Both resilience and regeneration are relevant concepts in sustainability science. Resilience thinking has led to improved understanding of cross-scale cycles of growth and renewal, regime shifts, and planetary boundaries. Regeneration highlights the role of positive, place-based and partially self-perpetuating social-ecological dynamics and seeks to foster mutualistic relationships between human and more-than-human entities. This paper lays out similarities, differences and overlaps between work on resilience and regeneration. The concept of regeneration emerged both independently of resilience as well as playing a role within resilience scholarship. We show that the literatures on resilience and regeneration have elaborated complementary ideas and can be combined to derive guidance for improved governance of social-ecological systems. Because of its explicit and proactive future-orientation, the concept of regeneration could help boost nascent efforts to enact biosphere stewardship and develop positive visions for how to re-build a world that is dominated by regenerative rather than degenerative dynamics.

Calls for acceptable climate policies render public participation central to climate policy planning. However, implementing participation remains challenging and often limited. To foster more effective and meaningful participation, it is essential to understand how participatory practices and efforts to develop them function in real-world policy processes. We develop this understanding by applying a systemic and relational approach that focuses on public participation as a collective and contextual phenomenon and integrate this with a normative 4D approach for evaluating participation through its capacity to advance dialogue, diversity, deliberation, and to allocate decision-making power. We empirically examine public participation in the preparation of Finland's national climate policies from the perspective of government officials. Our findings show the usefulness of examining participation systemically and including its evaluation. In the Finnish context, the role of decision-making power in the participatory collectives remains weak and requires further attention.

Understanding where blue carbon habitats occur and how they are affected by human activity contributes to effective management of natural carbon sinks. Here, we compiled geographical data for Sweden to map the distribution of coastal vegetated blue carbon (BC) habitats. The mapping effort focused on well-recognised (salt marshes and seagrass meadows) and emergent BC habitats (other rooted submerged macrophytes and forested wetlands). We also estimated the exposure to anthropogenic pressures on coastal BC habitats based on their proximity to land-based human activities, and subsequently, the portion of these BC habitats that were located within protected areas. The total area of BC habitats was estimated to around 1850 km, corresponding to ca. 35% of the Swedish coast. Seagrass meadows and other rooted submerged macrophytes were dominating, covering about 1500 km. Around 22% of the mapped BC habitats were expected to be exposed to high pressures from land-based human activities due to their location, while BC habitats within protected areas were often less exposed. This nationwide assessment of coastal vegetated BC habitats accentuates the need for strengthening conservation prioritisation to maximise the carbon storage potential of BC habitats.

Scientific models are increasingly expected to support decision making in complex governance environments. However, the institutional embedding of model outputs often encounters structural mismatches between the modeling and governance domains. This study explored how model-derived knowledge can be translated into actionable governance practices by integrating two theoretical perspectives: the Socialization-Externalization-Combination-Internalization (SECI) model of knowledge conversion and science-policy interface theory. Drawing on empirical evidence from the Eastern Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, we constructed a comparative framework to analyze alignment and misalignment across four key dimensions: semantic representation, logical structure, procedural compatibility, and institutional integration. Our findings revealed that successful model uptake depended not only on the technical quality of models but also on the compatibility of their outputs with policy language, decision routines, and organizational mechanisms. This work provided theoretical and practical insights into improving the usability and impact of scientific models within policy processes.

Biodiversity net gain (BNG) is a "net outcome" planning policy which aims for development projects to leave biodiversity in a better state than before they started. Understanding the origins and history of existing mandatory BNG is necessary to understand the drivers and barriers that have influenced the policy to date and could inform the development and implementation of future BNG policies. Biodiversity net gain legislation was first discussed in Parliament in England through the passage of the Environment Act (2021) and became a mandatory requirement for most terrestrial and intertidal developments in February 2024. The policy uses habitat attributes as a proxy for biodiversity and represented the widest reaching net outcome policy in the world at the point of its introduction. As such, it is expected to have a significant impact on future land use decisions in England. This paper uses a mixture of literature review and the knowledge of those involved in the early stages of this BNG policy development in England to present a timeline of the stages that have led to mandatory biodiversity net gain. In doing so, we highlight formative events and documents, as an important first step in understanding its history and understanding how this can be used to inform future biodiversity policy.

The transition towards a sustainable future is increasingly understood to rely on further development of the bioeconomy. In this, both public and private sectors play pivotal roles. Government agencies and public institutions are instrumental in shaping the trajectory of the bioeconomy through strategic frameworks, regulatory measures, and policies. These instruments may create a conducive environment by clearing away bureaucratic impediments and establishing favourable conditions. Concurrently, private sector entities, including industry interest groups and companies, have the important task of advocating for these favourable conditions and driving the bioeconomy's growth through active involvement, strategic business decisions, capital investments, and bringing bio-based innovations to market. Throughout these processes, perceptions of the bioeconomy held by actors in both sectors shape the outcomes of their actions. Hence, this study delves into the perceptions of the bioeconomy among stakeholders from both the public and private sectors across nine European regions regarding barriers and supporting conditions impacting its development, particularly important bioeconomy value chains, and the willingness and perceived responsibility to advance the bioeconomy. Findings from 534 online survey responses (288 public sector and 246 private sector) reveal that key factors identified as propelling the development of the bioeconomy forward include access to investment and scientific knowledge, while obstacles such as limited cooperation among stakeholders and inadequate supportive policies and legislative environments were noted as primary hindrances. Among the value chains highlighted, bioenergy was frequently recognised as having high growth potential, while not necessarily being the one with the most significant environmental benefits. Both the public and the private sector demonstrated a high willingness to develop the bioeconomy, yet both also assigned more responsibility to the public sector in three main areas: enhancing societal awareness and communication about the bioeconomy, ensuring beneficial environmental and social impacts, and investing in the bioeconomy's growth.

European forests have been extensively altered by human activity. Consequently, comprehensive socio-ecological information on forests is crucial for developing policies from multiple perspectives, such as biodiversity conservation, climate mitigation, and renewable energy. This study presents a map of forest archetypes in Europe by integrating data on both natural and socio-economic characteristics. The map identifies seven archetypes, ranging from natural to intensively managed forests. Our findings indicate that over 50% of European forests are subject to medium to very high use intensity, while the most natural forests comprise only 13% of the total forest area. This forest archetypes map is a valuable tool for informing EU policies, including the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, the Nature Restoration Regulation, and the Bioeconomy Strategy. Understanding the distribution and prevalence of archetypes within regions and countries is essential for assessing the current state of forests and exploring potential management pathways, conservation, and management targets.

Complex interactions within social-ecological systems underpin multiple social-ecological risks, which can cross administrative boundaries and have large-scale impacts, especially under hierarchical governance. However, a systematic approach for examining collaborative risk governance is still lacking. Here, we developed a multiscale social-ecological network approach, applied it to the case study of soil erosion risk in Shanxi Province, China, and further explored the alignment between networks of ecological linkages related to soil erosion and intergovernmental collaboration. The results showed that, in 91% of cities, the intensity of cross-county collaborative governance failed to effectively address soil erosion risk, particularly in Lvliang and Changzhi. Insufficient collaboration was also evident between adjacent cities. Xinzhou, Lvliang, and Linfen were identified as key nodes for strengthening collaborative governance networks in Shanxi Province. This study highlights the importance of breaking administrative boundaries and provides policy insights for fostering multiscale collaborative governance systems.

Global plastic production has risen from 2 million metric tons in 1950 to over 400 million in 2022 and is projected to triple by 2060. Constituents like toxic additives to pervasive microplastics pose a major environmental and public health crisis. Yet international action remains fragmented. The UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) is drafting a global plastics treaty, but INC-5.2 (August 2025) revealed sharp divides. High-ambition states and civil society demand binding caps on virgin plastic, elimination of single-use plastics, and bans on hazardous additives, while oil-producing and manufacturing nations oppose upstream measures, prioritising recycling and waste management. Industry lobbyists have outnumbered many delegations, raising concerns of policy capture reminiscent of tobacco industry tactics before the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Lessons from the FCTC, particularly Article 5.3 safeguarding policymaking from vested interests, are vital. Without binding commitments and protection from corporate influence, the treaty risks being ineffective.

In the expanding urban landscape, a major challenge is to ensure the resilience of plant communities developed in stressful conditions, with limited soil resources and exposed to high disturbance regimes. In this essay, we explore how temperate urban ecosystems - mostly dominated by ectomycorrhizal (EM) plants - may contribute addressing this challenge. We postulate that urban soils provide highly efficient contexts to understand the ecology of EM plant communities under a wide range of disturbance regimes and fragmentation levels. We then propose the development of biota-based soil restoration processes and Technosols conception technics. As part of a broader reflection on ecological-engineered strategies for future urban ecosystems, we finally consider (1) the capacity of EM plants to cultivate their own biota, and (2) the ability of these fungi to support plant growth and survival. We conclude that urban soils are offering a common ground for interdisciplinary collaboration involving researchers, landscapers, and citizens.

The convergent extinction crisis-characterized by the simultaneous loss of biological and cultural diversity-poses a critical threat to the resilience of socio-ecological systems. To address this challenge, we adopted an approach that integrates the multiple evidence base (MEB) and co-design methodologies. This study was conducted in the Matlatzinca community of San Francisco Oxtotilpan, State of Mexico, an area experiencing both language loss and a decline in local knowledge of amphibians and reptiles. This collaborative process enabled us to co-produce knowledge and co-create tangible solutions that foster biocultural valuation and conservation. Through this process, we co-designed an educational video to raise community awareness and encourage local conservation action. Our findings demonstrate that integrating MEB and co-design not only enriches herpetofaunal knowledge but also provides effective, community-centered strategies for revitalizing Indigenous knowledge and conserving biocultural diversity.

Issue-attention cycles (IACs) follow the predictable rise and fall of media and public attention to topics through five defined stages. Using content analysis and critical discourse analysis, we analyzed 35 newspaper texts (2021-2024) about the Rice's whale, a newly discovered and Critically Endangered species exclusive to the Gulf of Mexico. We investigated whether this discovery was enough to advance an IAC and found that, while Rice's whale science, conservation, and policy has the elements of a topic likely to undergo an IAC, it remains in the first stage of the IAC with limited media attention and a focus on regional stakeholders and policy debates. Comparing this case to the North Atlantic right whale IAC (2010-2024), we offer insights for scientists, professionals, and advocates to prepare for potential future media attention and conservation conflict. Our findings highlight the importance of strategic communication and media analysis to conservation.

While mobility justice has been the subject of much research, it is unclear to what degree the insights of the field are applied in national and EU-level transport policy. This work examines this question empirically by analysing transport strategies for the EU and Finland. The avoid-shift-improve framework is used to assess the effectiveness of the policy measures proposed for moving towards a more sustainable transport system. The results indicate that the justice dimension of sustainable mobility is not fully considered in transport policy and that car dependence and the inequalities caused by it are mostly referenced in an indirect way. While a shift to sustainable modes is advocated, there is a heavy focus on technological solutions. Electric vehicles and sustainable alternative fuels, the key technologies for transport decarbonisation, will, however, do little to reduce transport-related inequalities.

This paper examines the concept of balance within Indigenous knowledge systems and its role in weed management and ecological restoration. Aboriginal cultural knowledge holders and weed managers view balance as reciprocal with spiritual, ecological, and social dimensions, offering a holistic framework for caring for Country. This challenges colonial weed management approaches that often disregard the roles of plants and soil. The study examines how Indigenous knowledge reframes weed management to enhance ecological balance. Using qualitative Indigenous methods, such as yarning and observing Country, the research highlights the ecological roles of weeds like scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium) and lantana (Lantana camara), which affect soil health and biodiversity in south-east Australia. Findings reveal that weeds, reframed as "opportunity plants," indicate environmental imbalances and act as potential balancing agents. This work underscores the value of weaving Indigenous cultural knowledge with western science to nurture collaborative, ecologically sound weed management.

Most freshwater mussels (FM) in Europe have dramatically declined and are now facing extinction due to human disturbances. Given the recent EU initiatives to protect and restore freshwater ecosystems, public awareness should be considered in the implementation of possible management measures. With this aim, a total of 1102 interviews exploring FM knowledge and use were carried out in four European regions. Results evidenced differences linked to socio-economic metrics-e.g., human density, GDP, residency, and sex-though using FM is independent of being aware of threats they face. Low awareness of FM threats makes Southeastern Europe the most challenging region for conservation, while in Southwestern Europe, poor knowledge about their existence may hinder engagement. To address these challenges, targeted educational campaigns and engagement initiatives should be developed to increase awareness in both regions.

Community-based forest management (CBFM) is widely promoted as a strategy that links forest management with local livelihoods through participatory governance. This global review used novel systematic review methods to evaluate predictors of people's participation in CBFM. Based on 66 cases from 47 studies across 18 countries, we identified 248 predictors that have been used to explain people's participation in CBFM and categorized them into seven broad categories. While demographics, household size, and landholding size are the most frequently tested, factors such as off-farm household income, leadership style, and forest condition are less commonly tested yet more often statistically significantly related to participation in CBFM. The meta-regression revealed that the specific type of CBFM (the institutional model) moderates the effects of certain predictors. These results highlight the multifaceted and context-specific drivers of participation in CBFM, underscoring the need for both household- and community-level strategies to foster effective forest governance.

This socio-legal paper examines how the duty under Article 3.7. of the Aarhus Convention to promote principles of environmental democracy in international environmental forums is being interpreted and operationalised in practice. A systematic content analysis of the parties' 2021 and 2025 national implementation reports identifies uneven reporting and predominantly ad hoc approaches, focussing mainly on nationally based measures to facilitate the participation of states' own publics, rather than collaborative initiatives to influence the design of participatory processes and outcomes of international institutions themselves. These findings point to a need for stronger institutional coordination, tailored forum-specific guidance, and more systematic monitoring and accountability mechanisms in order to strengthen Article 3.7's operationalisation. More broadly, the paper also contributes to wider debates on the prospects of environmental democracy at scale, illustrating how the Aarhus Convention both exposes and tests the limits of efforts to democratise international and global environmental governance.

A nature-based solutions (NBS) approach to integrated urban water management is increasingly being recognized as offering an ecological and cost-effective alternative to gray infrastructure and additional co-benefits. However, despite growing support, the upscaling of NBS remains limited. Using a case-based approach, we examine how existing governance structures and financial mechanisms are supporting this shift toward an NBS approach in the Belgian city of Genk. Our findings highlight the importance of aligning existing financial mechanisms with alternative funding options to support NBS scaling. We propose three strategies for urban NBS planners to navigate the existing financial landscape: bridging the knowledge gap on public financing mechanisms, mapping the outcome of financial mechanisms early in the planning process, and adjusting NBS planning adaptively to fit current mechanisms and fill gaps. This underscores the need to reevaluate existing governance and financing frameworks to effectively scale-up and ensure projects progress beyond the pilot stage.

As the scale of climate change impacts become apparent, organisations globally are seeking to adapt. They face dual imperatives of transformation-going beyond business-as-usual to embrace disruptive changes to their decision-making processes-and mainstreaming-enacting adaptation initiatives with minimal change to existing capabilities and structures. In practice, these important imperatives can conflict, leading to the emergence of multiple tensions in developing and implementing adaptation initiatives, potentially paralysing action or leading to one imperative dominating. We call this the Transformation-Mainstreaming Conundrum (TMC) and suggest that both imperatives can (and must be) pursued simultaneously in practice. This perspective identifies recognisable tensions that can arise when seeking to address both imperatives and suggest steps towards responding to the underlying issues these tensions reveal. The TMC needs to be recognised, and approaches to navigating its tensions must be addressed explicitly in both scholarship and practice, to re-energise the urgency of scaling up adaptation efforts.

In an era of systemic risks from natural and human-induced hazards, we need approaches that address such risks at different governance levels, including those at the community level. Citizen science (CS)-public participation in research-is one such approach that has the potential to benefit risk assessment and management. Building on systematic evidence synthesis methodologies, we examine the individual and collective benefits from CS to environmental risk assessment and management. From systematic search results (9277 records), we found 133 publications dealing with the topic in-depth. Results show that CS is increasingly being recognised for risk assessment and management and several individual-level benefits (e.g., improved scientific skills) support outcomes for communities (e.g., increased community capacity). Identified knowledge gaps include (i) unidentified potential of CS for different risk governance phases, and (ii) scattered evidence of CS community outcomes in different geographic regions. We conclude that CS can increase resilience amongst vulnerable communities.