Environmental accounting: In between raw data and information use for management practices

Scholars in environmental accounting have developed many methods, capable to transform raw environmental and socio-economic data into useful information, both to protect natural ecosystems and to define the most appropriate policy and planning options to meet the existing sustainable development goals. Due to the high number of existing research challenges and needs, Beijing Normal University organized a World Summit on Environmental Accounting and Management on “Designing A Prosperous and Sustainable Future” which was held in Beijing on July 4–6, 2016. The main topic of the conference was the inclusion of system-wide effects into on-site environmental impacts, considering an integrated environmental accounting and management framework. The outcomes of this international summit, partially represented by the papers published in this Special Volume, provide an opportunity to assess the most recent progresses in biophysical and socioeconomic accounting, as well as in modelling the impacts of anthropogenic activities on environmental and socioeconomic systems. This SV includes cutting-edge papers, that focused on promoting the theories, ideas and practices involved in ecological accounting and management. All the works are aimed to develop broader perspectives, which can be applied to ecosystem protection, as well as on planning and policy-making in view of a transition toward more sustainable and equitable societies, as indicated through the Sustainable Development Goals

An assessment of the metabolic profile implied by agricultural change in two rural communities in the North of Argentina

The soy expansion model in Argentina generates structural changes in traditional lifestyles, which can be associated with different biophysical and socioeconomic impacts. To explore this issue, we apply an innovative method for integrated assessment-the multi-scale integrated analysis of societal and ecosystem metabolism framework-to characterize two communities in the Chaco Region, Province of Formosa, North of Argentina. These communities have recently experienced the expansion of soy production, altering their economic activity, energy consumption patterns, land use and human time allocation. The integrated characterization presented in the paper illustrates the differences (biophysical, socioeconomic and historical) between the two communities that can be associated with different responses. The analysis of the factors behind these differences has important policy implications for the sustainable development of local communities in the area

Structural analysis and dimerization profile of the SCAN domain of the pluripotency factor Zfp206

10.1093/nar/gks611Nucleic Acids Research40178721-8732NARH