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Varzakas T, Smaoui S. Global Food Security and Sustainability Issues: The Road to 2030 from Nutrition and Sustainable Healthy Diets to Food Systems Change. Foods 2024; 13:306. [PMID: 38254606 PMCID: PMC10815419 DOI: 10.3390/foods13020306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2023] [Revised: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
The accomplishment of food/nutrition security for all across sustainable food systems (SFS) is tied to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SFS is connected to all SDGs via the traditional framework of social inclusion, economic development, environmental safety, inclusivity, and the development of sustainable food systems. We suggest that, for the world to achieve sustainable development, a shift to SFS is necessary to guarantee food/nutrition security for all, while operating within planetary boundaries to protect ecosystems and adapt to and mitigate climate change. Therefore, there is a requirement for original approaches that implement systemic and more participatory methods to engage with a wider range of food system stakeholders. However, the lack of skills and tools regarding novel methodologies for food system transformation is a key obstacle to the deployment of such approaches in practice. In the first part of this review, a summary of some challenges that occur in the governance of food system transformation is given. Through a case study of plant-based proteins and their biological and chemical modification as diets shift towards alternative proteins, we demonstrate that resource-efficient food systems and food waste, through system transformation, are useful in understanding both (i) how food system transformation has ensued and (ii) how the required transformation is prohibited. Finally, we discuss the implications of food system transformation in terms of nutrition and sustainable healthy diets, which are needed to achieve changes in food safety systems in the future. The linkage of food and the environment is evident, focusing on nutrition and sustainable healthy diets. This cannot be accomplished without system change and research towards new foods and, more specifically, new proteins such as plant-based ones and their biological and chemical modification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theodoros Varzakas
- Department of Food Science and Technology, University of the Peloponnese, Antikalamos, 24100 Kalamata, Greece
| | - Slim Smaoui
- Laboratory of Microbial, Enzymatic Biotechnology, and Biomolecules (LBMEB), Center of Biotechnology of Sfax, University of Sfax-Tunisia, Sfax 3029, Tunisia;
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Meelen T, Münzel K. The uphill struggles of carsharing in the Netherlands. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2206197120. [PMID: 37956273 PMCID: PMC10666113 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2206197120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The current mobility system relies heavily on privately owned cars, which results in high levels of emissions, material use, and use of scarce public space. Carsharing is a mobility innovation offering consumers on-demand, short-term access to cars. By changing consumption patterns and reducing car ownership, carsharing has great potential to contribute to a sustainability transition of the mobility system. Even so, carsharing only satisfies a small portion of today's mobility needs and has difficulties becoming mainstream. This study investigates the upscaling trajectory of carsharing in the Netherlands. We structure the analysis along the lines of the multilevel perspective and include economic, technological, sociocultural, and policy factors that shape carsharing growth. The results demonstrate how car ownership is entrenched in the social and economic fabric, and the specific barriers this poses to carsharing. Moreover, we find some forms of carsharing risk extending private car ownership rather than challenging it. The environmental outcomes of carsharing are not predetermined but depend on the trajectories key actors take during upscaling. Our analysis highlights the importance of studying innovations in the context of the consumption-production systems in which they emerge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toon Meelen
- Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584CBUtrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Karla Münzel
- Centre of Expertise Smart Sustainable Cities, University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, 3584CHUtrecht, The Netherlands
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Schiller KJF, Klerkx L, Salazar Centeno DJ, Poortvliet PM. Developing the agroecological niche in Nicaragua: The roles of knowledge flows and intermediaries. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2206195120. [PMID: 37956302 PMCID: PMC10666102 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2206195120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Supporting transitions to sustainable, resilient agri-food systems is important to ensure stable food supply in the face of growing climate extremes. Agroecology, or diversified farming systems based on ecological principles, can contribute to such systems. Based on a qualitative case study of Nicaragua, a forerunner in agroecology, this paper unpacks an ongoing transition to agroecology, focusing on how the transition has been shaped by knowledge flows and intermediary actors. Using a niche development framework based on knowledge processes, we analyze the growth of the agroecological niche in Nicaragua over three phases of niche development. The findings show how knowledge processes' emphases have shifted over time, as have functions enacted by intermediaries. Dedicated, diversified intermediaries have been key in creating momentum for agroecology, as have individual actors moving between niche and regime. Agency in niche development has come from both niche and regime actors. Finally, we find that Nicaragua's transition to agroecology has been ambiguous: While the niche has succeeded in changing the mainstream selection environment to its favor in some arenas, transition dynamics lag in others. Drawing lessons from this ambiguity, we suggest entry points for broader systems change, such as market stimulation, value chain development, phase-out policies, and supportive policy in related arenas. We also point out possible actions for niche actors such as integration of financial and commercial actors into niches and creation of dedicated market-focused intermediaries. Our results provide evidence of an ongoing transition and action points for supporting niche development in (sustainable agri-food) transitions around the globe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina J. F. Schiller
- Competence Center Policy and Society, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI), 76133Karlsruhe, Germany
- Knowledge, Technology and Innovation Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen6706KN, the Netherlands
| | - Laurens Klerkx
- Knowledge, Technology and Innovation Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen6706KN, the Netherlands
- Departamento de Economía Agraria, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad de Talca, Casilla 747-721, Talca, Chile
| | | | - P. Marijn Poortvliet
- Strategic Communication Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen6706KN, the Netherlands
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Ryghaug M, Skjølsvold TM. How policies and actor strategies affect electric vehicle diffusion and wider sustainability transitions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2207888119. [PMID: 37956291 PMCID: PMC10666144 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2207888119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Implementing electromobility is a central component in the de-carbonization of personal mobility. In recent years, the absolute number of electric vehicles (EVs) and their market share has increased sharply in many countries. This paper focuses on Norway, a pioneer market for EVs that other countries can learn from. The analysis highlights how a combination of local and national policies over a 30-y period, which targeted both industry development and vehicle demand, were important drivers of this development. It also highlights the importance of advocacy groups and strong networks in promoting EVs, as well as changes in user preferences. The paper demonstrates how the EV diffusion has been driven by alignments of multiple processes across different levels, involving interactions between multiple actors and social groups with different interests and views about desirable futures as described by the multi-level perspective (MLP). Building on the MLP, the study of EV diffusion in Norway illustrates how niches are often sustained through demonstrations, experimentation, strategic alliances, and actors securing favorable political and economic conditions. Further, it shows how local or national niches may depend on international regime actors, such as the car manufacturing industry and policies developed abroad. The paper also explores how the introduction of EVs has opened for wider effects, including innovation within production-consumption systems beyond mobility. Based on this analysis, we argue for a nuanced perspective on the relationship between incremental, regime-internal innovation, and wider transformative changes, where the merits of societal learning and experience with battery electricity for transportation are highlighted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marianne Ryghaug
- Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Dragvoll, TrondheimN-7491, Norway
| | - Tomas Moe Skjølsvold
- Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Dragvoll, TrondheimN-7491, Norway
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Lockwood M. Transforming the grid for a more environmentally and socially sustainable electricity system in Great Britain is a slow and uneven process. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2207825120. [PMID: 37956288 PMCID: PMC10666092 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2207825120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Electricity system decarbonization is key for environmental sustainability. From a consumption-production perspective, much attention has been paid to changes in how electricity is generated and used, but electricity systems also rely on a grid infrastructure that connects and integrates production and consumption, and which will also need to transform. At the same time, new technologies in the electricity system, including the grid, offer the potential for more socially sustainable ways of producing and consuming energy. However, in practice, change has been slow, uneven, and often dysfunctional. A socio-technical transitions approach offers insights into why this is so, seeing electricity system change not simply in technical and economic terms, but also as the outcomes of interactions between technology and social and political processes. The approach draws attention to the particular challenges of achieving rapid transitions in complex critical infrastructures like electricity with strong institutional logics of security. This article applies this approach to the case of Great Britain, where despite strong commitments to sustainability in the form of high-level climate policy, the electricity grid has often been a constraint on the pace of change. The nature of the British transition is explained partly by weak links between these high-level goals on the one hand and the detailed rules and practices in the electricity system on the other. It is also explained by patterns of ownership and grid regulation in the British case that protect incumbents and make it difficult for new actors to develop the system in more socially sustainable directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Lockwood
- Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School, Brighton, UK, BN1 9SN
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Geels FW, Kern F, Clark WC. Sustainability transitions in consumption-production systems. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2310070120. [PMID: 37956298 PMCID: PMC10666003 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310070120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The need for faster and deeper transitions toward more sustainable development pathways is now widely recognized. How to meet that need has been at the center of a growing body of academic research and real-world policy implementation. This paper presents our perspective on some of the most powerful insights that have emerged from this ongoing work. In particular, we highlight insights on how sustainability transitions can be usefully conceptualized, how they come about and evolve, and how they can be shaped and guided through deliberate policy interventions. Throughout the paper, we also highlight some of the many how questions that remain unresolved and on which progress would be especially helpful for the pursuit of sustainable development. Our approach to these "how" questions on sustainability transitions draws on two strands of solution-driven research and policy advice: one emerging from studies of how human societies interact with nature and the other emerging from studies of how those societies interact with their technologies. Consumption-production systems have been a focus of extensive work in both strands. To help build bridges between them, we recently brought together a cross-section of relevant scholars for a PNAS Special Feature on "Sustainability transitions in consumption-production systems." Their contributions are summarized in a companion paper we have written to introduce the Special Feature [F. W. Geels, F. Kern, W. C. Clark, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (2023)]. We draw on that work in the Perspective we present here as well as our reading of the relevant literatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank W. Geels
- Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, ManchesterM15 6PB, United Kingdom
| | - Florian Kern
- Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin10785, Germany
| | - William C. Clark
- Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA02138
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Hess DJ. Conflict and uneven development in the multidecade distributed solar energy transition in the United States. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2206200119. [PMID: 37956284 PMCID: PMC10666089 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2206200119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
A longitudinal analysis of small-scale solar energy generation in the United States is used to demonstrate how transition studies can explain nonlinearity in multidecade changes of consumption-production systems. Nonlinearity involves uneven development of sustainability innovations with episodes of rapid growth but also periods of slow growth, stalling, or even collapse. Factors that affect the increasing feasibility and attractiveness of small-scale solar include technological improvements, declining costs, and changes in global energy markets. However, a more complete explanation of nonlinearity highlights the importance of a type of systems analysis that also includes strategic action and broader societal and policy changes. Specifically, efforts by the utilities constrained the growth of small-scale solar by weakening policy support because of the perceived threat, but the solar industry and advocates responded with countervailing action in a changing context. As the transition developed, strategic action (including goals, targets, tactics, and coalition partners) changed and became more conflictual. However, by the beginning of the 2020 decade, the development of microgrids, digital technologies, storage, and virtual power plants in combination with net-zero energy policies provided indications of potential for a reconfiguration of the relationship that could be less polarized and conflicted.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J. Hess
- Sociology Department, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN37235
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Vaittinen T, Koljonen K, Tella S, Asikainen E, Laatikainen K. Holistically sustainable continence care: A working definition, the case of single-used absorbent hygiene products (AHPs) and the need for ecosystems thinking. Proc Inst Mech Eng H 2023:9544119231188860. [PMID: 37655850 DOI: 10.1177/09544119231188860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
Incontinence is a common health issue that affects hundreds of millions of people across the world. The solution is often to manage the condition with different kinds of single-use continence technologies, such as incontinence pads and other absorbent hygiene products (AHPs). Throughout their life cycle, these fossil-based products form a remarkable yet inadequately addressed ecological burden in society, contributing to global warming and other environmental degradation. The products are a necessity for their users' wellbeing. When looking for sustainability transitions in this field, focus on individual consumer-choice is thus inadequate - and unfair to the users. The industry is already seeking to decrease its carbon footprint. Yet, to tackle the environmental impact of single-use continence products, also societies and health systems at large must start taking continence seriously. Arguing that continence-aware societies are more sustainable societies, we devise in this article a society-wide working definition for holistically sustainable continence care. Involving dimensions of social, ecological and economic sustainability, the concept draws attention to the wide range of technologies, infrastructures and care practices that emerge around populations' continence needs. Holistically sustainable continence care is thus not only about AHPs. However, in this article, we examine holistically sustainable continence care through the case of AHPs. We review what is known about the environmental impact AHPs, discuss the impact of care practices on aggregate material usage, the future of biobased and degradable incontinence pads, as well as questions of waste management and circular economy. The case of AHPs shows how holistically sustainable continence care is a wider question than technological product development. In the end of the article, we envision an ecosystem where technologies, infrastructures and practices of holistically sustainable continence care can flourish, beyond the focus on singular technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiina Vaittinen
- Faculty of Management and Business (Politics Unit) and Faculty of Social Sciences (Global Health and Development), Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Krista Koljonen
- School of Engineering Science, Department of Separation Science, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT, Lappeenranta, Finland
| | - Susanna Tella
- Faculty of Social and Health Care, LAB University of Applied Sciences, Lappeenranta, Finland
| | - Eveliina Asikainen
- Pedagogical Innovations and Culture, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland
| | - Katri Laatikainen
- School of Engineering Science, Department of Separation Science, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT, Lappeenranta, Finland
- Finnish Defense Research Agency, Lakiala, Finland
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Alva Ferrari A, Bogner K, Palacio V, Crisostomo D, Seeber N, Ebersberger B. The COVID-19 pandemic as a window of opportunity for more sustainable and circular supply chains. Cleaner Logistics and Supply Chain 2023. [PMCID: PMC9969730 DOI: 10.1016/j.clscn.2023.100101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/02/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic is a microcosm for future challenges and crises. The greatest of these challenges is the climate crisis and the potential collapse of our Earth system. However, crises may also provide an opportunity to transition to a more sustainable and resilient future. In our study, we qualitatively analyze statements of a heterogeneous group of 46 experts from academia, industry, government, and organized civil society to explore inasmuch experts perceived the pandemic as a window of opportunity for more sustainable SCs and what they consider opportunities, challenges, and necessary actions for more sustainable circular SCs. Our study contributes to current and future studies on the opportunities in times of crisis and the actions needed to overcome SC vulnerabilities and increase the resiliency, circularity, and sustainability of SCs.
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Sattar U. A Conceptual Framework of Climate Action Needs of the Least Developed Party Countries of the Paris Agreement. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022; 19:ijerph19169941. [PMID: 36011575 PMCID: PMC9408482 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19169941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Revised: 08/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
This article provides a framework for conceptualizing climate action needs grounded in the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of the least developed party countries (LDPCs) of the Paris Agreement (PA). It examines the NDCs of 35 LDPCs recorded in the NDC public registry of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC). A grounded theory approach is adopted to assess what these countries need to materialize their NDCs under the PA. A conceptual framework of needs is figured out through an iterative process of data collection and analysis in three cycles: (1) open and in vivo coding; (2) axial coding; and (3) theoretical or selective coding. The data are analyzed with the help of NVIVO software. The results provide a verifiable framework of needs for climate action, which includes 55 saturated need factors extracted from the writing excerpts of NDCs, 17 sub-categories (axial codes) with climate finance and technology transfer as the most prominent, and 7 theoretical or selective categories with mobilize, educate, governmental, synergic, levels, equity, and public health. It provides a baseline for policy, research, and action from the developed party countries to uphold their PA obligations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Usman Sattar
- College of Law and Political Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
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Juri S, Zurbriggen C, Bosch Gómez S, Ortega Pallanez M. Transition Design in Latin America: Enabling Collective Learning and Change. Front Sociol 2021; 6:725053. [PMID: 34805349 PMCID: PMC8595482 DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2021.725053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Latin American societies currently confront numerous social, economic, and environmental issues. The complex and interlinked nature of these issues demands responses that fully and equally engage with the social and environmental domains in creative and integrative ways that blur traditional dichotomies and disciplinary boundaries. Most importantly, they need to weave in and reflect the plurality and specificity of the contexts in an autonomous and non-colonialist fashion. In this paper, we draw inspiration from approaches that emerged in the Global North such as Resilience Thinking, Policy Design, and Transition Design, all of which strive for knowledge plurality and synthesis applied to systemic transformational processes. To contribute to this pluralistic motivation and to promote critical reflection and learning, in this work we outline the main contributions of such approaches and have them converse with Latin American perspectives and practices. Through the application of a Transition Design lens, a practice-oriented perspective aimed at catalyzing societal transitional processes towards sustainable futures, we act as practitioners and interlocutors that adopt, adapt, and expand its theoretical and methodological applications in collective learning spaces, processes, and platforms. The action-oriented nature of this approach allows us to analyze particular cases of application, their contexts, and their theoretical or methodological nuances which determine their potential or degree of success in generating actual change. The structure of this article moves from outlining and introducing the main frameworks and notions relevant for adopting a Transition Design approach in Latin America, to describing cases developed in different pedagogical or action-research platforms, culminating with a collection of reflections stemming from our experiences applying Transition Design in Latin America. The first section offers a theoretical compass to expand a more robust framework that supports and enables socio-environmental transitions in the region. The second part presents three case studies to illustrate the application and interpretation of different methods and the challenges and opportunities presented. We conclude by offering insights into potential future pathways for embracing and deepening holistic and systemic approaches like Transition Design in Latin American settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvana Juri
- School of Design, College of Fine Arts, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies (SARAS), Maldonado, Uruguay
| | - Cristina Zurbriggen
- South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies (SARAS), Maldonado, Uruguay
| | - Sofía Bosch Gómez
- School of Design, College of Fine Arts, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Marysol Ortega Pallanez
- School of Design, College of Fine Arts, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
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