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Soybeans are ubiquitous in the global food system. As a major forest risk commodity, they are also at the heart of efforts to untangle the dynamics of land use change and associated impacts resulting from distant drivers. However, land system science has so far largely ignored the historically and socially embedded nature of these entanglements. This results in snapshot-like representations relying on neoclassical approaches to production and consumption. Here, we trace the evolution of the global soybean complex (GSC) since the late nineteenth century. We analyze how in the context of external developments soybeans have been channeled into different provisioning systems. This has occurred in a series of socio-ecological fixes, facilitated by socio-technological innovations and public sector interventions, motivated by different impediments to capital accumulation. Today, several emerging socio-technological practices promise to transform the GSC towards sustainability. We argue that the contemporary GSC inherits defining properties from the past, particularly the postwar strategy of using industrial animal farming to add value to surplus grains and oilseeds. The expanding GSC is therefore not merely a result of increasing demand, but rather the outcome of different provisioning systems’ continued dependence on soybeans. Future transitions will depend on public interventions and the influence of vested interest in current socio-metabolic patterns.

Among the different analytical methods that can be used to analyze sustainable water management and policies, the United Nations promotes the standards within the System of Environmental Economic Accounting for Water (SEEA-Water). While the SEAA-Water has been tested at sub-national levels, its implementation in urban settings is just beginning. The objective of this article is to assess the extent to which the tools available within the SEEA-Water can actually guide sustainable urban water management. A multidimensional, predominantly qualitative methodology is used. Based on the compiled SEEA-Water information and supplementary information for social aspects, the framework itself was assessed as a tool to respond to the urban sustainability challenges of growing Latin American cities. The study concludes that the implementation of the SEEA-Water at the urban level enables the compilation of information on the quantity and quality of water resources and the monetary economy of the city. This is helpful to organize information on water flows and economic productivity of water, and to detect key urban pressures on water quality. However, this framework misses relevant information needed to manage water as a holistic element intertwined with socio-environmental processes in urban areas. A key gap identified is related to issues of water equity., Entre los diferentes métodos analíticos que se pueden utilizar para analizar la gestión y las políticas sostenibles del agua, Naciones Unidas promueve la metodología estandarizada del Sistema de Contabilidad Ambiental y Económica para el Agua (SCAE-Agua). Si bien se ha probado a escala subnacional, su implementación en entornos urbanos está comenzando. El objetivo del artículo es evaluar hasta qué punto las herramientas disponibles dentro del SCAE-Agua pueden guiar la gestión sostenible del agua urbana. Se emplea una metodología multidimensional, preponderantemente cualitativa. Sobre la base de la información compilada del SCAE-Agua e información complementaria para aspectos sociales, el marco del SCAE-Agua fue evaluado como una herramienta para responder a los retos de sostenibilidad urbana, en las ciudades en crecimiento de América Latina. Se concluye que la implementación del SCAE-Agua en el ámbito urbano permite recopilar información sobre cantidad y calidad de los recursos hídricos, además de la economía de la ciudad. Ello es útil para organizar la información sobre los flujos y la productividad económica del agua, y para detectar presiones urbanas sobre la calidad de esta. Sin embargo, este marco pierde información necesaria para gestionar el agua como un elemento holístico entrelazado en los procesos socioambientales en las áreas urbanas. Una brecha clave identificada es la equidad del agua. La implementación del SCAE-Agua en una ciudad latinoamericana demostró su utilidad para recopilar información sobre cantidad y calidad de los recursos hídricos, además de la economía de la ciudad. Esto es útil para organizar la información sobre los flujos de agua y la productividad económica del agua, y para detectar presiones urbanas claves sobre la calidad del agua. Sin embargo, este marco pierde información relevante necesaria para gestionar el agua como un elemento holístico entrelazado en los procesos socioambientales en las áreas urbanas. Una brecha clave identifi

This study examines urbanization patterns linked to social housing units and the way in which such patterns influence the practice of urban agriculture (UA) in Mexico. Due to the transformations that take place over time in Mexican social-housing units, impervious surfaces tend to increase at the expense of greenspace and UA possibilities. The research aims to identify the negative impact of social housing transformations on UA and suggest a policy framework for sustainable housing development in Mexico. The empirical analysis distinguishes four social housing typologies within two emblematic neighborhoods in the city of Merida, Mexico: Las Magnolias and Ampliación Tixcacal-Opichén. A survey of 157 housing units combines quantitative metrics and qualitative descriptors to unveil the detrimental impact of development on UA. The results show that UA takes place within the building lots and around the housing units, rather than in public urban areas. 60% of the sampled units practiced UA, with traditional backyard gardens being the most common modality. The research findings point to a systematic expansion of impervious surfaces, limitation of both cultivation choices and crop variety, and major restrictions on UA practices. Social housing represents the bulk of residential developments in Mexico (42.7% out of 35.5 million housing units). Left unregulated, the types of social housing transformations that have been empirically verified in this study endanger the availability of green space as the primary resource for UA. This research sheds light on critical policy changes and formulations that are required to enhance UA practices and to establish greener cities and more sustainable housing development., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

Altres ajuts: Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSIC, Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M, About 56 percent of the world's population currently lives in cities. Anthropogenic activities have both directly and indirectly modified their environment. Therefore, management actions at the urban level determine whether or not cities are heading toward sustainability. Consequently, water management is in need of a clear insight of the social and ecological water-related interactions. Thus, a new operational approach is proposed for a better understanding of the interactions between the water cycle, cities and the society. In our approach, eleven key issues and their interactions emerge from an analysis of 371 documents published between 2012 and 2018. The interactions between different key issues were examined through four main foci of analysis: water resources, urban throughput, water equity, and water governance and financing. Those main foci help to comprehend water as a holistic element intertwined in urban areas. In addition, our approach provides six challenges to guide the stakeholders in decision-making processes: how to recognize, integrate, and/or restore water-related ecosystem services, how to maintain and improve the supporting green and blue spaces, how to guarantee the quality and quantity of water resources and the water supplied and used, how to ensure public and social health and well-being of the citizens, how to prevent and manage water-related conflicts, and how to make informed and equitable decisions on water management at urban level?

The authors of this chapter advocate for the integration of environmental justice thinking in telecoupling research. The chapter provides a succinct review of the history and conceptual foundations of environmental justice, which encompass distribution, recognition and participation issues, and it reviews the most recent empirical case studies in the telecoupling literature. The findings show that few empirical analyses of telecoupled systems have directly incorporated environmental justice in their analytical approach and those which address justice issues do so indirectly, with more focus on distribution than on participation and recognition. The chapter argues that addressing questions of recognition and participation more centrally in telecoupling research and combining both quantitative and qualitative methods can contribute to more systematic attention towards environmental justice in telecoupled systems.

Food security is at the heart of governmental agendas of developing countries. In Latin America, urban agriculture (UA) offers an interesting alternative to ensuring a sufficient, safe and nutritious food supply for urban populations. However, Latin American cities have been subject to radical transformations in the last decades, most apparently through the expansion of social housing. The main objective of this research is to analyze the social perceptions and feasibility of UA in Mexican social housing neighborhoods. The Mérida city was used as a representative case study. Structured interviews were given to 65 key stakeholders across different categories (residents, urban government officials and technical experts). The results indicate a nonexistent perception of UA in Mérida, despite the secular agricultural tradition of the Yucatan region. Nevertheless, respondents agreed in their interest in potentially developing UA activities to improve diets, increase green areas, support local economies, and reduce CO2 emissions. The main perceived barriers for UA are the prevalent model of housing, with a very limited floor area, and the current approach to urban planning, which lacks non-built-up areas. Significantly, large artificialized zones create suitable areas to implement UA on extended rooftops. Finally, stakeholders demand the intervention of authorities at different levels (Federal [national], State [regional] and local) as a requirement to develop UA properly. The main pathways for this support should be to prepare new urban and housing policies and introduce economic incentives., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

El objetivo principal de esta tesis es investigar los efectos del tiempo de trabajo y la recesión económica sobre el medio ambiente y especialmente sobre las emisiones de carbono. Esto se lleva a cabo a través de cinco estudios originales. Los dos primeros análisis (capítulos 2 y 3) examinan el impacto de la recesión económica sobre las emisiones de carbono y los flujos de materiales. El primer estudio demuestra que globalmente al menos unos 31.34 Gt de emisiones de CO2 han sido evitadas debido a recesiones económicas desde 1960. Las recesiones son el factor más determinante de las reducciones de carbono, pero su efecto por sí solo no marcará la diferencia en el objetivo de mantener en menos de 2°C el incremento global de temperatura. El segundo estudio, basado en un análisis histórico de datos de panel de 150 países, encuentra que los períodos de recesión están significativamente asociados con la desmaterialización absoluta. Sin embargo, cuanto mayor fue el crecimiento del PIB, menos significativa fue la correlación. La correlación significativa desaparece cuando la tasa de crecimiento supera al 2%. Los minerales y metales utilizados a granel para la construcción parecen ser más sensibles a las fluctuaciones económicas que la biomasa y los combustibles fósiles. Las tres contribuciones siguientes (capítulos 4, 5 y 6) investigan posibles relaciones lineales y no lineales entre las horas de trabajo y la presión medioambiental. El tercer estudio encuentra una correlación negativa significativa entre el tiempo de trabajo y la presión ambiental para los países desarrollados, lo que contradice estudios previos, según los cuales la reducción del tiempo de trabajo mejora el medio ambiente. El cuarto estudio avanza el análisis dividiendo una muestra mundial en grupos de países desarrollados y en desarrollo y dividiendo el período de investigación en dos fases, antes y después del año 2000. Los resultados no muestran una correlación significativa entre el tiempo de trabajo y