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1. Place-based solutions for global social-ecological dilemmas: An analysis of locally grounded, diversified, and cross-scalar initiatives in the Amazon

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102718  

   Londres, Marina; Salk, Carl; Andersson, Krister P; Tengö, Maria; Brondizio, Eduardo S; Russo_Lopes, Gabriela; Siani, Sacha MO; Molina-Garzón, Adriana; Sonetti-González, Taís; Montoya, Diego Rázuri; et al (September 2023, Global Environmental Change)

   The Amazon has a diverse array of social and environmental initiatives that adopt forest-based land-use practices to promote rural development and support local livelihoods. However, they are often insufficiently recognized as transformative pathways to sustainability and the factors that explain their success remain understudied. To address this gap, this paper proposes that local initiatives that pursue three particular pathways are more likely to generate improvements in social-ecological outcomes: (1) maintaining close connections with local grassroots, (2) pursuing diversity in productive activities performed and partnership choices, and (3) developing cross-scale collaborations. To test these ideas we collected and analyzed observations of 157 initiatives in Brazil and Peru, applying a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses. Our results show that initiatives maintaining groundedness in representing the interests and concerns of local actors while partnering with other organizations at multiple scales are more likely to develop joint solutions to social-ecological problems. Partnerships and support from external organizations may strengthen and enhance local capabilities, providing a platform for negotiating interests and finding common ground. Such diversified pathways demonstrate the power of local actors to transcend their own territories and have broader impacts in sustainability objectives. Our findings highlight the need to make governmental and non-governmental support (e.g., financial, technical, political) available according to local needs to enable local initiatives’ own ways of addressing global environmental change. 

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2. How has the COVID Crisis Impacted Local Governments’ Sustainability Efforts? An Examination of Initial Effects

   https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323X221124896  

   Krause, Rachel M.; Hawkins, Christopher V.; Park, Angela_Y S (March 2023, State and Local Government Review)

   Although many U.S. municipalities have adopted climate protection and sustainability as explicit objectives, they are not among their traditional responsibilities. As a result, compared to policies focused around core functions, those related to sustainability may be at greater risk of retrenchment or change in times of crisis. This research examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted local governments’ sustainability efforts. Using data from a nation-wide survey, we examine the degree to which the pandemic has affected programmatic priorities, resources, and operations related to sustainability. Findings indicate that the pandemic hurt the implementation of sustainability initiatives in almost half of U.S. cities. At the same time, many cities increased the priority of economic and social sustainability initiatives in response to the pandemic. Cities which have formally included sustainability principles into a city plan appear more sensitive to COVID-induced challenges to their program operations. 

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3. Reef Conservation off the Hook: Can Market Interventions Make Coral Reef Fisheries More Sustainable?

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.675274  

   Cramer, Katie L.; Kittinger, John N. (August 2021, Frontiers in Marine Science)

   The overexploitation of coral reef fisheries threatens the persistence of reef ecosystems and the livelihoods and food security of millions of people. Market-based initiatives to increase fisheries sustainability have been widely implemented in industrialized commodity fisheries, but the suitability of these initiatives for coral reef fisheries has not been systematically investigated. Here, we present a typology of market-based interventions and coral reef fisheries sectors and identity promising approaches for each fishery archetype. For high value, export-oriented reef fisheries that are highly unsustainable (live reef food fish and dried sea cucumbers), traditional regulatory efforts including trade restrictions will be most effective. For high-value, export-oriented fisheries for highly fecund invertebrates (lobsters and mollusks), certification and ratings efforts, fishery improvement projects, and sustainable purchasing commitments can improve fishing practices and increase fisher market access and revenue. For lower-value fisheries targeting species for domestic or regional consumption, sustainable purchasing commitments among local buyers, consumer awareness campaigns, and local certification and ratings schemes hold promise for shifting attitudes toward sustainability and increasing food security for local communities. Finally, fisher empowerment efforts including direct access to local markets and market information, training on improved post-harvest methods, and formation of fisher associations hold promise for increasing fisher incomes, reducing wasteful catch, increasing food security, and de-incentivizing unsustainable practices. Despite the potential of market-based interventions, specific approaches must be carefully tailored to the ecological and social reality of these systems, including the inherent unsustainability of commercial coral reef fisheries, the limited capacity for fisheries governance, the limited financial support of market-based initiatives, and the threatened status of coral reef ecosystems globally. 

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4. Renewable energy transitions from the ground up: Building a framework for local action despite limited state support

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2025.105737  

   Jangjoo, Sina; Tang, Tian (March 2025, Cities)

   This study explores the factors that enable cities to navigate renewable energy (RE) transitions despite limited state support, using a qualitative case study of 13 Florida cities committed to 100 % RE goals. Adapting the Transition Management framework to the U.S. federalist context, we find that local actors overcome state regime barriers through polycentric governance. Local governments leverage their policymaking autonomy and dedicated sustainability offices to institutionalize RE efforts and implement local policy changes to support RE. Nonprofits not only act as advocates and information providers, but also serve as consultants to shape local policies and lead regional collaboration to secure external funding for RE, filling the gap left by the absence of state support. Additionally, local governments, utilities and nonprofits utilize diverse financing mechanisms for RE projects and choose RE and complementary technologies based on local financial and technical capacities. Energy justice principles are embedded in local programs and policymaking processes to promote distributional and procedural justice, and some of these efforts are driven by federal policies or non-state actors. These findings offer valuable insights into sustainable and equitable RE transitions, demonstrating the potential for local action to drive substantial progress, even in the absence of state-level support. 

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5. Disproportionate impacts of building materials production facilities on neighboring communities

   https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/ad9d78  

   Kim, Alyson; Chaboya, Gavin; Kwon, Helena; Miller, Sabbie_A (December 2024, Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability)

   Abstract The construction and building materials (CBM) production industries, such as cement, steel, and plastics that are responsible for a substantial share of global CO₂emissions, face increasing pressure to decarbonize. Recent legislative initiatives like the United States (US) federal Buy Clean Initiative and the World Green Building Council’s decarbonization plan for Europe highlights the urgency to reduce emissions during CBM production stages. However, there remains a gap in addressing the localized environmental and social impacts of these industries as well as a necessary understanding of how decarbonization efforts may change local impacts. This study introduces a framework for quantifying the disproportionate impacts (I_d) of 12 CBM production facility categories on communities of color and low-income demographics across the US. Using geographical and environmental data from the 2017 National Emissions Inventory (NEI), we assess these impacts at four spatial scales: census tract, county, state, and national. Results show that across all scales, many CBM production facilities impose disproportionate impacts. The geographical disproportionate impact (I_G,d) shows the greatest burdens at the broadest spatial scales, whereas the environmental disproportionate impact (I_E,d) indicates highest burdens at more localized levels. Based on this spatial understanding, we provide methods that can be implemented to support community engagement and mitigate damages to populations neighboring industrial materials manufacturing. These findings offer valuable insights into the relationship between facility locations, emissions, and demographic groups, providing a basis for more targeted environmental justice policies aimed at mitigating these disproportionate impacts. 

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