create an enabling environment for their innovation, semi-structured interviews with 45 GB experts from six regions were conducted. Innovation in GBs was found to be a function of the GB idea, constituent building technologies, potential performance, and the project development process. Key frontiers where innovation in GB projects is needed include environmental performance, health and well-being, and the resolution of mutually contradicting project aspirations. The study also identified some factors contributing to innovation in GBs, which are primarily related to support from the government, client, and project team; availability of time and budget; scalability of innovative solutions; and nature of the construction industry. A nexus between green certifications, sustainability, and innovation is also explained. The awareness and understanding of industry experts regarding GB project innovation will add to the theory of GB projects and green innovation, and will help stakeholders to create a more enabling environment for innovation.

AN APPLICATION-ORIENTED IMPLEMENTATION OF HEXAGONAL ON-THE-FLY BINNING METRICS FOR CITY-SCALE GEOREFERENCED SOCIAL MEDIA DATA

Abstract. The use of georeferenced social media data (GSMD) for informing municipal policy-making has significant potential, particularly in addressing pressing socio-environmental challenges. Geospatial dashboards have emerged as a powerful tool for knowledge communication and supporting urban sustainability. However, there has been little emphasis on how to display and make GSMD more accessible, partly due to their complex nature. Existing visualization tools lack sophisticated methods, especially for complex urban contexts, and the methodological choice can significantly impact the interpretation of results. In this study, we propose the use of hexagonal binning as an interactive visualization method and assess three different on-the-fly binning metrics for mapping GSMD. We expand the use of the signed chi metric for spatial purposes and apply it in a case study in Bonn, Germany. We evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed metrics as well as visualizations and highlight the challenges of visualizing GSMD particularly in the context of Instagram. Our findings highlight the importance of using appropriate context-dependent visualization methods when analyzing data at the municipal level.

The socio-environmental challenges in the transition to sustainable bioeconomy: a review

The bioeconomy has been proposed worldwide as a way to combat global environmental and socio-economic challenges, from climate change to income diversification and food security. Consequently, the term "bioeconomy" has gained considerable attention in the economic field over the last 15 years. Interestingly, an alleged global sustainable development model has become the subject of intense sustainability debate among researchers in recent years. The sustainability of the bioeconomy itself remains unanswered today. Most of the previous studies on sustainable bioeconomy focused on the analysis of the impacts on technology related to environmental issues while overlooking the socio-environmental implications and excluding society. Meanwhile, various studies highlight potential socio-environmental negative impacts associated with the new economic model. It is possible that the increased use of biological resources could further compromise ecosystems and create increasing social and ethical issues. Furthermore, this economic model could bring new environmental challenges related to the excessive use of soil and water. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine and identify potential socio-environmental sustainability challenges and pitfalls that need to be addressed in order to ensure a successful transition to a sustainable bioeconomy. Following a systematic literature review, scientific studies and field reports were selected for this review after searching Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus databases. The results identified a number of potential key socio-environmental concerns related to the transition to the bioeconomy.

Organizing for transformative innovation policies: The role of social enterprises. Theoretical insights and evidence from Italy

Transformative innovation policies can provide systemic solutions to socio-environmental challenges because of their “experimental”, “reflexive” and “inclusive” character. We contend that social enterprises can act as catalysts for transformative innovation for the geographically and socially marginalized. Thus, including social enterprises in transformative innovation policies can mitigate the negative effects of innovation-based growth, making policies more socially and geographically inclusive. Following a syncretic approach to the literatures on transformative innovation policies and social entrepreneurship, this paper identifies the key dimensions of social enterprises' transformative innovation potential: directionality (i.e., social goals as the purpose of innovation); social and geographical inclusiveness (i.e., the inclusion of marginalized areas and individuals in the provision of goods or services); reflexivity (in terms of participatory governance and monitoring the achievement of goals); and experimental character (in terms of establishing partnerships with heterogeneous actors). We then assess this capacity through an exploratory cluster analysis of Italian social enterprises. We identify three distinct groups that suggest a range of entrepreneurial approaches from largely transformative to not at all. The transformative innovation readiness of social enterprises has implications for policymakers seeking to undertake pilot schemes and implement actions that support an appropriately transformative innovation ecosystem.