Dear Colleagues,

Since the publication of the Brundtland Report in 1997, which defined the term Sustainable Development for the first time, the productive orientation of agriculture and the rural world has gradually shifted towards a growing respect for the environment, in order to achieve their sustainable orientation. For example, the European Union has included this environmental component in various reforms of its Common Agrarian Policy since the 1990s, to the point that agro-environmental measures are becoming increasingly important. This agro-environmental vision of agriculture is extending throughout the world, especially since the problem of climate change was considered as a transversal conditioning factor for all agricultural and rural development policies worldwide. As stated in the Green Deal, and within it, the strategy “From Farm to Fork”, the last challenge of the European Union, which aims to reach climatic neutrality by 2050, is to obtain completely sustainable agri-food systems. In rural areas, development must be achieved to improve social and economic conditions, but it must be sustainable, following the EU guidelines. Therefore, rural development must become Rural Sustainable Development. The discussions on what the strategic objectives of sustainable agriculture are, which criteria are to be considered, which are the actions to develop, and which are the methodological tools to use for the involved evaluations, are still underway.

Consequently, a fully up-to-date Sustainability Special Issue that aims to analyze the sustainability of agro-environmental management in agriculture and rural development will enable a space for reflection on the environmental problems that are generating great uncertainties about the future.

Prof. Dr. Francisco José Del Campo-Gomis
Dr. Luisa Paolotti
Prof. Dr. Asunción María Agulló Torres
Guest Editors

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• sustainable development
• agro-environmental management
• rural development
• agro-environmental policy