Publications

@article{Giampietro2023,

title = {Reflections on the popularity of the circular bioeconomy concept: the ontological crisis of sustainability science},

author = {Mario Giampietro},

doi = {10.1007/s11625-022-01267-z},

issn = {1862-4065},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-01-01},

journal = {Sustainability Science},

abstract = {
I argue that the popularity of the circular bioeconomy concept in policy-making is symptomatic of a profound crisis in sustainability science, which is generated by the adoption of an obsolete scientific paradigm, i.e., obsolete ontologies used to describe our interaction with the external world. The result is a systemic lack of quality control on the science\textendashpolicy interface. The growing awareness of a pending collapse of our life support systems and the rapidly changing world order would require society to rediscuss its identity. However, current mechanisms of control of the quality of the scientific input used for governance do not allow us to do so. The problem is how to detect and change obsolete scientific paradigms referring to sustainability science. I conclude that a swift move to a new scientific paradigm would require a more reflexive science and a more reflexive society.
},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Lemkow\textendashTov\'{i}as2023145,

title = {Impact of COVID-19 inequalities on children: An intersectional analysis},

author = {G. Lemkow\textendashTov\'{i}as and Louis Lemkow and L. Cash-Gibson and E. Teixid\'{o}-Compa\~{n}\'{o} and J. Benach},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85139240856&doi=10.1111%2f1467-9566.13557&partnerID=40&md5=2c593eb8a641e564822e354b69b1dfb1},

doi = {10.1111/1467-9566.13557},

issn = {01419889},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-01-01},

journal = {Sociology of Health and Illness},

volume = {45},

number = {1},

pages = {145-162},

publisher = {John Wiley and Sons Inc},

abstract = {Societal concerns about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have largely focussed on the social groups most directly affected, such as the elderly and health workers. However, less focus has been placed on understanding the effects on other collectives, such as children. While children’s physical health appears to be less affected than the adult population, their mental health, learning and wellbeing is likely to have been significantly negatively affected during the pandemic due to the varying policy restrictions, such as withdrawal from face to face schooling, limited peer-to-peer interactions and mobility and increased exposure to the digital world amongst other things. Children from vulnerable social backgrounds, and especially girls, will be most negatively affected by the impact of COVID-19, given their different intersecting realities and the power structures already negatively affecting them. To strengthen the understanding of the social determinants of the COVID-19 crisis that unequally influence children’s health and wellbeing, this article presents a conceptual framework that considers the multiple axes of inequalities and power relations. This understanding can then be used to inform analyses and impact assessments, and in turn inform the development of effective and equitable mitigation strategies as well as assist to be better prepared for future pandemics. © 2022 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.},

keywords = {Adult; Aged; Child; COVID-19; Female; Health Personnel; Humans; Mental Health; Pandemics, adult; aged; child; female; health care personnel; human; mental health; pandemic; psychology},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Strand20221205,

title = {Insect feeds in salmon aquaculture: sociotechnical imagination and responsible story-telling},

author = {R. Strand and G. Gamboa and D. J. Dankel and M. Giampietro},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85141795422&doi=10.3920%2fJIFF2020.0127&partnerID=40&md5=8138ae6f9de2993820e3b94982874ce1},

doi = {10.3920/JIFF2020.0127},

issn = {23524588},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Insects as Food and Feed},

volume = {8},

number = {11},

pages = {1205-1220},

publisher = {Wageningen Academic Publishers},

abstract = {Salmon aquaculture is a growing industry with increasing challenges of feed sustainability and availability. This global sustainability issue has led to calls for novel feeds. Aquafly, a Norwegian research project, has performed small-scale tests using the black soldier fly as an ingredient in salmon diet. However, in order for insect feeds to become a reality on the industrial scale, workable scientific, technical and political solutions have to be envisioned in tandem. In this study, we studied, elicited and assessed sociotechnical imaginaries in the Aquafly research consortium, using the approaches of concomitant ELSA research, the Ethical Matrix and Quantitative Story-Telling. We show how the sociotechnical imaginaries develop together with the scientific trajectory of the project, and how this also affects the assessment of the ethical and environmental impacts of the technology, including issues of food and feed safety and security, fish health and welfare, pollution and efficient use of waste streams. We show how there are intrinsic challenges when dealing with global sustainability issues in the research project. For instance, overcoming the problem of salmon feed scarcity may aggravate the challenges caused by intensive aquaculture. We report the results of a Quantitative Story-Telling exercise that indicates that Aquafly can be seen as part of a larger economy of technological promise, and discuss if and how this critique can be employed and integrated into scientific and technical imagination in a research project, contributing to Responsible Research and Innovation. © 2021 Wageningen Academic Publishers},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Keppo2022,

title = {Introduction to EMP-E 2019 special issue “Modelling the implementation of ‘A Clean Planet for All’ strategy”},

author = {I. Keppo and A. Mazza and D. Natalini and D. Pudjianto and R. Velasco-Fern\'{a}ndez},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85128328569&doi=10.1016%2fj.esr.2022.100843&partnerID=40&md5=4200b424e27be60a610d6264f4d7f59b},

doi = {10.1016/j.esr.2022.100843},

issn = {2211467X},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Energy Strategy Reviews},

volume = {41},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{P\'{e}rez-S\'{a}nchez2022,

title = {Factors and actions for the sustainability of the residential sector. The nexus of energy, materials, space, and time use},

author = {L. P\'{e}rez-S\'{a}nchez and R. Velasco-Fern\'{a}ndez and M. Giampietro},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85128882096&doi=10.1016%2fj.rser.2022.112388&partnerID=40&md5=ff89900a620130ae7bc3c14e21cb0bff},

doi = {10.1016/j.rser.2022.112388},

issn = {13640321},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews},

volume = {161},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {Residential end-uses represent a significant share of final energy consumption and material stocks. However, approaching sustainability of the residential sector merely as an environmental technical problem is insufficient. Home is the center of daily life providing essential functions to people. Household metabolism is not a matter of the sum of individual behaviors, typologies of buildings, or energy uses stripped out of context, but the system that emerges from the historical combination of these elements and the functions it performs. The residential sector comprises both families (units of organized individuals) and dwellings (within municipalities/urban forms). To analyze these dynamics, we draw upon practice theory and Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) illustrating with data from Sweden and Spain in 2015. The objective is to establish an interdisciplinary framework for analyzing the sustainability of the residential sector. We also present a list of possible measures and their trade-offs in diverse dimensions: energy carrier consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, materials, floor area, human activity, social organization and institutions, finance and desirability. Even though the inclusion of all variables in a single model is not feasible, the holistic understanding of household metabolism can help build coherent anticipation scenarios by selecting plausible hypotheses. Ultimately, this allows making profound transformations to sustainability. © 2022 The Authors},

keywords = {Construction industry; Economic and social effects; Energy utilization; Gas emissions; Greenhouse gases; Housing; Physiology; Sustainable development, Construction sectors; Energy materials; Energy spaces; Energy use; Energy-time; Household metabolism; Nexus; Residential sectors; Social innovations; Sufficiency, Energy efficiency},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Taghdisian2022,

title = {A Societal Metabolism Approach to Effectively Analyze the Water\textendashEnergy\textendashFood Nexus in an Agricultural Transboundary River Basin},

author = {A. Taghdisian and S. G. F. Bukkens and M. Giampietro},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85137071401&doi=10.3390%2fsu14159110&partnerID=40&md5=8b4a778aed2fe15dcf63928691f633c6},

doi = {10.3390/su14159110},

issn = {20711050},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Sustainability (Switzerland)},

volume = {14},

number = {15},

publisher = {MDPI},

abstract = {We implemented the semantically open conceptual framework ‘Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism’ (MuSIASEM) to deal with nexus challenges in agricultural production systems in transboundary river basins, using the Iranian Aras River Basin as a case study. The performance of the agricultural sector was characterized for relevant typologies of crop production using metabolic profiles, i.e., inputs and outputs per ton of crop produced, per hectare of land use, and per hour of labor. This analysis was contextualized across hierarchical levels of analysis, including the agronomic context at the regional level (rainfed versus irrigated cultivation), the socio-economic and political context at the national level (food sovereignty; urbanization), and the hydro-ecological context of the larger transboundary river basin (water constraints, GHG emissions). We found that the simultaneous use of two different interrelated logics of aggregation\textemdashthe productivity of land and labor (relevant for the agronomic and socio-economic dimension) and the density of flows under different land uses (relevant for the hydrological and ecological dimension)\textemdashallowed for the identification of trade-offs in policy deliberations. In the case of Iran, it showed that striving for strategic autonomy will exacerbate the current water crisis; with the current cropping patterns, agronomic improvements will not suffice to avert a water crisis. It was concluded that the proposed approach fills an important gap in nexus research, but to effectively guide nexus governance in the region, a co-production of the analysis with social actors as well as more complete data sets at the river basin level would be essential. © 2022 by the authors.},

keywords = {agricultural policy; agricultural production; autonomy; conceptual framework; cropping practice; governance approach; integrated approach; rainfed agriculture; river basin; socioeconomic conditions; strategic approach, Araks Basin; Iran},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Giampietro2022,

title = {Knowledge claims in European Union energy policies: Unknown knowns and uncomfortable awareness},

author = {M. Giampietro and S. G. F. Bukkens},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85134526183&doi=10.1016%2fj.erss.2022.102739&partnerID=40&md5=2c52463c22cdee62fea3d1efd687315f},

doi = {10.1016/j.erss.2022.102739},

issn = {22146296},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Energy Research and Social Science},

volume = {91},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {Despite the concerted efforts of the scientific community and politicians to contain greenhouse gas emissions, the CO2 level in the atmosphere continues to increase monotonically. This raises the question whether the scientific representations and related knowledge claims used to inform energy policy have been incomplete or incorrect. Are there alternative relevant knowledge claims that have been overlooked or ignored in the discussion of energy policies and if so, why? We answer these questions by elaborating three case studies, energy efficiency improvements, liquid biofuels, and decarbonization of electricity, and using a novel procedure for quality checking policy narratives that is based in post-normal science and developed in the EU project Moving Towards Adaptive Governance in Complexity: Informing NEXUS Security (MAGIC). The focus of our approach is on the coherence of the why (concerns or justifications), what (“solution”), and how (“scientific evidence”) of energy policies. We show that for all cases studied alternative knowledge claims, mostly derived from the relatively new field of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, would be available for better informing energy policy, but that they are unknown knowns in the chosen framing of the issues. We conclude that the idea that the various concerns identified in EU energy policy can be solved simultaneously is unrealistic. This idea can only persist by virtue of banishing uncomfortable knowledge and the creation of implausible socio-technical imaginaries. When considering different aspects of the problem and integrating different narratives and knowledge claims, a smooth and painless transition to a zero-carbon economy seems unlikely. © 2022 The Authors},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Manfroni2022,

title = {Securing fuel demand with unconventional oils: A metabolic perspective},

author = {Michele Manfroni and S. G. F. Bukkens and M. Giampietro},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85138087366&doi=10.1016%2fj.energy.2022.125256&partnerID=40&md5=0c555992ee55154baebb4dcb615bdbc4},

doi = {10.1016/j.energy.2022.125256},

issn = {03605442},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Energy},

volume = {261},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {A novel methodology is presented for assessing the performance of the oil sector across multiple scales and dimensions of analysis. It focuses on the potential impact of the growing share of unconventional oils in the crude supply mix on energy security through an analysis of the societal energy metabolism. Applying our method at the global level, we find that at the current fuel consumption pattern, an increased exploitation of unconventional oils will cause relative shortages of specific refinery products. The imbalances would be more pronounced if the global fuel consumption pattern would change toward that of the US or the EU. In the former case, gasoline supply would become critical, in the latter diesel. Contrasting performances were found on the selected environmental, technical, or economic criteria for the different simulations analyzed. We conclude that it is of paramount importance to study the oil sector as an integral part of society. In the metabolic view, there are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ primary energy sources (taken in isolation), but a series of trade-offs among various dimensions of performance. Whether or not unconventional oils can provide energy security depends on the overall feasibility, viability, and desirability of the energy metabolic pattern of society. © 2022 The Authors},

keywords = {Consumption patterns; Fuel demand; Multiple dimensions; Multiple scale; Novel methodology; Oil product; Oil sectors; Performance; Societal metabolism; Unconventional oil, Economic and social effects; Fossil fuels; Metabolism, Energy security, European Union; exploitation; fuel; fuel consumption; metabolism; methodology; oil, United States},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Manfroni2021a,

title = {The profile of time allocation in the metabolic pattern of society: An internal biophysical limit to economic growth},

author = {Michele Manfroni and Ra\'{u}l Velasco-Fern\'{a}ndez and Laura P\'{e}rez-S\'{a}nchez and Sandra G. F. Bukkens and Mario Giampietro},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S092180092100241X},

doi = {10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107183},

issn = {09218009},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-12-01},

journal = {Ecological Economics},

volume = {190},

pages = {107183},

abstract = {We show that shortage of human activity may represent an internal constraint to economic growth as relevant as external resource and sink constraints. Human time is required, both inside and outside the market, to produce and consume the goods and services needed to sustain societal metabolism. The time allocation profile is therefore an emergent property of the societal metabolic pattern. When most time is invested in services and final consumption rather than supplying the inputs required by the metabolic process, further growth is constrained. This problem may be temporarily overcome by three strategies: (i) increasing capital investment to boost labor productivity in the productive sectors; (ii) externalizing the requirement of working hours through imports of goods and services; (iii) importing economically active population through immigration. Each strategy is illustrated with an empirical example: (i) a comparison of the evolution of the profile of time and capital allocation between China and the EU; (ii) an assessment of the labor hours embodied in EU imports; (iii) an analysis of demographic changes in response to immigration in Spain. While these strategies can temporarily overcome constraints to economic growth at the national level, they do not represent a long-term solution at the global level.},

keywords = {Energy, Human activity, MuSIASEM, Social practices, Societal metabolism, sustainability, Sustainable production and consumption},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Harder2021,

title = {Assessing the circularity of nutrient flows related to the food system in the Okanagan bioregion, BC Canada.},

author = {Robin Harder and Mario Giampietro and Kent Mullinix and Sean Smukler},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0921344921004511},

doi = {10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105842},

issn = {09213449},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-11-01},

journal = {Resources, Conservation and Recycling},

volume = {174},

pages = {105842},

publisher = {Elsevier},

abstract = {The “circular bioeconomy” is extensively discussed in science and policy, and its implementation in practice is considered to be a panacea for fixing many current sustainability problems. The circular bioeconomy crucially depends on biological and technical processes capable of recycling nutrients in the right mix, at the right pace, and using only renewable energy. The current lack of circularity of nutrient flows is a critical factor that hampers sustainable food and bioeconomy systems. If we are serious about the sustainability of food and bioeconomy systems, we have to develop more robust tools to study (diagnose) and explore (simulate) the factors determining the circularity of nutrient flows. This paper applies a novel analytical framework to assess the circularity of nutrient flows in modern food systems. This framework can help understand the potentialities of proposed changes in relation to reducing nutrient losses and the dependence on nutrients mined from finite deposits. More specifically, in this paper, we illustrate a quantitative assessment of the flows of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium in a case study \textendash the food system of the Okanagan bioregion in BC Canada. Our study suggests that the proposed approach is effective to inform nutrient management policies in bioregional food systems. In particular, an assessment of the openness of nutrient flows flags the importance of managing organic residuals for comprehensive nutrient recovery and reuse \textendash an activity that is still often systematically neglected due to large feed and food imports and the availability of cheap synthetic fertilizers. This type of analysis is essential if we want to develop effective policies for more sustainable management of nutrients in food and bioeconomy systems.},

keywords = {Agriculture, Circularity, Feed and food trade, Food systems, Nutrient flows, System openness},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Matthews2021,

title = {Old Wine in New Bottles: Exploiting Data from the EU's Farm Accountancy Data Network for Pan-EU Sustainability Assessments of Agricultural Production Systems},

author = {Keith B. Matthews and Ansel Renner and Kirsty L. Blackstock and Kerry A. Waylen and Dave G. Miller and Doug H. Wardell-Johnson and Alba Juarez-Bourke and Juan Cadillo-Benalcazar and Joep F. Schyns and Mario Giampietro},

url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10080/htm https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10080},

doi = {10.3390/su131810080},

issn = {2071-1050},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-09-01},

journal = {Sustainability},

volume = {13},

number = {18},

pages = {10080},

publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute},

abstract = {The paper presents insights from carrying out a pan-EU sustainability assessment using Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data (the old wine) with societal metabolism accounting (SMA) processes (the new bottles). The SMA was deployed as part of a transdisciplinary study with EU policy stakeholders of how EU policy may need to change to deliver sustainability commitments, particularly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The paper outlines the concepts underlying SMA and its specific implementation using the FADN data. A key focus was on the interactions between crop and livestock systems and how this determines imported feedstuffs requirements, with environmental and other footprints beyond the EU. Examples of agricultural production systems performance are presented in terms of financial/efficiency, resource use (particularly the water footprint) and quantifies potential pressures on the environment. Benefits and limitations of the FADN dataset and the SMA outputs are discussed, highlighting the challenges of linking quantified pressures with environmental impacts. The paper concludes that the complexity of agriculture's interactions with economy and society means there is great need for conceptual frameworks, such as SMA, that can take multiple, non-equivalent, perspectives and that can be deployed with policy stakeholders despite generating uncomfortable knowledge.},

keywords = {common agricultural policy, Energy, FADN, food nexus, Societal metabolism, sustainability, Water},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{DiFelice2021,

title = {Why should the EU implement electric vehicles? Viewing the relationship between evidence and dominant policy solutions through the lens of complexity},

author = {Louisa Jane Di Felice and Ansel Renner and Mario Giampietro},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1462901121001222},

doi = {10.1016/j.envsci.2021.05.002},

issn = {14629011},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-09-01},

journal = {Environmental Science & Policy},

volume = {123},

pages = {1--10},

publisher = {Elsevier},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Harder2021a,

title = {Towards a circular nutrient economy. A novel way to analyze the circularity of nutrient flows in food systems},

author = {Robin Harder and Mario Giampietro and Sean Smukler},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0921344921003025},

doi = {10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105693},

issn = {09213449},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-09-01},

journal = {Resources, Conservation and Recycling},

volume = {172},

pages = {105693},

publisher = {Elsevier},

abstract = {Recent years have seen a steep rise in the interest in nutrient circularity. In the context of food systems and waste management, nutrient circularity seems to generally encompass the reduction of nutrient losses and increased recovery of nutrients from various organic residual streams for reuse in agricultural production. Many studies that aim to contribute to improving nutrient circularity in food systems have limited the analysis to a given geographical area. But nutrient circularity likely looks different when the analysis includes what happens outside the borders of the considered area. This paper presents and discusses an analytical framework that allows for the analysis of nutrient circularity not only inside a given geographical area being considered, but also in those parts of the global food system with which the local food system interacts in terms of feed and food trade. This framework explicitly characterizes the impact of system openness associated with feed and food trade. This enables: (i) a separate discussion of four possible interpretations of nutrient circularity \textendash internal and external input and output circularity; and (ii) an analysis of how these four circularity indicators relate to one another depending on system openness. The proposed analysis can thus reveal the extent to which a high level of nutrient circularity in the considered area comes at the cost of a decreased level of nutrient circularity in the places with which feed and food are traded, or vice versa.},

keywords = {Agriculture, Bioeconomy, Circularity, Feed and food trade, Nutrient flows, System openness},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Manfroni2021,

title = {The declining performance of the oil sector: Implications for global climate change mitigation},

author = {Michele Manfroni and Sandra G. F. Bukkens and Mario Giampietro},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0306261921006346},

doi = {10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117210},

issn = {03062619},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-09-01},

journal = {Applied Energy},

volume = {298},

pages = {117210},

abstract = {This article presents a relational analysis of the performance of the petroleum sector in the context of climate change mitigation. The oil sector is described as a complex network of transformations carried out by structural and functional elements, exploiting different types of crude oils. Energy carrier requirements and emissions of viable sequential pathways of extraction and refining are assessed and scaled across different levels of organization, using the concept of metabolic processor. Based on the analysis of seventy-one oil fields around the world - about 25% of global production - we provide a diagnostic analysis of the current state and explore possible scenarios simulating the progressive aging of conventional oil sources and an increasing exploitation of unconventional crudes. Results show how future oil exploitation will be more energy intensive, entailing an increase of emissions per barrel in the range of 6\textendash26% over the baseline, depending on the simulation. Under the existing policy frameworks and international pledges, this increase will translate into an amount of extra CO2 comparable to entire European economic sectors. Implications of our findings for future energy policies are discussed and the need to complement Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) with more robust methodologies is emphasized. It is concluded that the declining performance of the oil sector could potentially undermine the plausibility of global low-carbon aspirations.},

keywords = {Climate change mitigation, CO2 emissions, Fossil transition, Oil depletion, Relational analysis, Unconventional oils},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Cabello2021,

title = {Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands},

author = {Violeta Cabello and David Romero and Ana Musicki and \^{A}ngela Guimar\~{a}es Pereira and Baltasar Pe\~{n}ate},

url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-021-00933-y https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11625-021-00933-y},

doi = {10.1007/s11625-021-00933-y},

issn = {1862-4065},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-07-01},

journal = {Sustainability Science},

volume = {16},

number = {4},

pages = {1363--1374},

publisher = {Springer},

abstract = {The literature on the water\textendashenergy\textendashfood nexus has repeatedly signaled the need for transdisciplinary approaches capable of weaving the plurality of knowledge bodies involved in the governance of different resources. To fill this gap, Quantitative Story-Telling (QST) has been proposed as a science for adaptive governance approach that aims at fostering pluralistic and reflexive research processes to overcome narrow framings of water, energy, and food policies as independent domains. Yet, there are few practical applications of QST and most run on a pan-European scale. In this paper, we apply the theory of QST through a practical case study regarding non-conventional water sources as an innovation for water and agricultural governance in the Canary Islands. We present the methods mixed to mobilize different types of knowledge and analyze interconnections between water, energy, and food supply. First, we map and interview relevant knowledge holders to elicit narratives about the current and future roles of alternative water resources in the arid Canarian context. Second, we run a quantitative diagnosis of nexus interconnections related to the use of these resources for irrigation. This analysis provides feedback to the narratives in terms of constraints and uncertainties that might hamper the expectations posed on this innovation. Thirdly, the mixed analysis is used as fuel for discussion in participatory narrative assessment workshops. Our experimental QST process succeeded in co-creating new knowledge regarding the water\textendashenergy\textendashfood nexus while addressing some relational and epistemological uncertainties in the development of alternative water resources. Yet, the extent to which mainstream socio-technical imaginaries surrounding this innovation were transformed was rather limited. We conclude that the potential of QST within sustainability place-based research resides on its capacity to: (a) bridge different sources of knowledge, including local knowledge; (b) combine both qualitative and quantitative information regarding the sustainable use of local resources, and (c) co-create narratives on desirable and viable socio-technical pathways. Open questions remain as to how to effectively mobilize radically diverse knowledge systems in complex analytical exercises where everyone feels safe to participate.},

keywords = {Climate Change Management and Policy, Environmental Economics, Environmental Management, Landscape Ecology, Public Health, Sustainable Development},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Toboso-Chavero2021,

title = {Incorporating user preferences in rooftop food-energy-water production through integrated sustainability assessment *},

author = {Susana Toboso-Chavero and Cristina Madrid-L\'{o}pez and Xavier Gabarrell Durany and Gara Villalba},

url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7620/abffa5 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7620/abffa5/meta},

doi = {10.1088/2515-7620/abffa5},

issn = {2515-7620},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-06-01},

journal = {Environmental Research Communications},

volume = {3},

number = {6},

pages = {065001},

publisher = {IOP Publishing},

abstract = {With the overall aim to design successful implementation strategies of food-energy-water production systems on urban roofs, we propose an integrated process that includes participatory processes and a multi-dimensional sustainability assessment of environmental, social and economic indicators. The proposed framework was applied to a typical housing estate in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona made up of 201 buildings and 13,466 inhabitants and characterized by a high share of low-income families. We assess several future scenarios of joint electricity production (photovoltaic panels), vegetable production (through open-air farming and greenhouses), green roof implementation and rainwater harvesting and rank them according to non-participatory and participatory approaches. In general, there was a tendency for residents to choose strategies providing energy and water rather than the food production potential of rooftops. However, the environmental assessment indicated that the least impacting alternatives from a life cycle approach were those promoting vegetable production, meeting 42 to 56% of the residents' fresh produce demand and reducing environmental impacts by 24 to 37 kg CO2eq m−2 of rooftop/year. Hence, we found that residents were mainly concerned with energy expenses and not so much with food insecurity, social cohesion or the impacts of long-distance supply chains. Our assessment supports urban sustainability and helps identify and breach the gap between scientific and user preferences in urban environmental proposals by informing and educating residents through a participatory integrated assessment.},

keywords = {Citizen science, Energy and water poverty, Farm to fork, Public participation, urban agriculture, Urban sustainability},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Langemeyer2021,

title = {Urban agriculture \textemdash A necessary pathway towards urban resilience and global sustainability?},

author = {Johannes Langemeyer and Cristina Madrid-Lopez and Angelica Mendoza Beltran and Gara Villalba Mendez},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0169204621000189},

doi = {10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104055},

issn = {01692046},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-06-01},

journal = {Landscape and Urban Planning},

volume = {210},

pages = {104055},

publisher = {Elsevier},

abstract = {The Covid-19 pandemic newly brings food resilience in cities to our attention and the need to question the desired degree of food self-sufficiency through urban agriculture. While these questions are by no means new and periodically entering the global research focus and policy discussions during periods of crises \textemdash the last time during the global financial crisis and resulting food price increases in 2008 \textemdash urban and peri-urban agriculture continue to be replaced by land-uses rendering higher market values (e.g. housing, transport, leisure). The loss of priority for urban agriculture in urban land-use planning is a global trend with only a few exceptions. We argue in this essay that this development has widely taken place due to three blind spots in urban planning. First, the limited consideration of social and ecological vulnerabilities and risk-related inequalities of urban inhabitants, food shortage among them, in the face of different scenarios of global change, including climate change or pandemic events such as Covid-19. Second, the disregard of the intensified negative environmental (and related social) externalities caused by distant agricultural production, as well as lacking consideration of nutrient re-cycling potentials in cities (e.g. from wastewater) to replace emission intensive mineral fertilizer use. Third, the lack of accounting for the multifunctionality of urban agriculture and the multiple benefits it provides beyond the provision of food, including social benefits and insurance values, for instance the maintenance of cultural heritage and agro-biodiversity. Along these lines, we argue that existing and new knowledge about urban risks and vulnerabilities, the spatially explicit urban metabolism (e.g. energy, water, nutrients), as well as ecosystem services need to be stronger and jointly considered in land-use decision-making.},

keywords = {Ecosystem services, Environmental externalities, Food resilience, urban agriculture, Urban metabolism},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}