10th Anniversary of Resources

A special issue of Resources (ISSN 2079-9276).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 10032

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, P.O. Box 123 Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
Interests: mining and metals; urban water; backcasting; industrial ecology; life cycle assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Water, Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4300, 90014 Oulu, Finland
Interests: sustainable development; circular economy; industrial ecology; municipal waste management; food waste; electronic waste; sustainable energy; energy transition
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
Interests: energy technology; resource policy; nexus; sustainability; sustainable development; hydrogen energy; criticality assessment; water; minerals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Resources released its first issue in 2012 is now celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Thanks to all contributing researchers along with our dedicated reviewers and editorial team, Resources has become a popular outlet for publishing research on topics concerning natural resources. The open access format attracts authors that value the timely handling of papers and high visibility and citations as well as readers that enjoy the free and unlimited access to publications.

This Special Issue has been set up to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Resources. The focus will be on the publication of comprehensive reviews, regular articles and short communications reflecting the progress in sustainable resources management over the last 10 years. We also invite integrated assessments on the use and/or status of major resources in the focus of the journal: energy, water, food and bio-resources, minerals, land and ecological resources plus governance and policy aspects. 

We also welcome forward-looking articles examining issues reflecting on the main societal challenges and on how to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals within planetary boundaries.

We encourage authors representing traditional knowledge to provide alternative approaches to the mainstream perspectives in resources use.

Prof. Dr. Damien Giurco
Prof. Dr. Eva Pongrácz
Dr. Ben McLellan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Resources is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • natural resources
  • mineral and geo-resources
  • land and ecological resources
  • plant and animal resources
  • water resources
  • energy resources
  • food and bio-resources
  • resource conservation, reuse and recycling
  • sustainable resource management
  • resource governance and policy
  • circular economy

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 1928 KiB  
Article
Co-Generating Knowledge in Nexus Research for Sustainable Wastewater Treatment
by Tamara Avellán, Angela Hahn, Sabrina Kirschke, Andrea Müller, Lucia Benavides and Serena Caucci
Resources 2022, 11(10), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/resources11100093 - 10 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2260
Abstract
Currently installed wastewater treatment systems in many developing countries are unsustainable, failing in either the social, economic or ecological dimension of sustainability. Nexus research looking at resources involved in wastewater treatment could support the transition towards more sustainable systems. Nexus thinking aims to [...] Read more.
Currently installed wastewater treatment systems in many developing countries are unsustainable, failing in either the social, economic or ecological dimension of sustainability. Nexus research looking at resources involved in wastewater treatment could support the transition towards more sustainable systems. Nexus thinking aims to overcome bio-physical systems thinking by including transdisciplinary research methods. Approaches for integrating results from different types of analysis and disciplinary backgrounds are scarce and have not been described extensively in nexus research. Transdisciplinary research suggests creating system, target and transformation knowledge as a common framework to describe meaningful transformations. Our goal is to show how a better understanding of the level of knowledge created by different types of analysis can pave the way towards integrating results for sustainability. In this article, three types of analysis, namely sustainability assessment, stakeholder perspective analysis and wickedness analysis, were applied in two pilot case wastewater treatment systems in Latin America. Through a three-step process, generated knowledge was assessed for each type of analysis individually while also highlighting synergies between them. The results demonstrate that structuring results by generated knowledge type can help combining outcomes in a meaningful manner. The findings show that technical flaws are present and fixable, and that issues relating to behaviours or values are more challenging to address but arguably more meaningful for systemic change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 10th Anniversary of Resources)
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16 pages, 1783 KiB  
Article
Biotic Part of the Product Material Footprint: Comparison of Indicators Regarding Their Interpretation and Applicability
by Clemens Mostert and Stefan Bringezu
Resources 2022, 11(6), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/resources11060056 - 6 Jun 2022
Viewed by 3461
Abstract
The product material footprint (PMF) represents a central instrument to assess the potential environmental impacts of products and services based on their life-cycle-wide material use. Within the life cycle impact assessment framework, the indicators raw material input (RMI) and total material requirement (TMR) [...] Read more.
The product material footprint (PMF) represents a central instrument to assess the potential environmental impacts of products and services based on their life-cycle-wide material use. Within the life cycle impact assessment framework, the indicators raw material input (RMI) and total material requirement (TMR) have been used for its calculation, but so far, only abiotic materials have been considered. This research analyses the requirements and indicators for the assessment of the biotic part of the PMF. The central question is whether the indicators RMI biotic and TMR biotic are suitable for this purpose or if they need to be adapted. For comparison, the indicator cumulative raw material demand (CRD) is applied. The indicator concepts of RMI, TMR, and CRD are compared by defining the system boundaries for determining the biotic parts of the footprint. To test the applicability, the production of wheat bread is assessed as a case study. The characterization factors of wheat grains are determined and each of the three indicators is implemented in the software openLCA for use with the ecoinvent database. The results show that RMI biotic and TMR biotic are suitable indicators for the quantification and assessment of the biotic part of the PMF. While CRD abiotic provides the same information as RMI abiotic, both indicators differ regarding the biotic part. The CRD per definition does not consider biotic inputs from agriculture and forestry and thus conveys insufficient information on the used and unused biomass extraction for the product LCA. The ratio of RMI biotic to the net annual increment and TMR biotic to the net primary production could be used for absolute sustainability assessment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 10th Anniversary of Resources)
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Review

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17 pages, 307 KiB  
Review
Resourcing Future Generations Requires a New Approach to Material Stewardship
by Edmund Nickless and Natalia Yakovleva
Resources 2022, 11(8), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/resources11080078 - 16 Aug 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2870
Abstract
The paper aims to examine sector policies for securing mineral resources for future generations in ways that are economically, environmentally and socially responsible, guided by the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. This study proposes a roadmap for responsible [...] Read more.
The paper aims to examine sector policies for securing mineral resources for future generations in ways that are economically, environmentally and socially responsible, guided by the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. This study proposes a roadmap for responsible mineral production, looking at drivers and goals, trends in resource demand and supply, technological and responsibility issues as well as current solutions. We conclude that while adopting the principles of a circular economy by minimizing waste, improving design for recovery, recycling alone will not be sufficient to meet the demand for an increasingly complex range of metals, and consequently primary mining will be needed for the foreseeable future. Various authors have proposed top-down approaches for sustainable mineral sourcing and co-ordination of global supply, but there is no evidence of these being taken up. Instead, to accelerate the transition towards sustainable, responsible and low-carbon mineral production, we suggest there is a role for ‘material stewardship’ defined and implemented through the actions of various players in the life cycle or value chain of specific minerals and metals. That bottom-up process has begun, though there is as yet no common definition of the term. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 10th Anniversary of Resources)
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