Prefiguring Sustainable Futures through Socio-Ecological Practices

Dear Colleagues,

The ecological crisis, which poses a threat to the maintenance of social structure and democratic institutions, requires thorough exploration to improve our understanding of the mutual relationship between the social and ecological dimensions of climate change processes.

On this basis, this Special Issue aims to collect contributions from scholars that explore how communities, organizations, and individuals might actively inspire a sustainable future through socio-ecological practices, elucidating their transformative potential through the lens of the social sciences.

Historically, meaningful social changes are often triggered by prefigurative practices—proactive, revolutionary experiments and initiatives that provide glimpses into a world where societal structures and ecological systems coalesce.

Regarding the changes needed to mitigate the current ecological crisis, socio-ecological practices, encompassing both consolidated and emerging activities, warrant investigation through key social experiments to re-establish the interconnectedness of social and environmental elements. Changes to these practices, encompassing individual behaviors, lifestyles, collective action, and policy implementations, could lead to a future where social systems flourish in balance with the ecosystems they inhabit. Offering innovative solutions to unprecedented crises, such changes represent potential pathways forward.

We welcome contributions from different research domains addressed from diverse research perspectives, and the submission of papers that take a cross-disciplinary approach is encouraged. Research domains may include (but are not limited to) the following: Agroecology, Community-Based Conservation, Urban/Social Infrastructures, Participatory Democracy, Transition Towns, Circular Economy Initiatives, Permaculture, Zero-Waste Lifestyles, Community Gardening, Local Food, and Eco-friendly Consumption Choices and Practices. Research perspectives may encompass (but are not limited to) Practice Theory, Collective Action, Social and Policy Innovations, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Technology and Society (Science and Technology Studies and Socio-Technical Systems), and Education.

Contributions have to follow one of three categories of papers (article, conceptual paper, or review) of the journal and address the topic of the Special Issue.

Dr. Dario Padovan
Dr. Osman Arrobbio
Dr. Davide Antonio Grasso
Dr. Alessandro Sciullo
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 conceptual papers 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 double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies 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 1400 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.

• sustainable futures
• ecological crisis
• democratic social structures
• socio-ecological practices
• innovative solutions
• transformative potential
• cross-disciplinary collaboration
• democracy
• prefigurative practices
• cross-disciplinarity