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Pedestrianization is an urban revitalization strategy to enhance sustainability and livability in car-oriented cities. Despite many studies in this research field, the effects of pedestrianization on the economy of cities in developing countries still need further investigation. Additionally, the impact of this strategy on the tenant mix of commercial and historical areas in Middle East countries is nebulous. To address these inadequacies, we considered Chaharbagh Abbasi street, located in the heart of Isfahan, Iran, and investigated the impact of a pedestrianization project with particular emphasis on how it affects the economic sustainability of existent commercial fabric. Pre and post-project data along with field observations and quantifications used to assess structural replacements in trade, were analyzed with SPSS and ArcGIS software. The results revealed unexpected outcomes, such as the closure of some traditional businesses (27.5%), a stagnation in sales (69%) and a decrease in job offers (84%) leading the local economy to a fragile situation. Conversely, it was found that the footfall volume increased by 64% and 73% from the retailers’ and pedestrians’ viewpoints. This evolution along with a wide opening of food and beverage stores (approximately 60%) makes the post-pedestrianization results more promising than earlier predictions. In conclusion, these findings reinforce the importance of pedestrian streets in revitalizing economic activities in historical and commercial areas from the perspective of economic sustainability. Due to the lack of similar investigations in Middle East countries, these findings can support decision-makers and urban planners to take preventive measures in preserving the diversity of individual small shops for upcoming urban rehabilitation projects in terms of pedestrianization.

Understanding the spatio-temporal dynamics of land use and land cover (LULC) and their drivers is instrumental in synthesizing knowledge for informed natural resource management, planning, and associated decisions. The objective of this study was to analyze LULC dynamics and their drivers in the Nyangatom district of southwest Ethiopia. This study adopted a mixed-method approach, comprising remote sensing and geographic information system-based analysis, focus-group discussions, key informant interviews, and structured interviews covering 384 agro-pastoral households. Land use and land cover maps were compiled with Landsat image data from 1992, 1999, 2010, and 2020 using supervised pixel-based classification with a maximum likelihood algorithm. The study revealed that grassland (33%) and shrub land (27%) are the dominant LULC classes in the study periods. The results show a significant increase in settlement, cropland, and bare land, between 1992 and 2020 following demand for fertile lands, overgrazing, and climate changes. Reductions in the water body, open woodland, riverine forest, and dense woodland of − 23%, − 18%, − 18%, and − 7%, respectively, were observed for the same period with an overall accuracy of 80%. Agro-pastoralists identified agricultural expansion, overgrazing, and drought as the main drivers of LULC changes, followed by conflicts, invasion of alien plant species, and change in policy institutions. The impacts of unplanned LULC change can be reduced through appropriate land-use planning with genuine stakeholder engagement. Updated information on present and future LULC dynamics can support these social dynamics and align a shared understanding among stakeholders that replaces polarization and erosion of mutual trust.

Current definitions of sustainability and sustainable development are problematic. They reinforce the dominant capitalist paradigm of economic growth as a goal—a system which has contributed in no uncertain terms to the current state of the planet—and they exclude animals as moral entities. We propose that sustainability is primarily an ethical issue which connects people, the planet on which we live, and the animals and other organisms which inhabit it. Our definition of sustainability states that in all decisions and actions on any scale, from the individual to the institutional, we should minimise our immediate and future negative impact on humans, other animals, and the planet, while simultaneously maximising our positive impacts on these domains. We take an interdisciplinary approach in discussing trade-offs between these three broad interests, providing a rationale for adopting this more inclusive definition at every level of society. Our definition calls for a normative shift in discussions around sustainability, one of which is more inclusive of the animals and other organisms with which we share the planet. We believe that the paper forms a strong and coherent foundation for policy and communication about sustainability going forward.

Late-successional unmanaged forests (or old-growth forests) are important terrestrial carbon sinks. Their structurally complex features have been hypothesized to strongly affect forest productivity. However, the mechanisms through which structural complexity influences forest productivity remain unresolved. Here, we report a set of idealised simulations in boreal, sub-boreal, cool-temperate, warm-temperate and tropical forests using a dynamic model of atmosphere and vegetation interactions (Multilayered Integrated Numerical Model of Surface Physics–Growing Plants Interaction, MINoSGI). We aimed to elucidate the effects of tree–size and canopy structural complexity on stand-scale gross primary productivity (GPP) of old-growth forests over 300-year time series. We assumed the tree-size structures of mature old-growth forests as the initial conditions of the simulations. We focused on three different developmental phases of the forests: 29–48 years (phase I), 77–96 years (phase II) and 277–296 years (phase III) from the start of the simulations. Phase I corresponds to an old-growth forest because of our settings of the initial conditions of the simulations, and phase III to a long-term resultant forest without recruitment or mortality. We show that, for a given biome-specific leaf area index (LAI) and individual foliage shape (η), the greatest difference in GPP (ΔGPP) between forests with the most and least structurally complex canopies was 263 g C/m−2(-|-) year−1 in phase I and II when old-growth forests with the most complex canopy structures sustained their complexity, equivalent to almost 13 % of the annual GPP. By contrast, the maximum difference in ΔGPP was reduced to 153 g C/m−2(-|-) year−1 in phase III, equivalent to 8 % of the annual GPP total because the complex canopy structures of old-growth forests without recruitment or mortality approached less multi-layered ones similar to those of less complex and managed forests. Our simulation results indicate that greater tree–size and canopy structural complexity is associated with a broader vertical distribution of foliage, supporting the localisation of leaves in multiple layers. This increases the efficacy of light usage, particularly for shaded leaves receiving only diffuse light within the canopy. As a consequence, for all forest biomes, an increase in in-canopy diffuse light increases GPP in forests with complex canopy structures due to an enhancement of light use efficiency (LUE) of shaded leaves. Overall, our results quantify one of the mechanisms underlying the effects of canopy structural complexity on forest productivity. Moreover, differences in foliage shape between forest biomes can add to uncertainties when predicting GPP based on simulation models. We, therefore, suggest that precise values of the biome-specific factors associated with canopy structure should be employed into simulation models of global carbon budgets.

Financial advisers recommend a diverse portfolio to respond to market fluctuations across sectors. Similarly, nature has evolved a diverse portfolio of species to maintain ecosystem function amid environmental fluctuations. In urban planning, public health, transport and communications, food production, and other domains, however, this feature often seems ignored. As we enter an era of unprecedented turbulence at the planetary level, we argue that ample responses to this new reality — that is, response diversity — can no longer be taken for granted and must be actively designed and managed. We describe here what response diversity is, how it is expressed and how it can be enhanced and lost.

Present global maps of soil water retention (SWR) are mostly derived from pedotransfer functions (PTFs) applied to maps of other basic soil properties. As an alternative, ‘point-based’ mapping of soil water content can improve global soil data availability and quality. We developed point-based global maps with estimated uncertainty of the volumetric SWR at 100, 330 and 15 000 cm suction using measured SWR data extracted from the WoSIS Soil Profile Database together with data estimated by a random forest PTF (PTF-RF). The point data was combined with around 200 environmental covariates describing vegetation, terrain morphology, climate, geology, and hydrology using DSM. In total, we used 7292, 33 192 and 42 016 SWR point observations at 100, 330 and 15 000 cm, respectively, and complemented the dataset with 436 108 estimated values at each suction. Tenfold cross-validation yielded a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 6.380, 7.112 and 6.485 10−2cm3cm−3, and a Model Efficiency Coefficient (MEC) of 0.430, 0.386, and 0.471, respectively, for 100, 330 and 15 000 cm. The results were also compared to three published global maps of SWR to evaluate differences between point-based and map-based mapping approaches. Point-based mapping performed better than the three map-based mapping approaches for 330 and 15 000 cm, while for 100 cm results were similar, possibly due to the limited number of SWR observations for 100 cm. Major sources or uncertainty identified included the geographical clustering of the data and the limitation of the covariates to represent the naturally high variation of SWR.

Sustainability-focused research networks and communities of practice have emerged as a key response and strategy to build capacity and knowledge to support transformation towards more sustainable, just and equitable futures. This paper synthesises insights from the development of a community of practice on social-ecological systems (SES) research in southern Africa over the past decade, linked to the international Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS). This community consists of a network of researchers who carry out place-based SES research in the southern African region. They interact through various cross-cutting working groups and also host a variety of public colloquia and student and practitioner training events. Known as the Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (SAPECS), its core objectives are to: (1) derive new approaches and empirical insights on SES dynamics in the southern African context; (2) have a tangible impact by mainstreaming knowledge into policy and practice; and (3) grow the community of practice engaged in SES research and governance, including researchers, students and practitioners. This paper reflects on experiences in building the SAPECS community, with the aim of supporting the development of similar networks elsewhere in the world, particularly in the Global South.

Energy consumption in buildings has become one of the most critical problems in all countries and principles of sustainability suggest that a satisfactory solution must be found to reduce energy consumption. This study aims to identify and prioritize energy consumption optimization strategies in buildings. Data collection consists of gathering primary data from the existing literature and secondary data from interviews, questionnaires, and simulations through building information modeling (BIM) tools. Twenty-nine strategies were identified and categorized into five groups according to their nature and ranked using one of the multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods called the step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA). A case study building in Shiraz, Iran, was simulated using BIM software, and the energy saving potential of the highest ranked strategies were obtained. According to the results, significant contributors to the energy consumption optimization were “Using renewable energy resources,” “Using efficient insulation,” and “Using suitable materials,” providing 100%, 35%, and 23% efficacy, respectively. The results obtained from this study can inform the building industry’s key stakeholders regarding the best strategies to apply in order to reduce energy consumption and improve sustainability in the construction industry.