Sustainable Rural Development Projects: Diversity and Opportunities from Principles of Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems

Dear Colleagues,

The Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CSA IRA) were approved by the Food Security Council in October 2014. In October 2016, FAO (https://www.fao.org) selected the GESPLAN Research Group (https://ruraldevelopment.es) of the Polytechnic University of Madrid to promote teaching, research, and links with society in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain, based on these principles, knowing the PhD who graduated from this University specialized in the area of projects and planning in sustainable rural development (https://www.desarrollorural.us). After 8 years of work, a network of 45 universities and 50 agrofood-businesses (organizations, associations and cooperatives) from 12 countries belonging to Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC countries) and Spain has been developed (https://www.principiosiaruniversidad.com). In this Special Issue, new paradigms and approaches are proposed to contribute to sustainability from the perspective of responsible investment in agriculture and food systems through sustainable development projects in teaching, research, and connection in civil society.

The Special Issue contributes to advancing sustainability, addressing challenges related to sustainability, and socio-economic, scientific, and integrated approaches to sustainable development and the principles for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems, known as RAI. Multi-stakeholders have collaborated and identified joint projects to promote sustainable rural development through this RAI principles at local, national, and regional levels. As the RAI principles were developed through a multi-stakeholder process, they already have a wide buy-in. We acknowledge that the starting point for defining how responsible investment in agriculture and food systems can contribute to food security and nutrition is to have recognition and respect for human rights. As an instrument of soft law and project management, these are globally applicable and include actions to address sustainable rural development from a variety of environmental, social, and economic issues.

Our objective is to analyze, quantify, and monitor sustainable rural development, learning from different multi-stakeholder experiences that include RAI principles as a tool for sustainability.

Scope of the Special Issue and Suggested Themes

This Special Issue seeks to explore the multifaceted dimensions of the transition towards sustainable rural development, focusing on the integration of CSA IRA principles in planning, project design, etc.

We invite submissions that address the following key questions:

• How can the integration of academia, business, industry, government, and civil society contribute to more effective and holistic project management, planning, and design processes for sustainable development?
• What new paradigms and approaches contribute to sustainability from projects that integrate the principles of responsible investment in agriculture and food systems?
• How can the integration of teaching, research, and connection with civil society contribute to sustainable development through CSA-IRA projects?
• What findings are generated from the WWP model (“Working with People”), in joint action “Living Labs” in the planning and management of CSA-IRA projects for sustainable development?

Research areas of interest include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Food security and nutrition (Principle 1);
• Sustainable and inclusive economic development and the eradication of poverty (Principle 2);
• Fostering gender equality and women’s empowerment (Principle 3);
• Engaging and empowering youth (Principle 4);
• Respecting the tenure of land, fisheries, and forests, and access to water (Principle 5);
• Conserving and sustainably managing natural resources, increasing resilience, and reducing disaster risks (Principle 6);
• Respecting cultural heritage and traditional knowledge, and supporting diversity and innovation (Principle 7);
• Promoting safe and healthy agriculture and food systems (Principle 8);
• Incorporating inclusive and transparent governance structures, processes, and grievance mechanisms (Principle 9);
• Assessing and addressing the impacts and promoting accountability (Principle 10).

Prof. Dr. Adolfo Cazorla Montero
Prof. Dr. Ignacio De los Ríos Carmenado
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

• planning
• sustainable rural development
• working with people
• sustainable project management
• project-based learning
• responsible investment in agriculture and food systems