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Green chemistry is the name of a need, that of encompassing chemistry research and the environmental, safety, health, and societal issues that have been creating unprecedented concerns at a global level. Green chemistry is a modern concept, as the label that represents the entry of chemical sciences in the realm of integrated sustainability studies. To do green chemistry research, we need approaches that take into account the use and availability of resources, as well as the direct or indirect impacts of the applications of new chemistry. Systems thinking is a powerful mindset for addressing the complexity of the interconnections between the traditional and the new aspects of chemistry research. Systems thinking can provide suitable and appropriate conceptual tools for the research, requiring that chemistry teaching provides the necessary familiarity with systemic concepts and practices. In this paper, an emergy (spelled with "m") perspective is presented as suitable to address the green chemistry didactics toward a systemic conceptual framework, which is now more and more mandatory.

Like many Mediterranean areas, the Italian island of Sicily faces multiple environmental pressures such as soil loss, fire hazards, and extreme meteorological events, all of which negatively impact local food systems. In response to these threats, a re-thinking of local agriculture and natural resource management is increasingly needed. Agroecology is recognized as a robust proposal for building more resilient food systems grounded in farmers' knowledge and practices. However, agroecological farming experiences struggle to operate and survive in Sicily due to unfavorable political-cultural, environmental, and socio-economic conditions. Learning from small-scale farmers about the ways they perceive, understand, and overcome structural limits and environmental constraints is key for a transition to agroecology in the study area. Understanding its potentials and limits is essential for planning and identifying transformative actions. We approached the problem by adopting a participatory action research methodology involving selected groups of farmers in Western Sicily. We applied a co-creative approach and developed a systemic analysis of the socio-ecological narratives to identify possible leverage points for a transition to agroecology in the study area. We identified a local potential for shifting the current system of water and fire hazards management to new systems of participatory land stewardship. To be effective, these systems should support agroecological farmers' income by altering social practices related to food and reducing the influence of dominant agribusiness actors. Our findings indicate that implementing solutions based on the circulation of local ecological knowledge within systems of participatory guarantees can favor the development of solidarity economies and mutualistic relations between farmers, scientists, and communities. Our work suggests that scientists' facilitation and knowledge cocreation might be of key importance in structuring local, more sustainable food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science literacy is strongly needed in all fields inspired by the concept of Sustainable Development. The need for integrated courses is addressed for science, engineering and economics master students, focused on the systemic approach.