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Nature-based solutions have not been able to actively involve citizens and to address successfully food security, poverty alleviation, and inequality in urban areas. The Edible City approach promises a strategic step towards the development of sustainable, livable, and healthy cities. We introduce the conceptional framework of Edible City Solutions (ECS), including different forms of urban farming combined with closed loop systems for sustainable water, nutrient, and waste management. We review scientific evidence on ECS benefits for urban regeneration and describe the status quo of ECS in Rotterdam, Andernach, Oslo, Heidelberg, and Havana as case studies. We provide an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) to explore the capacity of ECS to enhance multifunctionality of urban landscapes with special focus on social cohesion and quality of life. Based on this we identify and discuss strategies for fostering socially relevant implementations for the case study cities and beyond.

AbstractThe study reports on the effect of anaerobic digestate derived composts on the metabolite composition and thermal behaviour of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.). Plants were cultivated in semiarid soil under four different fertiliser treatments (composts of anaerobic digested cattle (C) or pig slurry (P) at 30t/ha and 60 t/ha, and two control treatments (inorganic fertiliser and no fertiliser application). Samples of leaves and stems were analysed to investigate the effect of treatment on chemical composition and thermochemical properties. Three orthogonal analytical approaches were used, namely: Fourier transform mid infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and thermochemical gravimetric analysis (TGA). FTIR and GC/MS showed fertiliser treatment resulted in tissue specific changes in sample metabolite composition. Fertiliser treatment was detected to change the thermogravimetric properties of the leaf samples and from inorganic and composted pig slurry digestate treatments had greater ash content and lower proportions of fixed carbon compared with samples from the unfertilised control treatment. This study provides information on how the composition of rosemary might be altered by fertiliser application in regions of poor soil, and has implications for biomass quality when rosemary is grown on semi-wild sites for the purpose of soil improvement.

In this paper, expectations along the Finnish dairy supply chain for innovation to achieve more sustainable farming systems are identified. Four focus group discussions and three interviews for low input and organic dairy supply chain members were performed. The Q Methodology was used to highlight common ground and divergence in the expectations that organic and low input dairying can deliver. The common view is that innovation in housing aimed at improving animal welfare should be fostered. Animal welfare innovations were highlighted especially by the consumer group. Other supply chain members encouraged in accordance with consumer group animal welfare, but also innovations linking with the efficiency of production and feed quality. Common understanding between actors is that innovations linking to genetic modification are not acceptable. Many respondents also considered unnaturally those innovations that were linking with acceleration of genetic selection, speeding up calf development, and supporting in 100 % indoor dairy systems.

Abstract An assessment of the human impact on the global water cycle requires estimating the volume of water withdrawn for irrigated agriculture. A key parameter in this calculation is the irrigation efficiency, which corrects for the fraction of water lost between irrigation withdrawals and the crop due to management, distribution or conveyance losses. Here we show that the irrigation efficiency used in global irrigation models is flawed for it overlooks key ambiguities in partial efficiencies, irrigation technologies, the definition of ‘large-scale’ irrigated areas or managerial factors. Once accounted for, these uncertainties can make irrigation withdrawal estimates fluctuate by more than one order of magnitude at the country level. Such variability is larger and leads to more extreme values than that caused by the uncertainties related with climate change. Our results highlight the need to embrace deep uncertainties in irrigation efficiency to prevent the design of shortsighted policies at the river basin-water-agricultural interface.

This paper aims to indicate the linkages between crude oil prices and selected food price indexes (dairy, meat, oils, cereals, and sugar) and provide an empirical specification of the direction of the impact. This paper reviews the fuel–food price linkage models with consideration to the time series literature. This study adopts several methods, namely the Augmented Dickey–Fuller test, Granger causality test, the cointegration test, the vector autoregression model, and the vector error correction model, for studying the price transmission among the crude oil and five selected food groups. The data series covers the period between January 1990 and September 2020. The empirical results from the paper indicate that there are long-term relationships between crude oil and meat prices. The linkage of crude oil prices occurred with food, cereal, and oil prices in the short term. Furthermore, the linkages between the analyzed variables increased in 2006–2020.

Bioenergy production from animal waste can be a key driver to achieving bio-economy goals. Developing a bio-economy sector could help to create opportunities for a circular system where not only people and the planet will be benefited, but it will also provide economic profitability to farmers, especially in the post-Covid period. To this end, manure production, its nutrient content, and bioenergy potential were estimated, along with their spatial distribution in the Lubelskie province, Poland. Farm-level data were processed and aggregated at the municipality level. Material balance equations were used to calculate the theoretical potential of livestock manure and bioenergy for different use scenarios: (1) Baseline (BC): direct manure application to land, which was compared against (2) Anaerobic Digestion (AD): anaerobic digestion to biogas with digestate returned to the fields (3) AD + Separation (AD + Sep): mechanical separation followed by anaerobic digestion, and (4) Surplus + AD: surplus manure (after application to the fields) is sent to anaerobic digestion. Manure, biogas, electricity, and thermal energy production of the AD scenario were estimated to be 7.5 Mt y−1, 378 Mm3 y−1, 907 GWe y−1, and 997.8 GWth y−1, respectively. The scenario, including mechanical separation followed by anaerobic digestion (AD + Sep), contributed to avoiding emissions to the largest extent (1 Mt CO2 eq), whereas AD outperformed the others in avoiding costs of fertilization. According to the estimated potential and the environmental cost-effectiveness of AD, new plants can be established that will recycle manure through bioenergy production, and, subsequently, the digestate can be applied as organic fertilizer, closing the nutrients cycle.

Farm-level sustainable intensification of agriculture (SIA) has become an important concept to ensuring food security while minimising negative externalities. However, progress towards its achievement is often constrained by the different perceptions and goals of various stakeholders that affect farm management decisions. This study examines farm-level SIA as a dynamic system with interactive components that are determined by the interests of the stakeholders involved. A systems thinking approach was used to identify and describe the pathways towards farm-level SIA across the three main pillars of sustainability. An explanatory network analysis of fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) that were collectively created by representative groups of farmers, farm advisors and policy makers was performed. The study shows that SIA is a complex dynamic system, affected by cognitive beliefs and particular knowledge within stakeholder groups. The study concludes that, although farm-level SIA is a complex process, common goals can be identified in collective decision making.