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A major challenge in sustainability science is identifying targets that maximize ecosystem benefits to humanity while minimizing the risk of crossing critical system thresholds. One critical threshold is the biomass at which populations become so depleted that their population growth rates become negative—depensation. Here, we evaluate how the value of monitoring information increases as a natural resource spends more time near the critical threshold. This benefit emerges because higher monitoring precision promotes higher yield and a greater capacity to recover from overharvest. We show that precautionary buffers that trigger increased monitoring precision as resource levels decline may offer a way to minimize monitoring costs and maximize profits. In a world of finite resources, improving our understanding of the trade-off between precision in estimates of population status and the costs of mismanagement will benefit stakeholders that shoulder the burden of these economic and social costs.

Background: Climate change has been shown to be directly linked to multiple physiological sequelae and to impact health consequences. However, the impact of climate change on mental health globally, particularly among vulnerable populations, is less well understood. Objective: To explore the mental health impacts of climate change in vulnerable populations globally. Methods: We performed an integrative literature review to identify published articles that addressed the research question: What are the mental health impacts of climate change among vulnerable populations globally? The Vulnerable Populations Conceptual Model served as a theoretical model during the review process and data synthesis. Findings/Results: One hundred and four articles were selected for inclusion in this review after a comprehensive review of 1828 manuscripts. Articles were diverse in scope and populations addressed. Land-vulnerable persons (either due to occupation or geographic location), Indigenous persons, children, older adults, and climate migrants were among the vulnerable populations whose mental health was most impacted by climate change. The most prevalent mental health responses to climate change included solastalgia, suicidality, depression, anxiety/eco-anxiety, PTSD, substance use, insomnia, and behavioral disturbance. Conclusions: Mental health professionals including physicians, nurses, physician assistants and other healthcare providers have the opportunity to mitigate the mental health impacts of climate change among vulnerable populations through assessment, preventative education and care. An inclusive and trauma-informed response to climate-related disasters, use of validated measures of mental health, and a long-term therapeutic relationship that extends beyond the immediate consequences of climate change-related events are approaches to successful mental health care in a climate-changing world.

The shipping industry faces a large challenge as it needs to significantly lower the amounts of Green House Gas emissions. Traditionally, reducing the fuel consumption for ships has been achieved during the design stage and, after building a ship, through optimisation of ship operations. In recent years, ship efficiency improvements using Machine Learning (ML) methods are quickly progressing, facilitated by available data from remote sensing, experiments and high-fidelity simulations. The data have been successfully applied to extract intricate empirical rules that can reduce emissions thereby helping achieve green shipping. This article presents an overview of applying ML techniques to enhance ships’ sustainability. The work covers the ML fundamentals and applications in relevant areas: ship design, operational performance, and voyage planning. Suitable ML approaches are analysed and compared on a scenario basis, with their space for improvements also discussed. Meanwhile, a reminder is given that ML has many inherent uncertainties and hence should be used with caution.

Abstract Background The aim of this paper is to reconsider the necessity for the green transition and the key preconditions for the implementation of a circular economy in Western Balkan countries. With the objective of the research in mind, the method of analysis and synthesis was applied to determine (1) regulatory and institutional prerequisites for the green transition; (2) the need for the Western Balkan countries to redefine the model of sustainable economic growth towards the green transition; (3) the development opportunities for recovery defined in the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans; and (4) the possibility of implementing the circular economy in the Western Balkans. Main text The main findings of the research indicate that: (1) the countries of the Western Balkan region, following the example of the EU, should define a national strategic approach to the green transition with an accompanying action plan and regulatory framework; (2) the biggest challenge of the green transition is the reform of the energy sector and the restructuring of the energy-intensive economy; (3) the countries have untapped potential in renewable energy sources and report the improvement of energy efficiency; (4) the circular economy can boost the green transition, because the countries of the region have a five-time lower value of resource productivity than the average of the EU, while the generation of waste (excluding major mineral wastes) per GDP unit is lower compared to the EU; (5) cross-sectoral governance should be more coordinated. Conclusions The green transition might be a development opportunity for the Western Balkans, which should enable sustainable economic growth as well as energy security and environmental protection. However, the implementation of the Green Agenda is not easy, because the region faces the problem of underdeveloped regulatory and institutional capacities that might provide not only the base for long-term planning but also financial resources for the efficient implementation of projects. In addition, it is essential to understand the principles of the Green Agenda and the interaction of all activities that should enable the achievement of defined goals.

The annual production of plastic waste worldwide has doubled in just two decades, with approximately 390 million tonnes of plastic waste now being generated. In this context, the construction industry must move towards the development of new, more sustainable materials made under circular economy criteria. In this work, a physico-mechanical characterisation of gypsum composites with the incorporation of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) waste, replacing 2–4–6–8–10% by volume of the original raw material, has been conducted. The results show how the incorporation of these plastic wastes improves the water resistance of the gypsum material without additions, as well as producing a decrease in thermal conductivity and greater resistance to impact. On the other hand, it has been found that, as the percentage of recycled raw material added increases, the mechanical resistance to bending and compression decreases, leading to fracture due to a lack of cohesion between the matrix and the waste. Nevertheless, in all the cases studied, mechanical strengths higher than those established by the EN 13279-2 standard were obtained. Thus, the results confirm the viability of these secondary raw materials to be used in the development of new products for sustainable building, especially in the design of prefabricated panels for false ceilings.

The main purpose of this paper is to show that if three specific contextual factors are present in a company, it is possible to achieve great performance improvements with a lean and industry 4.0 implementation. In terms of research methods, a case study was carried out of a project to implement digitalization and Lean practices in a cutlery company, which in fact encompassed a project of master’s degree in engineering and industrial management. Thus, the research question is: “It is possible to achieve major improvements in a lean and industry 4.0 implementation if three specific contextual factors are present in the company, namely (i) commitment of top management, (ii) knowledge on digitalization and lean, and (iii) very low Value-Added Ratio?”. Regarding the company project, action-research was adopted, and the project team began by mapping and diagnosing the production processes of the two product families (knives and spoons/forks). High levels of work in process, long throughput times, poor flow planning and control, and high stocks of finished products, quickly stood out in both families. Improvement proposals were developed and implemented, namely: (i) creation of a production scheduling and control system, (ii) improvement of the warehouse stock management system, and (iii) adoption of new routines, management tools, visual management, and kaizen meetings. The results achieved were excellent (e.g., throughput time reduced by 27.6% and productivity increased by 36.5%) and aligned with Sustainable Development Goals SDG 9 and 12. The findings of this study corroborate that exceptional results in the company performance can be achieved through a lean and industry 4.0 intervention, if the three referred contextual factors occur.

Using data from Eurobarometer 83.4, this study combines the two branches of research that address climate-related and biodiversity-related opinions and actions of individuals in the EU. The literature shows that the differences between climate-related and biodiversity-related policies correspond, at an individual level, to a person's basic attitudes towards environmental protection and towards nature protection, respectively. The contribution of this study is to demonstrate how these attitudes can influence behavior that has environmental repercussions for both issues, such as food consumption practices. The analysis focused on two Eurobarometer questions about buying local and seasonal food (to fight climate change) and about buying organic and local food (to protect biodiversity and nature). The results of two multinomial regression analyses, separately in Northwestern European countries and Eastern and Southern European countries, demonstrated that climate-related and biodiversity-related attitudes were, independent of each other, related to the adoption of these purchase behaviors. The results may support Europe's new Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy and indicate that improving food consumption practices can enable individuals to better play their part in fighting climate change and biodiversity loss simultaneously, which opens up interesting new perspectives for policymakers, businesses and consumers.

This open access book brings together a collection of cutting-edge insights into how action can and is already being taken against climate change at multiple levels of our societies, amidst growing calls for transformative and inclusive climate action. In an era of increasing recognition regarding climate and ecological breakdown, this book offers hope, inspiration and analyses for multi-level climate action, spanning varied communities, places, spaces, agents and disciplines, demonstrating how the energy and dynamism of local scales are a powerful resource in turning the tide. Interconnected yet conceptually distinct, the book’s three sections span multiple levels of analysis, interrogating diverse perspectives and practices inherent to the vivid tapestry of climate action emerging locally, nationally and internationally. Delivered in collaboration with the UK’s ‘Place-Based Climate Action Network’, chapters are drawn from a wide range of authors with varying backgrounds spread across academia, policy and practice.

In recent years, the accelerating climate change and intensifying natural disasters have called for more renewable, resilient, and reliable energy from more distributed sources to more diversified consumers, resulting in a pressing need for advanced situational awareness of modern smart distribution systems [...]

Sustainable development is feasible through energy transition. The key elements of such transition are: the implementation of energy efficiency measures, the use of renewable resources, tackling climate change and environmental protection. It is known that the EU has established a legally binding framework for achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement from 2015, as well as ambitious goals through the 2030 Agenda. Since Serbia signed Sofia Declaration from 2020, it will create new Energy Strategy and technical study based upon existing energy sources, to get to the aim of optimal energy mix. This will take into account the electricity system and energy security, as well as the economic and financial analysis of the proposed technical solutions of the optimal mix. In this paper, a multi-criteria analysis has been developed for the purpose of evaluating the results and selecting the scenarios on the basis of which the draft of the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan will be prepared. The basis for this analysis should be the selection of the optimal energy mix that will be continuously monitored with special reference to the period of energy crises, when there are major disruptions in prices and availability on the world energy market.