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Siderophores are low molecular weight secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms under low iron stress as a specific iron chelator. In the present study, a rhizospheric bacterium was isolated from the rhizosphere of sesame plants from Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India and later identified as Bacillus subtilis LSBS2. It exhibited multiple plant-growth-promoting (PGP) traits such as hydrogen cyanide (HCN), ammonia, and indole acetic acid (IAA), and solubilized phosphate. The chrome azurol sulphonate (CAS) agar plate assay was used to screen the siderophore production of LSBS2 and quantitatively the isolate produced 296 mg/L of siderophores in succinic acid medium. Further characterization of the siderophore revealed that the isolate produced catecholate siderophore bacillibactin. A pot culture experiment was used to explore the effect of LSBS2 and its siderophore in promoting iron absorption and plant growth of Sesamum indicum L. Data from the present study revealed that the multifarious Bacillus sp. LSBS2 could be exploited as a potential bioinoculant for growth and yield improvement in S. indicum.

The Social-Ecological Systems (SES) framework serves as a valuable framework to explore and understand social and ecological interactions, and pathways in water governance. Yet, it lacks a robust understanding of change. We argue an analytical and methodological approach to engaging global changes in SES is critical to strengthening the scope and relevance of the SES framework. Relying on SES and resilience thinking, we propose an institutional and cognitive model of change that institutions and natural resources systems co-evolve to provide a dynamic understanding of SES that stands on three causal mechanisms: institutional complexity trap, rigidity trap, and learning processes. We illustrate how Data Cube technology could overcome current limitations and offer reliable avenues to test hypothesis about the dynamics of social-ecological systems and water security by offering to combine spatial and time data with no major technical requirements for users.

To effectively address the sustainability crises our planet faces, decision-makers at different levels of government worldwide will have to get a handle on three key challenges: learning from Global North and South initiatives in tandem, taking stock of social innovations alongside technological fixes, and nurturing grassroots sustainable development initiatives next to, or in place of, top-down corporate and government interventions. Current scientific literature and grant-making institutions have often reinforced the compartmentalized fashion in which we learn and draw policy lessons from North/South, social/technical, and bottom-up/top-down sustainability initiatives, including local food system innovations. The strategic levers for global sustainable development lying in-between are thus left out. This paper uses exploratory, multiple case study analysis to address this omission. By concurrently drawing lessons from grassroots innovations in Brazil, New York, and Senegal—three profoundly different socioeconomic and geographic contexts—we identify common pressure points that have enabled local communities to drive system-wide transformations toward climate adaptation, resilience, and sustainability in the agri-food system. The findings of this paper would be of value to scholars, government officials, and community groups engaged in agri-food systems sustainability and interested in the processes of change that have allowed budding innovations to stabilize and scale up.

This study evaluated the efficacy of enzyme induced calcite precipitation (EICP) in restricting the mobility of heavy metals in soils. EICP is an environmentally friendly method that has wide ranging applications in the sustainable development of civil infrastructure. The study examined the desorption of three heavy metals from treated and untreated soils using ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) and citric acid (C6H8O7) extractants under harsh conditions. Two natural soils spiked with cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb) were studied in this research. The soils were treated with three types of enzyme solutions (ESs) to achieve EICP. A combination of urea of one molarity (M), 0.67 M calcium chloride, and urease enzyme (3 g/L) was mixed in deionized (DI) water to prepare enzyme solution 1 (ES1); non-fat milk powder (4 g/L) was added to ES1 to prepare enzyme solution 2 (ES2); and 0.37 M urea, 0.25 M calcium chloride, 0.85 g/L urease enzyme, and 4 g/L non-fat milk powder were mixed in DI water to prepare enzyme solution 3 (ES3). Ni, Cd, and Pb were added with load ratios of 50 and 100 mg/kg to both untreated and treated soils to study the effect of EICP on desorption rates of the heavy metals from soil. Desorption studies were performed after a curing period of 40 days. The curing period started after the soil samples were spiked with heavy metals. Soils treated with ESs were spiked with heavy metals after a curing period of 21 days and then further cured for 40 days. The amount of CaCO3 precipitated in the soil by the ESs was quantified using a gravimetric acid digestion test, which related the desorption of heavy metals to the amount of precipitated CaCO3. The order of desorption was as follows: Cd > Ni > Pb. It was observed that the average maximum removal efficiency of the untreated soil samples (irrespective of the load ratio and contaminants) was approximately 48% when extracted by EDTA and 46% when extracted by citric acid. The soil samples treated with ES2 exhibited average maximum removal efficiencies of 19% and 10% when extracted by EDTA and citric acid, respectively. It was observed that ES2 precipitated a maximum amount of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) when compared to ES1 and ES3 and retained the maximum amount of heavy metals in the soil by forming a CaCO3 shield on the heavy metals, thus decreasing their mobility. An approximate improvement of 30% in the retention of heavy metal ions was observed in soils treated with ESs when compared to untreated soil samples. Therefore, the study suggests that ESs can be an effective alternative in the remediation of soils contaminated with heavy metal ions.

Eco-innovation has gained considerable attention in the academic and corporate world due to its potential in mitigating a firm’s sustainability issues. Most previous studies focused on the reactive approaches of eco-innovation using primary data. This study mitigates the existing research gap by highlighting proactive eco-innovation and using a secondary panel dataset. The prime objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between proactive eco-innovation and firms’ financial performance. Hence, the study will introduce the proactive eco-innovation index with the help of secondary panel data. In addition to that, the paper will also explore how proactive eco-innovation relates to circular economy. The theory of Resource-Based View (RBV) was used to explain the relationship among the variables. This study was conducted on 31 Malaysian public listed energy companies from 2015 to 2019. A proactive eco-innovation index was inferred by adapting three dimensions of eco-innovation (product, process, and technology) which is applicable for the energy sector. By applying random-effects GLS regression equation modeling, it was found that proactive eco-innovation (product eco-innovation, process eco-innovation, and technology eco-innovation) has a direct effect on firm financial performance. Furthermore, product and process eco-innovation is directly related to a circular economy through a sustainable product development process. The findings suggest that policymakers in the firm should proactively adopt eco-innovative practices. It will positively affect the circular economy as it will be cost-effective and help to reduce potential industrial pollution in the environment.

As a consequence of climate change and urbanization, many cities will have to deal with more flooding and extreme heat stress. This paper presents a framework to maximize the effectiveness of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for flood risk reduction and thermal comfort enhancement. The framework involves an assessment of hazards with the use of models and field measurements. It also detects suitable implementation sites for NBS and quantifies their effectiveness for thermal comfort enhancement and flood risk reduction. The framework was applied in a densely urbanized study area, for which different small-scale urban NBS and their potential locations for implementation were assessed. The overall results show that the most effective performance in terms of flood mitigation and thermal comfort enhancement is likely achieved by applying a range of different measures at different locations. Therefore, the work presented here shows the potential of the framework to achieve an effective combination of measures and their locations, which was demonstrated on the case of the Sukhumvit area in Bangkok (Thailand). This can be particularly suitable for assessing and planning flood mitigation measures in combination with heat stress reduction.

Current industrial production is driven by increasing globalization, which has led to a steady increase in production volumes and complexity of products aimed at the pursuit of meeting the needs of customers. In this context, one of the main tools in the management of customer value is Lean Manufacturing or Production, though it is considered primarily as a set of tools to reduce the total cost of the resources needed to achieve such needs. This philosophy has recently been enriched in the literature with case studies that link Lean Management (LM) with the improvement of environmental sustainability. The consequence is an expansion of the Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM); indeed, CIM, currently, combining and integrating the key business functions (e.g., business, engineering, manufacturing, and information management) with a view of the life cycle, does not highlight the strategic role of the environmental aspects. In order to deal with the increasingly rapid environmental degradation that is reflected in society, in terms of both economy and quality of life, Industrial Ecology (IE) introduced a new paradigm of principles and instruments of analysis and decision support (e.g., Life Cycle Assessment—LCA, Social Life Cycle Assessment -SLCA, Material Flow Account—MFA, etc.) that can be considered as the main basis for integrating the environmental aspects in each strategy, design, production, final product, and end of life management, through the re-engineering of processes and activities towards the development of an eco-industrial system. This paper presents the preliminary observations based on a analysis of both theories (LM-IE) and provides a possible assessment of the key factors relevant to their integration in a “lean environmental management”, highlighting both positives (lights) and possible barriers (shadows).