Transforming the Greek Island of samothraki into a UNESCO biosphere reserve: An experience in transdisciplinarity

This research explored the feasibility of transforming the island of Samothraki. Greece, into a UNESCO biosphere reserve. The goal was to assess whether this would help to foster a sustainable socio-economic development and to preserve the unique natural and cultural heritage of the island. In recent years the number of seasonal residents and tourists on the island has been growing substantially, and so, too, have the demands upon facili ties and infrastructures. The number of livestock, primarily goats and sheep, has increased exponentially, enhanced by the agricultu ral policies of the EU. Overgrazing, in combination with the steepness of terrain, has led to severe soil erosion, even within the existing Natura 2000 conserva tion area. Such conditions made it apparent that a new develop ment model was needed, and an initiative was started to create a biosphere reserve. In a transdisciplinary process, the scientists gradually transferred ownership of this vision to local stakeholders. A biophysical and socio-economic assess ment showed that a biosphere reserve would be appropriate and be welcomed by the majority of stakeholders. The community council recently endorsed an application to UNESCO.Austrian Academy of Scienc

The role of science in sustainability transitions: Citizen science, transformative research, and experiences from Samothraki island, Greece

We highlight the importance of island research that aims to achieve sustainability transitions. All too often, developmental priorities are largely defined by economic policy imperatives, and island research either ignores or masks such normative connotations. This article reports on ten years of transdisciplinary socioecological research on the Greek island of Samothraki. We sequentially: (i) introduce socioecological thinking and the conceptual framework of social ecology, and show how this is operationalised and applied on this case study, and (ii) highlight the importance of a transdisciplinary research approach, in promoting island sustainability. We conclude with a plea for more transformative research and citizen research in the direction of sustainability within island studies.Austrian Science Fund (FWF) projects: Susaki (P27951-G7) and CiSciSusaki (F15TCS00022). Preparatory feasibility studies have been financed by the Austrian MAB National Committee

Inequities blocking the path to circular economies:A bio-inspired network-based approach for assessing the sustainability of the global trade of waste metals

Considering the importance of waste metals for the transition to circular economies, this study follows a bio-inspired approach to evaluate their material and monetary global trade patterns for sustainability and equity. Between 2000 and 2022, the global trade grew by 5 % in trading countries, by 37 % in trade links, by 71 % in material flows, and by 569 % in economic flows. Driven by indirect effects, the average circulation of material and monetary flows ranged between 21.8–34.9 % depending on the demand or supply perspective but showed a declining trend. Due to homogenization, high network redundancy, and low network efficiency the trade remained robust yet outside the "window of vitality" characterizing natural ecosystems. A few, mostly high-income countries dominated the market, consolidating imports of high-value metal waste mostly from low- and middle-income exporters. Policies should address circularity and trade inequities, accounting for environmental and social ramifications throughout the lifecycle of products and materials

Why Socio-metabolic Studies are Central to Ecological Economics

Global material extraction has tripled since the 1970s, with more than 100 billion tonnes of materials entering the world economy each year. Only 8.6% of this amount is recycled, while 61% ends up as waste and emissions, the leading cause of global warming and large-scale pollution of land, rivers, and oceans. This theme paper introduces socio-metabolic research (SMR) and demonstrates its relevance to ecological economics scholarship in India. SMR is a research framework for studying the biophysical stocks and flows of materials and energy associated with societal production and consumption. As one of the core approaches in industrial ecology and ecological economics, SMR is widely conducted in Europe, the United States, Japan, Australia, and China. In India, it is still in its infancy. In this paper, we review pioneering efforts in SMR in India and make a case for advancing the field in the subcontinent

Socio-metabolic risk and tipping points on islands

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face enormous sustainability challenges such as heavy reliance on imports to meet basic needs, tenuous resource availability, coastal squeeze, and reduced waste absorption capacity. At the same time, the adverse effects of global environmental change such as global warming, extreme events, and outbreaks of pandemics significantly hinder SIDS’ progress towards sustainable development. This paper makes a conceptual contribution by framing the vulnerability of small islands from the perspective of socio-metabolic risk (SMR). SMR is defined as systemic risk associated with the availability of critical resources, the integrity of material circulation, and the (in)equitable distribution of derived products and societal services in a socio-ecological system. We argue that specific configurations and combinations of material stocks and flows on islands and their ‘resistance to change’ contribute to the system’s proliferation of SMR. For better or for worse, these influence the system’s ability to consistently and effectively deliver societal services necessary for survival. By positioning SMR as a subset of systemic risk, the paper illustrates SMRs and tipping points on small islands using insights from three sectors: water, waste, and infrastructure. We also identify effective leverage points and adaptation strategies for building system resilience on small islands. In conclusion, our synthesis suggests that governing SMR on SIDS would mean governing socio-metabolic flows to avoid potential disruptions in the circulation of critical resources and the maintenance of vital infrastructures and services while inducing interventions towards positive social tipping dynamics. Such interventions will need strategies to reconfigure resource-use patterns and associated services that are sustainable and socially equitable

Towards an integrated model of socioeconomic biodiversity drivers, pressures and impacts. A feasibility study based on three European long-term socio-ecological research platforms

Effective policies to slow the rate of anthropogenic biodiversity loss should reduce socioeconomic pressures on biodiversity, either directly or by modifying their underlying socioeconomic driving forces. The design of such policies is currently hampered by the limited understanding of socioeconomic drivers of and pressures on biodiversity as well as by lacking data, indicators and models. In order to improve understanding of these issues we here propose a conceptual model of socioeconomic biodiversity drivers and pressures. The model is based on the drivers-pressures-impacts-states-responses (DPSIR) scheme and on the socioeconomic metabolism approach. The aim of the model is to guide research aimed at improving our understanding of socioeconomic biodiversity pressures and drivers and to serve as a basis for the development of formal, quantitative models in that field. Based on three European long-term socio-ecological research (LTSER) platforms, we analyze the model's applicability and suitability as well as data availability and research needs. These platforms are the Danube Delta Wetland System in Romania, the Doana in Spain and the Eisenwurzen in Austria. An empirical analysis of the relationship between the human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) and breeding bird richness in the Eisenwurzen demonstrates the ability of HANPP to provide a link between socioeconomic pressures/drivers and biodiversity. The analysis of the case studies underlines the potential utility of the conceptual model to guide future research into socioeconomic biodiversity drivers and pressures. However, considerable investments in monitoring and reconstruction of past trajectories as well as in model development will be required before mathematical (computer) models of the interrelation processes between society and ecosystems can be successfully deployed.Biodiversity Long-term socio-ecological research (LTSER) Socioeconomic drivers Pressures on biodiversity Human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) Socioeconomic metabolism

Regenerative economics at the service of islands: Assessing the socio-economic metabolism of Samothraki in Greece

For many islands, the answer to the question “why a locally, self-sustaining, and regenerative economy is needed?” is clear. The struggle often lies in the “how”. Here, we argue that tools from regenerative economics, which follow an island economy-as-an-organism analogy, offer valuable and complementary insights to socio-metabolic research. Indicators from flow-based and information-based ecological network analysis can quantify properties of an island's socio-economic metabolism (SEM) which are related to cycling, resilience, and degree of mutualism, among others. To illustrate the applicability of these methods, we select Samothraki in Greece as a case study. Results show that over the years the island became very efficient in streamlining imported resources, experiencing physical growth as indicated by a substantial increase in its total material throughput. This growth was attributed to a high degree of order (i.e., network efficiency) endowed by the constraining (ordered) part of the linear structure of the island's SEM. The disordered part of its SEM which is related to resilience, played a much smaller role which became progressively more important over the years, albeit to a limited degree. While the island exhibits an increasing trend in its robustness, its value over the years studied was well below what is typically observed for healthy natural ecosystems, and its current SEM has a very low ability to generate internal flow activity and cycling of resources per unit input. This limited robustness is due to the island's dependency on imports but also due to its linear SEM which had a very small number of feedback loops in its network. A scenario analysis showed that a reticulated network structure would theoretically endow the island with increased resilience, and hence robustness, by allowing for more internal resource flow activity to be circulated as regenerative re-investment. This article highlights that methods from regenerative economics can be used as diagnostic tools to assess and monitor the impact of strategies related to circular economy interventions on network properties, and to illuminate their effect on the regenerative potential of islands.</p