| 1. |
- Acosta García, Nicolas, 1986, et al.
(författare)
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Disagreeing well in an unparadigmatic field: a response to Bodin (2021)
- 2023
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1862-4065 .- 1862-4057. ; 18, s. 1049-1052
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In a recent opinion article, sustainability researcher Örjan Bodin claims that a shift leftward in sustainability science has rendered certain topics and research methods taboo, thus inhibiting the field’s ability to contribute to achieving Agenda 2030. In this response, we problematise Bodin’s framing of sustainability science, arguing he has misrepresented the field as “normal” rather than acknowledging its unparadigmatic character. It is precisely the unparadigmatic character of sustainability sciences (plural emphasised) that allows the field to begin addressing the wicked problems of our time. The question is then how to “disagree well” and assure quality in this unparadigmatic field.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Johnn, et al.
(författare)
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Socio-techno-ecological transition dynamics in the re-territorialization of food production : the case of wild berries in Sweden
- 2024
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : Springer. - 1862-4065 .- 1862-4057.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent geopolitical and economic crises underline the need for a European transition towards a more sustainable food system. Scholars and policymakers have called for a re-territorialization of food production to strike a better balance between local, regional and global value chains. This paper explores the role of re-territorialization through an analysis of the emergence, development and current transformation of the Swedish wild berry value chain. The analysis combines the multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions with a socio-techno-ecological system approach and draws on interviews, informal conversations, participant observations and a range of secondary sources. The resulting case narrative shows how processes of de-territorialization may result in regimes that fail to address sustainability potential and problems. It also highlights that processes of re-territorialization challenge established regimes by promoting niches that represent different, albeit complementary, value chain configurations. Apart from a rich empirical narrative that brings useful knowledge to stakeholders to the Swedish wild berry value chain, the paper contributes to the theoretical understanding re-territorialization, shows how the ecological dimension can be accounted for with the multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions and presents a number of general policy implications.
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| 3. |
- Angeler, David
(författare)
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Panarchy theory for convergence
- 2023
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1862-4065 .- 1862-4057. ; 18, s. 1667-1682
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Coping with surprise and uncertainty resulting from the emergence of undesired and unexpected novelty or the sudden reorganization of systems at multiple spatiotemporal scales requires both a scientific process that can incorporate diverse expertise and viewpoints, and a scientific framework that can account for the structure and dynamics of interacting social-ecological systems (SES) and the inherent uncertainty of what might emerge in the future. We argue that combining a convergence scientific process with a panarchy framework provides a pathway for improving our understanding of, and response to, emergence. Emergent phenomena are often unexpected (e.g., pandemics, regime shifts) and can be highly disruptive, so can pose a significant challenge to the development of sustainable and resilient SES. Convergence science is a new approach promoted by the U.S. National Science Foundation for tackling complex problems confronting humanity through the integration of multiple perspectives, expertise, methods, tools, and analytical approaches. Panarchy theory is a framework useful for studying emergence, because it characterizes complex systems of people and nature as dynamically organized and structured within and across scales of space and time. It accounts for the fundamental tenets of complex systems and explicitly grapples with emergence, including the emergence of novelty, and the emergent property of social-ecological resilience. We provide an overview of panarchy, convergence science, and emergence. We discuss the significant data and methodological challenges of using panarchy in a convergence approach to address emergent phenomena, as well as state-of-the-art methods for overcoming them. We present two examples that would benefit from such an approach: climate change and its impacts on social-ecological systems, and the relationships between infectious disease and social-ecological systems.
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| 4. |
- Arias Schreiber, Milena, 1965, et al.
(författare)
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Swimming upstream: community economies for a different coastal rural development in Sweden
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1862-4065 .- 1862-4057. ; 15, s. 63-73
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2019, The Author(s). The EU Blue Growth agenda is being implemented at a time when European coastal fisheries and traditional fishing communities are struggling to survive or have already vanished from areas where they used to flourish. Driven by the strong conviction that current disadvantaged and vulnerable coastal fishers still have a central role to play in rural development, local level initiatives are calling for a different future for this fishery sector. The participants in these initiatives insist that coastal fisheries should not be driven to extinction, despite their low economic profitability and thus minimal contribution to economic growth compared to large-scale enterprises. Through participatory observation and informal interviews, we investigate one of these local level initiatives on the Swedish Baltic Sea coast and analyse how it aligns with a community economies’ project based on a different economic perspective. We describe first the primary activities carried out by the initiative and follow by an examination on what drove it, how it has been maintained, and how it might spread. We conclude on the potentials of the community economies framework and project to advance a Blue degrowth agenda based on difference and not necessarily less.
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| 5. |
- Ayers, James, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
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Intrapersonal capacities for sustainability : a change agent perspective on the ‘inner dimension’ of sustainability work
- 2023
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : Springer. - 1862-4065 .- 1862-4057. ; 18:3, s. 1181-1197
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An ongoing discussion in education for sustainable development (ESD) research has focused on defining a list of agreed upon sustainability competencies required for the work of sustainability change agents. This discussion has included the consideration of an ‘Intrapersonal’ perspective that considers the role of inner qualities in change agents and how this impacts their ability to implement sustainability. While many researchers have looked at the ‘inner dimension’ of sustainability work, the identification and function of an ‘Intrapersonal’ competence remains in question. Utilizing practitioner responses, this paper identifies eight Intrapersonal capacities that change agents described as beneficial to their implementation of sustainability. These capacities are the ability to: Hold complexity, Foster a learner’s mindset, Deeply value others, Let be, Show up as one’s full self, Regulate and manage the self, Persist with lightness and Ensure one’s wellbeing. The study provides insights into the identification of the capacities and their relationship to a wider Intrapersonal research field. It also discusses the implications this perspective has on education for sustainable development should it consider incorporating such capacities into teaching and learning. While much literature in the field is of conceptual nature, this paper offers an empirical contribution by including the voice and perspective of change agents to the Intrapersonal discussion. © 2023, The Author(s).
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| 6. |
- Basnet, Shyam, et al.
(författare)
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Organic agriculture in a low-emission world : exploring combined measures to deliver a sustainable food system in Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1862-4065 .- 1862-4057. ; 18:1, s. 501-519
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the EU, including Sweden, organic farming is seen as a promising pathway for sustainable production, protecting human health and animal welfare, and conserving the environment. Despite positive developments in recent decades, expanding organic farming to the Swedish national target of 30% of farmland under organic production remains challenging. In this study, we developed two scenarios to evaluate the role of organic farming in the broader context of Swedish food systems: (i) baseline trend scenario (Base), and (ii) sustainable food system scenario (Sust). Base describes a future where organic farming is implemented alongside the current consumption, production and waste patterns, while Sust describes a future where organic farming is implemented alongside a range of sustainable food system initiatives. These scenarios are coupled with several variants of organic area: (i) current 20% organic area, (ii) the national target of 30% organic area by 2030, and (iii) 50% organic area by 2050 for Sust. We applied the ‘FABLE (Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-use and Energy) Calculator’ to assess the evolution of the Swedish food system from 2000 to 2050 and evaluate land use, emissions and self-sufficiency impacts under these scenarios. Our findings show that expanding organic farming in the Base scenarios increases the use of cropland and agricultural emissions by 2050 compared to the 2010 reference year. However, cropland use and emissions are reduced in the Sust scenario, due to dietary changes, reduction of food waste and improved agricultural productivity. This implies that there is room for organic farming and the benefits it provides, e.g. the use of fewer inputs and improved animal welfare in a sustainable food system. However, changing towards organic agriculture is only of advantage when combined with transformative strategies to promote environmental sustainability across multiple sections, such as changed consumption, better production and food waste practices.
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| 7. |
- Bengtsson, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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Transforming systems of consumption and production for achieving the sustainable development goals : moving beyond efficiency
- 2018
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : SPRINGER JAPAN KK. - 1862-4065 .- 1862-4057. ; 13:6, s. 1533-1547
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The United Nations formulated the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in 2015 as a comprehensive global policy framework for addressing the most pressing social and environmental challenges currently facing humanity. In this paper, we analyse SDG 12, which aims to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. Despite long-standing political recognition of this objective, and ample scientific evidence both on its importance and on the efficacy of various ways of promoting it, the SDGs do not provide clear goals or effective guidance on how to accomplish this urgently needed transformation. Drawing from the growing body of research on sustainable consumption and production (SCP), the paper identifies two dominant vantage pointsone focused on promoting more efficient production methods and products (mainly through technological improvement and informed consumer choice) and the other stressing the need to consider also overall volumes of consumption, distributional issues, and related social and institutional changes. We label these two approaches efficiency and systemic. Research shows that while the efficiency approach contains essential elements of a transition to sustainability, it is by itself highly unlikely to bring about sustainable outcomes. Concomitantly, research also finds that volumes of consumption and production are closely associated with environmental impacts, indicating a need to curtail these volumes in ways that safeguard social sustainability, which is unlikely to be possible without a restructuring of existing socioeconomic arrangements. Analysing how these two perspectives are reflected in the SDGs framework, we find that in its current conception, it mainly relies on the efficiency approach. On the basis of this assessment, we conclude that the SDGs represent a partial and inadequate conceptualisation of SCP which will hamper implementation. Based on this determination, this paper provides some suggestions on how governments and other actors involved in SDGs operationalisation could more effectively pursue SCP from a systemic standpoint and use the transformation of systems of consumption and production as a lever for achieving multiple sustainability objectives.
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| 8. |
- Berg, Håkan, et al.
(författare)
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Recognizing wetland ecosystem services for sustainable rice farming in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam
- 2017
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1862-4065 .- 1862-4057. ; 12:1, s. 137-154
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The increased rice production in the Mekong Delta during the last two decades has improved agricultural income and reduced poverty, but it has also had negative impacts on the environment and human health. This study shows that integrated rice-fish farming and integrated pest management strategies provide sustainable options to intensive rice farming, because of a more balanced use of multiple ecosystem services that benefit the farmers' health, economy and the environment. The study investigates and compares farming strategies among 40 rice and 20 rice-fish farmers in two locations in the Mekong Delta. Production costs and income are used to compare the systems' financial sustainability. The farmers' perception on how their farming practices influence on ecosystem services and their livelihoods are used as an indication of the systems' ecological and social sustainability. Although rice-fish farmers used lower amount of pesticides and fertilisers than rice farmers, there were no statistical differences in their rice yields or net income. Rice was seen as the most important ecosystem service from rice fields and related wetlands, but also several other ecosystem services, such as water quality, aquatic animals, plants, habitats, and natural enemies to pests, were seen as important to the farmers' livelihoods and wellbeing. All farmers perceived that there had been a general reduction in all these other ecosystem services, due to intensive rice farming during the last 15 years, and that they will continue to decline. The majority of the farmers were willing to reduce their rice yields slightly for an improved quality of the other ecosystem services.
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| 9. |
- Bergmann, Matthias, et al.
(författare)
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Transdisciplinary sustainability research in real-world labs: success factors and methods for change
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1862-4057 .- 1862-4065. ; 16:2, s. 541-564
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The transdisciplinary research mode has gained prominence in the research on and for sustainability transformations. Yet, solution-oriented research addressing complex sustainability problems has become complex itself, with new transdisciplinary research formats being developed and tested for this purpose. Application of new formats offers learning potentials from experience. To this end, we accompanied fourteen research projects conceptualized as real-world labs (RwLs) from 2015 to 2018. RwLs were part of a funding program on ‘Science for Sustainability’ in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Here, we combine conceptual and empirical work to a structured collection of experiences and provide a comprehensive account of RwLs. First, we outline characteristics of RwLs as transformation oriented, transdisciplinary research approach, using experiments, enabling learning and having a long-term orientation. Second, we outline eleven success factors and concrete design notes we gained through a survey of the 14 RwLs: (1) find the right balance between scientific and societal aims, (2) address the practitioners needs and restrictions, (3) make use of the experimentation concept, (4) actively communicate, (5) develop a ‘collaboration culture’, (6) be attached to concrete sites, (7) create lasting impact and transferability, (8) plan for sufficient time and financial means, (9) adaptability, (10) research-based learning, and (11) recognize dependency on external actors. Characteristics and success factors are combined to illustrate practical challenges in RwLs. Third, we show which methods could be used to cope with challenges in RwLs. We conclude discussing the state of debate on RwLs and outline future avenues of research.
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| 10. |
- Bitoun, R. E., et al.
(författare)
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A methodological framework for capturing marine small-scale fisheries' contributions to the sustainable development goals
- 2024
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Ingår i: SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE. - 1862-4065 .- 1862-4057.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Small-scale fisheries (SSF) receive increasing international attention for landing around 40% of global marine fisheries catches and employing millions of people globally. Their contributions to food security and poverty alleviation, especially in developing countries, make it relevant to consider them when discussing sustainable development goals (SDGs). Achieving SDGs by supporting SSF means understanding fisheries in their broader context, from the health of marine ecosystems to social and economic features such as employment, public health, culture, and the effects of global change. Social-ecological relationships in SSF are complex and poorly understood, thus challenging the identification of policies that could improve and preserve the contributions of SSF to sustainable development. Here, we developed an expert-based rapid appraisal framework to identify and characterize the relationships between SSF and SDGs. The framework serves as a diagnostic tool for identifying strengths and gaps in SSF potential in enhancing SDG achievement in data-limited situations. Our structured approach extends beyond SDG 14 and target 14.b, offering insights into SSF's contributions to 11 other SDGs. As a proof of concept, we illustrate the approach and its potential contributions in two case studies in Madagascar. The method effectively captured the multiple dimensions of the SSF through the SDG lens, providing a contextually relevant understanding of how global UN goals can be achieved locally. Further research is needed to define mechanisms for aggregating and reporting the multiple, case-specific contributions of SSF to monitor progress toward the SDGs at national and global levels.
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