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The Organisation for Economic and Cultural Development (OECD) works with countries worldwide to implement testing in the areas of science, mathematics and reading through the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) every three years, and this process is recognised to influence education systems through areas such as curriculum. Over the past decade, the OECD increasingly has acknowledged the need to include a greater emphasis on environmental issues, including developing student competencies specifically in this area. For the 2025 PISA round, we were invited as environmental science education experts to contribute to the Science Framework, which underpins the science assessment. This paper explains how we responded to that invitation, including foregrounding the urgent need to understand the competencies of 15 year-olds to address critical socio-ecological challenges such as climate change. We argue that this provides environmental education practitioners and scholars with a powerful opportunity to gain world-scale data for research and advocacy, which could enhance the visibility and leverage for our field in curriculum, whilst also recognising the political process within which we were engaged.

Digital entertainment games frequently address current societal issues that are also dealt with in geography education, such as climate change or sustainable city development, and give various opportunities for learning. However, in order to be fully able to determine the games’ educational potential and to instruct meaningful reflection on them in class, the designers’ approaches to realism regarding these topics need to be understood. Therefore, [the authors] have developed a model of realism in games and conducted 9 interviews with 10 experts from the entertainment game industry about their understanding of and dealing with realism concerning the represented geographical topics. In many cases, the interviewees’ approach to incorporating real-world issues can be regarded as beneficial for their games’ educational potential, and some designers even pursued learning goals. However, [the authors] also identified approaches that can result in questionable presentations of real societal issues. [The authors] found the most problematic one to be the prioritization of player expectations for the sake of perceived realism. This approach may lead to the depiction of stereotypes and common misconceptions. The results presented in our study may help teachers to prepare reflection on such misrepresentations in class, or designers to become more aware of the educational implications of different forms of game realism. (Orig.).

Humans have the ability to attribute mental states to others: that is, to attempt to predict others’ knowledge, desires, beliefs and their consequences. Theory of Mind (ToM)‐related skills can be differentiated into three classes: understanding others’ perception (e.g., attention, visual or auditory perspective, etc.), understanding others’ motivation (e.g., others’ goals, intentions, etc.) and understanding others’ knowledge (e.g., others’ beliefs). One ability that is seen as a benchmark for mental state attribution, and therefore theory of mind, is the understanding that others have beliefs and that those beliefs can be true or false. From an evolutionary perspective it is interesting that the most convincing evidence for flexible social cognitive skills comes from two very distantly related groups of species: apes and corvids. Similar social cognitive skills therefore may be an adaptation to similar socio‐ecological challenges in the social life of these species, for example, in navigating competition over resources and life in a complex social society.

Understanding sustainability worldviews and resulting behaviors is critical to the field of Sustainability Science. As humans face increasingly complex socio-ecological challenges, it is vital to address the lenses through which individuals see the world and act upon. Thus, it is imperative first to understand people's knowledge about and disposition toward sustainability to promote behavioral change. Equally important is acknowledging the cognitive nuances and limitations experienced by individuals attempting to engage in sustainability practices. Studies have shown that cognitive processes, including cognitive dissonance, carry-over effects, moral licensing, and hypocrisy play a significant role in adopting sustainability practices, even amongst sustainability-conscious individuals. In this dissertation, I present a mixed-method exploration of the public's worldviews of sustainability and the cognitive challenges to the adoption of sustainable lifestyles. In my first study, I explore worldviews of sustainability through the development, administration, and quantitative analysis of an online survey. The survey measured five sustainability constructs to explore the sustainability worldviews of a representative sample of the U.S. population (N = 346). Results indicate two separate groups with distinct worldviews: Ambivalents and Sympathizers. Ambivalents tend toward neutral sustainability worldviews, while Sympathizers perceive sustainability more favorably. In study two, I present an analytical autoethnography, shedding light on the attitude-behavior gap in sustainability by focusing on my sustainability worldviews and experiences as a practitioner. Within, I provide an insider's account of the nuances and limitations one experiences while engaging in and striving for a sustainable lifestyle and practices. The autoethnography results reveal the tensions between cognitive processes and the adoption of a sustainable lifestyle. Collectively, my research results offer the sustainability movement insights about possible paradigm shifts toward sustainability based on barriers associated with worldview factors and cognitive processes.

This chapter contains sections titled: Urban Metabolism Redux (Neo)liberalizing Urban Environments Urban Socio‐Ecological Movements and the Struggles for Justice Urban Socio‐Ecological Imaginaries: Discourses of Urban Natures Policiticizing Urban Environments: New Beginnings References

Marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) is increasingly discussed as a potential climate response, yet its governance remains underdeveloped. This study conducts a structured literature review, following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses framework, to identify and analyse governance challenges associated with mCDR within the broader context of multilateral ocean governance. Using the socio–ecological–technological systems (SETSs) framework, challenges were systematically coded to capture interdependencies across social, ecological, and technological (S/E/T) domains. The analysis of 35 peer-reviewed publications identified 100 distinct governance challenges, revealing that most cannot be categorised within single-system domains. Instead, challenges frequently span intersections between S/E/T systems, highlighting issues such as fragmented governance structures, ecological risks from technological interventions, and legitimacy concerns linked to deployment. These findings underscore the systemic nature of mCDR governance challenges and the limitations of siloed governance approaches. The study demonstrates that applying a SETS perspective enables the identification of cross-domain trade-offs, synergies, and coordination gaps, supporting the development of system-aware governance frameworks for mCDR.

Due to the strong interconnectedness between the ocean and our societies worldwide, improved ocean governance is essential for sustainable development in the context of the UN Ocean Decade. However, a multitude of different perspectives—ecological, societal, political, economic—and relations between these have to be understood and taken into consideration to foster transformative pathways towards marine sustainability. A core challenge that we are facing is that the ‘right’ response to complex societal issues cannot be known beforehand as abilities to predict complex systems are limited. Consequently, societal transformation is necessarily a journey towards the unknown and therefore requires experimental approaches that must enable the involvement of everyone with stakes in the future of our marine environment and its resources. A promising transdisciplinary research method that fulfils both criteria—being participatory and experimental—are real‐world laboratories. Here, we discuss how real‐world labs can serve as an operational framework in the context of the Ocean Decade by facilitating and guiding successful knowledge exchange at the interface of science and society. The core element of real‐world labs is transdisciplinary experimentation to jointly develop potential strategies leading to targeted real‐world interventions, essential for achieving the proposed ‘Decade Outcomes’. The authors specifically illustrate how deploying the concept of real‐world labs can be advantageous when having to deal with multiple, overlapping challenges in the context of ocean governance and the blue economy. Altogether, we offer a first major contribution to synthesizing knowledge on the potentials of marine real‐world labs, considering how they act as a way of exploring options for sustainable ocean futures. Indeed, in the marine context, real‐world labs are still under‐explored but are a tangible way for addressing the societal challenges of working towards sustainability transformations over the coming UN Ocean Decade and beyond. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Auszug Der Mensch hat in vielerlei Hinsicht einen starken Einfluss auf die Ozeane, was insbesondere die Verbesserung von ‚Ocean Governance‘ für einen nachhaltigen Schutz und Nutzen der Ozeane notwendig macht. Hierfür müssen unterschiedliche Aspekte—ökologische, gesellschaftliche, politische and wirtschaftliche—und die Beziehungen zwischen ihnen verstanden und berücksichtigt werden, wozu die derzeitige UN Ozeandekade einen passenden Rahmen bietet. Eine der zentralen Herausforderungen mariner Nachhaltigkeit und Transformation besteht darin, dass die ‚richtige‘ Lösung komplexer gesellschaftlicher Probleme nicht im Voraus bekannt sein kann. Dementsprechend ist unsere Fähigkeit zu prognostizieren, wie sich marine sozial‐ökologische Systeme zukünftig entwickeln könnten, begrenzt. Dadurch ist ein gesellschaftlicher Wandel in Richtung Nachhaltigkeit zwangsläufig eine Reise ins Ungewisse und erfordert daher experimentelle Ansätze, die die Beteiligung aller Interessenvertreter/innen sicherstellt. Eine vielversprechende transdisziplinäre Forschungsmethode, die nicht nur Partizipation, sondern auch gemeinsames Experimentieren und Evaluieren ermöglicht, sind Reallabore. In unserem Artikel erörtern wir wie marine Reallabore im Rahmen der Ozeandekade als wichtiges Werkzeug dienen können, indem sie den Austausch von Wissen und Erfahrung an der Schnittstelle von Forschung und Gesellschaft ermöglichen. Das Kernelement von Reallaboren ist transdisziplinäres Experimentieren, um gemeinsam nachhaltige Strategien zu entwickeln, die zu Interventionen in der Praxis führen und somit helfen die Ziele der Ozeandekade zu erreichen. In unserem Artikel veranschaulichen wir insbesondere, wie die Anwendung des Reallaborkonzepts von Vorteil sein kann, wenn es darum geht, sich mit verschiedenen, sich überschneidenden Herausforderungen im Zusammenhang von ‚Ocean Governance‘ und ‚Blue Economy‘ zu befassen, um über geeignete Schutz‐ und Nutzungsstrategien zu entscheiden. Insgesamt liefern wir eine Synthese zu den Potenzialen von marinen Reallaboren, indem wir untersuchen, wie sie als Mittel zur Erforschung von Optionen für den nachhaltigen Schutz und Nutzen der Ozeane dienen können. Bisher wurden Reallabore im marinen Kontext wenig angewendet, obwohl sie ein vielversprechendes Werkzeug darstellen, um gesellschaftliche Herausforderungen zu bewältigen, die sich im Rahmen von Nachhaltigkeitstransformationen während der UN Ozeandekade und darüber hinaus ergeben. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Background Gestational diabetes increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes ten-fold postnatally, but physical activity can significantly and independently reduce this risk. Yet most interventions targeting women after gestational diabetes have not been able to change physical activity, despite seeing significant dietary changes or weight loss. Methods This study used a realist-inspired approach to produce theory-based recommendations, about what could work to optimise physical activity after gestational diabetes. An advisory group was initiated and guided study conceptualisation, recruitment, data collection and reviewed draft recommendations. The socio-ecological model was used to scaffold theories and create meaningful recommendations at different systems-levels. Theories were generated using systematic reviews and grey literature and were further iteratively tested and refined through qualitative data collection with a wide range of professional stakeholders and people with lived experience. Theory-based recommendations were developed and further refined through consultations with women with previous gestational diabetes, researchers, public health professionals, and Diabetes UK representatives. Results Ten final theories were generated. Women need to be empowered, feel supported not just depending on family, have access to co-located and affordable childcare in physical activity spaces and be able to share experiences. The final recommendations spanned across social ( n  = 3), organisational ( n  = 6), community ( n  = 3) and policy ( n  = 6) levels of the socio-ecological model. Conclusions Fundamental patient care requirements must be fulfilled first, as without improvements in continuity of care and dedicated follow-up appointments after gestational diabetes, there is no opportunity to engage in physical activity conversations. Capitalising on existing community and local resources will also be helpful. To access activity spaces, co-located childcare is essential for some women, with further support to tailor physical activity as needed.

Urban areas are increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Stormwater Green infrastructure (SWGI) is seen as an approach to increase the climate resilience of urban areas, because they can buffer precipitation changes brought on by climate change. However, SWGI features themselves need to be resilient to climate change to be able to contribute to the resilience of cities. Thus, we aimed to develop a SWGI resilience assessment framework that could be used to identify challenges and to inform decisionmakers’ efforts to enhance resilience. We developed a resilience assessment framework based upon a resilience matrix approach to recognize effective resilience categories for SWGI by reviewing the literature on critical functionality and barriers to implementation and operation. These categories for SWGI included policy, design, maintenance, economic factors and social factors that influence SWGI functionality. We then identified specific aspects under each category that could be used for assessing SWGI resilience, recognizing that SWGI has critical functionalities and factors controlling its viability. Unlike other SWGI assessment frameworks that are focused on ecosystem services as a final outcome, we worked from a socio-ecological perspective in order to include socio-economic and policy factors and design and planning aspects that affect service provision. Developing a resilience assessment framework is critical for management because it can reveal the specific challenges facing SWGI resilience that have traditionally been overlooked, such as maintenance and social factors. This specific framework can also lead to efficient planning and management by identifying interrelations and hierarchical relationships of categories that influence resilience. Application of this framework will rely upon expert input to connect broad dimensions with specific indicators for SWGI to local priorities in resilience planning.