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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Social Ecology and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 19031

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Candice Howarth

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Guest Editor

Grantham Research Institute, The London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 3PH, UK
Interests: climate policy and action; communication and engagement; science-policy interface; pro-environmental behaviour

Dr. Matthew Lane

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Guest Editor

School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, UK
Interests: cities; urban governance; environmental policy; theories of place

Dr. Amanda Slevin

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Guest Editor

School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queens University Belfast, BT7 1NN, UK
Interests: climate action; policy frameworks; just transition; community activism and participation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues

Clear policy signals by international organisations and national governments remain essential. Important decisions are increasingly being made beyond these scales, however, fostering climate action within localities: decisions about low-carbon business opportunities, renewable energy investment, urban transport, energy management, building efficiency and the management of climate risks. Meanwhile, it is increasingly being argued that the effective delivery of climate policy ultimately happens through place-based initiatives at the local level (Galarraga et al 2011, 2017) and that effective delivery of actions to promote low-carbon and climate-resilient development will require experiments with new governance arrangements (Bulkeley et al. 2019; Castan Broto, 2020; Kivimaa et al, 2017; Jordan et al. 2018). In particular, processes that engage and harness the combined energies of public, private and third sectors (Gouldson et al, 2016) and empower the aspirations of engaged individuals (Burke et al. 2018) are required.

This Special Issue invites research from a range of disciplines that contributes new thinking relating to the praxis of local climate action as well as methods for bridging the gap between theory and practice on climate action at the local level. Articles which explicitly engage with the challenge of enacting theories and imaginaries of sustainable futures in practice are particularly welcome. We invite submissions of abstracts on or around the following topics:

Pro-environmental behaviour;
Critical perspectives on what ‘place’ means for shaping climate change responses;
What ‘community’ means in the context of climate action;
Challenges in bridging climate theory and practice within place-based action;
Translation of climate policy into local action;
Innovative forms of local engagement and communication;
Everyday enactments of climate change resistance;
Different aspects of climate praxis for multilevel change;
Local climate adaptation.

References

Bulkeley H., Marvin S., Palgan Y. V., McCormick K., Breitfuss-Loidl M., Mai L., von Wirth T. and Frantzeskaki N. (2019). Urban Living Laboratories: conducting the experimental city? European Urban and Regional Studies. 26. 317-335

Burke, M., Ockwell, D. and Whitmarsh, L., (2018) Participatory arts and affective engagement with climate change: The missing link in achieving climate compatible behaviour change?. Global Environmental Change, 49, pp.95-105.

Castan Broto, V. (2020) Beyond tabulated utopias: Action and contradiction in urban environments, Urban Studies, https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1177/0042098020919084

Galarraga, I., Gonzalez-Eguino, M., Markandya, A. (2011) The Role of Regional Governments in Climate Change Policy. Environmental Policy and Governance, 21(3), 164-182

Dr. Candice Howarth
Dr. Matthew Lane
Dr. Amanda Slevin
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

climate action
pro-environmental behaviour
local
praxis

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 29579 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Inter-Municipal Methodology for Climate Transition Strategies: The First Case in Italy

by Giovanni Litt, Elena Ferraioli, Filippo Magni, Giulia Lucertini and Francesco Musco

Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2529; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14052529 - 22 Feb 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1790

Abstract

To build resilient and climate-neutral cities, it is required to modify current territorial planning processes to make them more sustainable and virtuous. However, the implementation of new strategies and innovative governance models faces multiple obstacles, economic restrictions, and technical gaps. In particular, local governments often find it difficult to build structured transition processes. This article investigates how it is possible to respond effectively to the need of urban contexts to adapt to climate impacts, analyzing the case of the Climate Transition Strategy (CTS) “La Brianza Cambia Clima”, the first in Italy of this kind. Through the technical framework and the methodology described, the CTS can activate inter-municipal transformative actions through the mainstreaming of planning tools, the construction of a medium-long-term vision, and the identification of concrete and widespread actions to be implemented in the territory. This coordinated and shared strategic approach allows one to give stability, coherence, and continuity to adaptation processes involving different stakeholders and sectors of the Public Administration. Finally, it favors the implementation of multidisciplinary policies for territorial resilience on a large scale. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Placing Climate Action)

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18 pages, 1135 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Communities on a Threshold: Climate Action and Wellbeing Potentialities in Scotland

by Svenja Meyerricks and Rehema M. White

Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7357; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13137357 - 30 Jun 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2870

Abstract

Community projects provide opportunities for their participants to collectively undertake climate action and simultaneously experience alternative concepts of wellbeing. However, we argue that community projects do so in ‘liminal’ ways—on the threshold of (unactualised) social change. We employed an ethnographic approach involving participant observation and qualitative interviews to investigate two community climate action projects in Scotland supported by the Climate Challenge Fund (CCF). We identify some of the outcomes and barriers of these projects in relation to promoting wellbeing through work, transport, participation and green spaces for food production, biodiversity and recreation. Projects’ achievements are contextualised in light of the urgent imperative to tackle climate change and against a background of social inequality. Liminal community projects are structurally constrained in their potential to create wider systemic changes. However, the projects’ potential to promote wellbeing among their participants can intersect with climate change mitigation when systemic and wide-ranging changes are adopted. These changes must involve a meaningful shift towards an economy that centres wellbeing, framed through principles of environmental justice and promoting social equity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Placing Climate Action)

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16 pages, 294 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Envisioning Climate Change Adaptation Futures Using Storytelling Workshops

by Rachel Harcourt, Wändi Bruine de Bruin, Suraje Dessai and Andrea Taylor

Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6630; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13126630 - 10 Jun 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3382

Abstract

Engaging people in preparing for inevitable climate change may help them to improve their own safety and contribute to local and national adaptation objectives. However, existing research shows that individual engagement with adaptation is low. One contributing factor to this might be that public discourses on climate change often seems dominated by overly negative and seemingly pre-determined visions of the future. Futures thinking intends to counter this by re-presenting the future as choice contingent and inclusive of other possible and preferable outcomes. Here, we undertook storytelling workshops with participants from the West Yorkshire region of the U.K. They were asked to write fictional adaptation futures stories which: opened by detailing their imagined story world, moved to events that disrupted those worlds, provided a description of who responded and how and closed with outcomes and learnings from the experience. We found that many of the stories envisioned adaptation as a here-and-now phenomenon, and that good adaptation meant identifying and safeguarding things of most value. However, we also found notable differences as to whether the government, local community or rebel groups were imagined as leaders of the responsive actions, and as to whether good adaptation meant maintaining life as it had been before the disruptive events occurred or using the disruptive events as a catalyst for social change. We suggest that the creative futures storytelling method tested here could be gainfully applied to support adaptation planning across local, regional and national scales. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Placing Climate Action)

10 pages, 245 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Ecosystem-Based Adaptation to Climate Change Can Help Coastal Communities through a Participatory Approach

by Liette Vasseur

Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2344; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13042344 - 22 Feb 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3655

Abstract

Coastal rural communities worldwide face many challenges not only related to climate change but also extreme events, environmental degradation, population growth or aging, and conflict usage of the ecosystem. Historically, the economies of coastal communities have been based on the exploitation of natural resources, thus shaping its socioeconomic development. This has led to some limitations in the way these communities can now adapt to climate change. In Canada, coastal communities are increasingly dealing with climate change consequences. Sea level rise, coastal erosion, and increasing frequency in storm surges threaten the fragility of both natural and human systems. Various approaches have been used to try to reduce the vulnerability and improve adaptive capacity of communities. One approach, promoted by many organizations including the United Nations, is ecosystem-based adaptation. This approach is part of the series of nature-based solutions that help social–ecological systems become more resilient; by promoting biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services, this approach also relates to principles of community engagement and supports adaptive governance and social inclusion. This paper describes and analyzes these principles and considers strategies for ensuring community engagement. Combining ecosystem-based adaptation with a strong community engagement can enhance the long-term sustainability of the social-ecological system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Placing Climate Action)

16 pages, 2713 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Vulnerability of the São Paulo Macro Metropolis to Droughts and Natural Disasters: Local to Regional Climate Risk Assessments and Policy Responses

by Pedro Henrique Campello Torres, Demerval Aparecido Gonçalves, Flávia Mendes de Almeida Collaço, Kauê Lopes dos Santos, Katia Canil, Wilson Cabral de Sousa Júnior and Pedro Roberto Jacobi

Sustainability 2021, 13(1), 114; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13010114 - 24 Dec 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3840

Abstract

The São Paulo Macro Metropolis (SPMM) is one of the richest and most inequitable regions of the Global South and is already experiencing the impacts of severe climate events. This study analyzes climate risk assessments and policy responses for this territory as well as its vulnerabilities. The Index of Vulnerability to Natural Disasters related to Droughts in the Context of Climate Change (IVDNS—acronym in Portuguese) was used to identify and select the most vulnerable municipalities in the SPMM. Following vulnerability analysis, the municipalities were subjected to risk analysis in the context of existing Brazilian legislation. The results indicate that, despite having positive capacities to respond to climate change, the analyzed municipalities are far from advancing from the status quo or taking the actions that are necessary to face future challenges in a climate emergency scenario. The results indicate that, despite being the most vulnerable to droughts and natural disasters, the cities analyzed are not the most vulnerable in the São Paulo Macro Metropolis from a socio-economic point of view. On the contrary, these are regions that could have a strong institutional capacity to respond to present and future challenges. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Placing Climate Action)

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12 pages, 761 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Envisaging Mitigation Action Can Induce Lower Discounting toward Future Environmental Gains and Promote Pro-Environmental Behavior

by Liang-Chu Ho, Yu-Hsien Sung, Chia-Chun Wu, Pei-Shan Lee and Wen-Bin Chiou

Sustainability 2020, 12(21), 9289; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12219289 - 09 Nov 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2439

Abstract

Low engagement with climate change may stem from the tendency to discount the distant benefits of mitigation action. Hence, a reduced tendency to discount the future should be associated with increased involvement in climate change mitigation. Prior research has demonstrated that episodic future thinking (EFT; i.e., envisioning future events that involve self-projection) can reduce discounting. In two laboratory studies, we showed that engaging in EFT about mitigation action was associated with a lower discounting tendency toward future environmental gains (Experiments 1 and 2) and a greater tendency to act pro-environmentally, as manifested by using air conditioning in an energy-saving manner (Experiment 1), choosing a meal with less environmental impact (Experiment 2), and willingness to participate in beach cleaning (Experiment 2). The present findings suggest that engagement in EFT about mitigation action may represent a promising strategy for improving personal involvement in climate change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Placing Climate Action)

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