Sustainability Nexus Forum - Upcoming Topical Collections

With the new launch in 2023 Sustainability Nexus Forum welcomes submissions to upcoming topical collections. All topical collections are opened for submissions and can be viewed on the collections page (this opens in a new tab). Articles will undergo all of the journal's standard peer review and editorial processes outlined in its submission guidelines (this opens in a new tab).

Authors are invited to submit through the Springer online system (this opens in a new tab) (if you are a new author to the system, you will be required to create a system login).

1. Nexus Perspectives for Sustainability Transformation

As part of the 2030 Agenda, the United Nations (UN) has articulated 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) intended to transform our world. The SDGs, however, are highly interdependent and interconnected, and thus require the consideration of trade-offs and synergies when planning their appropriate implementation. This transformative task can only succeed with a nexus perspective– i.e., an approach that theoretically understands, and practically enhances the governance of transformations and their explicit interlinkages across actor groups, sectors, scales, and policy levels. 

Incorporating this multidisciplinary approach considers complex nexus relationships and renders their realization (implementation) even more challenging.  It is evident that a wide range of nexus-related research and practices are being conducted around the world, and the provision of a common platform to discuss and share findings and experiences is crucial to accelerate transformation towards sustainability.

The Sustainability Nexus Forum provides a forum for mutual exchange, transfer, and learning, with the intention of facilitating intellectual openness, creative pioneers, and strong coalitions – both in research and practice. Moreover, it strives to bring sustainability-focused discourses to the forefront of politics, business, and societal practice. 

This topical collection invites contributions contributing to theoretical, methodological, and empirical research, with a focus on scientific, technological, and policy research. Moreover, practical views, reviews, and opinion papers with a critical overview of the state of the art, research gaps, and prospects for the future research, are highly welcome.

The topics of interest for this collection include, but are not limited to:

• Conceptualization of Sustainability 
• Nexus connections between SDGs
• Perspectives of Resource Nexus research such as: water, soil (nutrient), food, and energy 
• Nexus tools and models analyzing interlinkages
• New approaches and models for Nexus analysis
• Nexus accounting and accountability
• Challenges and barriers to the effective implementation of a Nexus approach
• The Resource Nexus and sustainability assessment
• Sustainability Nexus frameworks and governance

Guest Editors

Prof. Dr. Edeltraud Guenther, United Nations University, Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES), Germany
Email: guenther@unu.edu (this opens in a new tab)

Prof. Dr. Dirk Messner, German Environment Agency (UBA), Germany
Email: dirk.messner@uba.de (this opens in a new tab) 

2. Nexus Perspectives for Sustainable, Just and Timely Transitions in the Era of Climate Change, Geopolitical Tension and Energy Insecurity

As a part of their nationally determined contributions to mitigate global climate change and implement the Paris Agreement, but also motivated by the strive to reduce the environmental pollution impacts created by fossil fuel production and combustion, many countries have identified pathways for phasing out carbon-based fuels. These exit strategies will have particularly strong impacts on regions and countries that are major producers and exporters of coal, oil and gas. Whereas some countries have progressed significantly in the phaseout of fossil fuel production, this sector is still growing in others. 

In an ecological perspective, fossil fuel phaseout should be implemented in a timely manner and take into consideration both environmental and socio-economic sustainability. Transition processes need to manage the legacies of the carbon age while also promoting economic renewal. As fuel-production and energy-intensive industries have shaped the environment and local communities over many decades, it is important to consider the nexus between environmental resources and regional socio-economic development. In particular, the concept of the “just transition” has been identified as a prerequisite for acceptance and thus successful transformation of energy regions based on coal, oil and gas. Changes in global geopolitics and regional energy security have in some parts of the world led to a temporary re-consideration of fossil fuel phaseout plans, for example for coal. This should, however, not obscure the fact that global climate commitments necessitate a complete and timely phaseout of non-renewable carbon-based fuels.

The topical collection serves as a forum to share and discuss recent insights into the challenging legacies and transformation processes in energy regions, covering environmental, technical, socio-economic, political and legal dimensions. We therefore invite contributions from researchers, scientists, policy makers and practitioners in the following categories:

• Research articles
• Review papers
• Science-based policy briefs
• Perspectives, opinions, and commentaries

Guest Editors

Prof. Daniel Karthe and Prof. Alexey Alekseenko, United Nations University, Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES), Germany
Email: karthe@unu.edu (this opens in a new tab), alekseenko@unu.edu (this opens in a new tab) 

Prof. Pao-Yu Oei, Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems, Europa-Universität Flensburg, Germany
Email: pao-yu.oei@uni-flensburg.de (this opens in a new tab)   

Dr. Shannon Brincat, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia
Email: sbrincat@usc.edu.au (this opens in a new tab) 

3. The Resource Nexus for New Modes of Science-Policy Interaction

Environmental challenges in society (e.g., loss of biodiversity, land use changes, climate change) increasingly demand for knowledge advancing the capacity for nexus-compliant management of our vital resources.

The topical collection presents a state-of-the art overview of the science of the Resource nexus, to make explicit the key interlinkages between resources and targeted is towards improved decision making. Contributions will showcase the interrelatedness and interdependencies of environmental resources and their transition and fluxes across scales and between resources. Knowledge on the functioning, productivity and management of complex resource systems is advanced.  

In doing so, the collection will advance the capacity for systems approaches towards nexus-compliant management of our vital resources, and will add knowledge to improve science-policy interactions with an orientation towards action and building on transdisciplinary approaches (triangle of policy-practice-knowledge). This seeks for new modes of science-policy interaction, taking into account transformative changes (e.g., Planetary Boundary and Doughnut Economics etc.). It will also support the understanding (un-)willingness of society (individuals and groups) to change their practice. Focus on institutions, access to resources, knowledge, and skills, incentives, rights and responsibilities, social status, identity, and social preferences.

The topical collection welcomes contributions from the research community and from practice.  There is no strict format on the approaches, but the papers could include a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches, as well as single cases and comparative analyses across cases. Offering a platform, the topical collection will focus to advance our understanding of the Resource Nexus, with a perspective towards nexus-compliant management of our vital (natural) resources. We welcome contributions to address the following:

1. The resource nexus concept, making explicit the key interlinkages between resources and improving decision making.
2. The resource nexus and the management of our vital resources (e.g., biodiversity, climate-neutrality, and land).
3. The resource nexus and transformative change (e.g., Planetary Boundaries, Footprint, Doughnut Economics). Understand (un-) willingness of society (individuals and groups) to change their practice. Establish links with institutions, access to resources, knowledge and skills, incentives, rights and responsibilities, social status, identity, and social preferences.

The topical collection is also linked to advancing the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 2 (Zero hunger) – Food production systems that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change (2.4), SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation) – Improve water quality by reducing pollution (6.3), SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production), SDG 13 (Climate action) and SDG 15 (Life on land).

Guest editors

Dr. Floor Brouwer, United Nations University, Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES), Germany
Email: floor.brouwer@unu.edu (this opens in a new tab) 

Prof. Chrysi Laspidou, University of Thessaly, Greece
Email: laspidou@uth.gr (this opens in a new tab) 

Prof. Rabi Mohtar, Texas A&M University, USA
Email: mohtar@tamu.edu (this opens in a new tab) 

Prof. Fadi Georges Comair, The Cyprus Institute, Cyprus
Email: f.comair@cyi.ac.cy (this opens in a new tab)

4.  Sustainability Nexus Perspectives on Water Security and Climate Resilience

 Water security and adapting to global climate change are two of the most pressing challenges for sustainability science and management. While disciplinary and sectoral approaches have advanced considerably over the years, there has also been an increasing recognition that water security and climate resilience need to be considered in the context of highly complex human-environment systems. A good example is the concept of the “Triple Planetary Crisis” that considers climate change, the pollution of all environmental compartments and massive biodiversity loss as three interrelated and interdependent processes that require careful co-management and thus nexus approaches. 

This topical collection serves as a forum to share and discuss recent findings of how water security and climate resilience are interrelated with other environmental resources and a wide range of sustainability goals. 

We invite contributions from researchers, scientists, policy makers, practitioners on the following categories:

• Research articles
• Review papers
• Science-based policy briefs
• Perspectives, opinions, and commentaries

Guest editors

Prof. Daniel Karthe, United Nations University, Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES), Germany
Email: karthe@unu.edu (this opens in a new tab)

Prof. Mukand Singh Babel, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand
Email: msbabel@ait.ac.th (this opens in a new tab) 

Dr. Pu Jian, United Nations University, Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), Japan
Email: pu@unu.edu  (this opens in a new tab)

5. Data for Good: Promoting Data-Driven Nexus Approaches to Sustainability

Pressing global sustainability challenges necessitate intensifying national and international inter- and transdisciplinary efforts to develop effective means to address them. Fulfillment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 call for a nexus approach that considers the interrelation and interdependent dynamics and complexity of coupled human-environment systems. Data collection, data analytics, and data science can play a critical role in empowering the nexus approach to sustainability.

With this call for submissions, the SNF wants to provide a forum for innovative and forward-looking contributions that link data, informatics, and emerging data analytics tools with sustainability and can facilitate the process of addressing the pressing environmental and sustainability challenges humanity faces. The topic collection contributes to an open scholarly debate between camps (e.g., in data science, natural sciences, engineering, and social sciences) that are not yet well connected.

Submissions are welcomed from researchers and thought leaders whose contributions can equip stakeholders with the required vision to empower nexus thinking and decision-making to tackle sustainability challenges with data. We especially encourage submissions from the decision-making and business communities as the future “beneficiaries of data-driven nexus approaches to sustainability” to help us identify the major data-related gaps and challenges that need to be addressed.

Possible topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Innovative approaches in data analysis that enhance the nexus approach to sustainability, e.g., via developing insights using data mining and harvesting, artificial intelligence (AI), data fusion, modelling, data processing in various forms, forecasting, or data visualization techniques
• Digitization and application of digital tools for accelerating sustainable development 
• The new frontiers, opportunities, risks and challenges of digital change and datafication  to enable us to understand and enhance our global sustainability agenda
• Methods to address the challenges in data acquisition, data storage, data sharing and access including open-data policies, data application or improved networking, data security and privacy, data mining, and data management in sustainability science
• Best and frontrunner cases for institutional updates to allow for data usage for sustainability goals
• Extracting sustainability information out of data
• Data-driven decision support systems for informed sustainability decision-making under uncertainty
• Turning data into societal sustainability knowledge
• Critical perspectives on data-driven approaches to sustainability challenges and broader societal issue areas 
• Citizen sustainability science 
• Dealing with missing sustainability data, misinformation, and echo chambers 
• Behavioral sustainability data and tools for promoting sustainability
• Sustainable use of data and digital methods, e.g. green IT and green AI
• Possible contributions of the data science community to achieving the SDGs by 2030
• Sustainability data standards, assessment, and quality control
• Data contribution to fulfilling environmental justice

Guest Editors

Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala, United Nations University, Japan
Email: rector@unu.edu (this opens in a new tab)

Prof. Kaveh Madani, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), Canada
Email: madani@unu.edu (this opens in a new tab)

Dr. Marcel Dorsch, German Environment Agency (UBA), Germany
Email: marcel.dorsch@uba.de (this opens in a new tab)

Prof. Serena Coetzee, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Email: serena.coetzee@up.ac.za (this opens in a new tab)

Prof. Timothy Dube, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Email: tidube@unu.edu (this opens in a new tab)

Dr. Azin Zarei, United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES), Germany
Email: zarei@unu.edu (this opens in a new tab)