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Non-technical summary: We identify a set of essential recent advances in climate change research with high policy relevance, across natural and social sciences: (1) looming inevitability and implications of overshooting the 1.5°C warming limit, (2) urgent need for a rapid and managed fossil fuel phase-out, (3) challenges for scaling carbon dioxide removal, (4) uncertainties regarding the future contribution of natural carbon sinks, (5) intertwinedness of the crises of biodiversity loss and climate change, (6) compound events, (7) mountain glacier loss, (8) human immobility in the face of climate risks, (9) adaptation justice, and (10) just transitions in food systems. Technical summary The IPCC Assessment Reports offer the scientific foundation for international climate negotiations and constitute an unmatched resource for climate change researchers. However, the assessment cycles take multiple years. As a contribution to cross- and interdisciplinary understanding across diverse climate change research communities, we have streamlined an annual process to identify and synthesise essential research advances. We collected input from experts on different fields using an online questionnaire and prioritised a set of ten key research insights with high policy relevance. This year we focus on: (1) looming overshoot of the 1.5°C warming limit, (2) urgency of phasing-out fossil fuels, (3) challenges for scaling carbon dioxide removal, (4) uncertainties regarding the future of natural carbon sinks, (5) need for join governance of biodiversity loss and climate change, (6) advances in the science of compound events, (7) mountain glacier loss, (8) human immobility in the face of climate risks, (9) adaptation justice, and (10) just transitions in food systems. We first present a succinct account of these Insights, reflect on their policy implications, and offer an integrated set of policy relevant messages. This science synthesis and science communication effort is also the basis for a report targeted to policymakers as a contribution to elevate climate science every year, in time for the UNFCCC COP. Social media summary We highlight recent and policy-relevant advances in climate change research - with input from more than 200 experts 1.

Inclusive physical education allows the development of social skills, attitudes, and awareness of peers about functional limitations and enhances the leadership skills of all children. However, the positive experience of children with functional limitations in inclusive physical education can be impacted by programs inadequate to their abilities and the limited training and knowledge of physical educators about teaching in consideration of their needs. The objective of this study was to identify the facilitators and barriers experienced by physical educators to include children with functional limitations in physical education in Quebec schools. A cross-sectional descriptive study with an online survey was conducted with physical education teachers and daycare educators. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. A total of 149 participants (n = 130 physical education teachers) responded to the survey. Most respondents (79.5%) included children with functional limitations in activities with their classmates. However, 39.4% of respondents reported feeling not informed and not equipped to facilitate inclusion. This study identified the facilitators and barriers to physical education for children with functional limitations from the perspectives of physical educators, in Quebec schools, and the role of the latter to encourage inclusion.

Approximately 22% of Canadian children with physical disabilities meet the daily physical activity recommendations. Physical activity is attributed to physical literacy, a conceptualization of the domains required to be physically active throughout life. In Canada, pediatric rehabilitation professionals’ and coaches’ roles are essential for developing physical literacy. The aim of the study was to explore knowledge of physical literacy and strategies for developing physical literacy for children with physical disabilities among pediatric rehabilitation professionals, students, and coaches in Quebec. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with pediatric rehabilitation professionals, students and coaches and thematically analyzed using NVivo. Twenty professionals and students reported having variable knowledge about physical literacy, but suggested that adaptation, play and interdisciplinarity were essential in the development of physical literacy for children with physical disabilities. Participants highlighted the need to redefine fundamental movement skills for children with physical disabilities. Despite perceiving varied knowledge of the physical literacy concept, pediatric rehabilitation professionals and coaches described essential domains to foster physical literacy in children with disabilities. Pediatric rehabilitation professionals and coaches play a vital role in fostering physical literacy. Therefore, it is essential to support the development of knowledge that may support professionals, such as through training programs and continuing education.

The fashion industry has developed into a complex global system with persistent social and environmental sustainability challenges. Private, public, and civil society actors have condemned these persistent problems and called for system change toward sustainable fashion. While alternative practices and industry collaborations have emerged throughout the system, they have not added up to a sustainability transition. Instead, the system shows signs of being locked into unsustainability. The aim of this article is to examine the state of transition of the fashion industry through a multi-level perspective system analysis, based on a co-creative research project with the former C&A Foundation, which became the Laudes Foundation in 2020. This transition analysis shows that the fashion system is locked into a state of disconnection, uncontrollability, extraction, growth-focus, and disposability. We build from analysis and present a set of strategic transition pathways that can be pursued today throughout the fashion system to accelerate the transition to sustainable fashion.

Investments in research and innovation are critical for transformations toward sustainable agrifood systems and for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement. However, the frequent neglect of environmental and social goals by investors remains a major challenge. System-oriented approaches to designing and monitoring innovations can be a promising solution to guide innovations and allow investors to identify those that are more sustainable. This article presents a set of eight ‘Principles for Agrifood Research and Innovation’ developed by an international multi-stakeholder task force including staff of research agencies, funders and impact investors, private sector, non-governmental organizations, and benchmarking organizations. The article explains the rationale for the selection of the principles and describes potential ways forward for their uptake and implementation, building on pilots done by several research and funding organizations.

Smallholder production is a significant contributor to rural livelihoods and rural economies in much of the developing world. Yet, there is evidence of increasing disengagement in some regions, including southern Africa. However, there has been little consideration of the rates and the livelihood, ecological and policy implications of such. In this paper we examine previous studies on rates of deactivation of crop fields by smallholders in the communal areas of South Africa, supported by repeat photo images and case study material. Together these various methods show that it is a widespread phenomenon occurring at variable rates. Over short periods deactivation of crop fields can be balanced through some reactivation or intensification of homegardens. But over longer periods there is a net decline in the area of fields cultivated in many areas, with corresponding increases in the area of fallow land which, through time, may undergo changes towards more natural vegetation. We review the drivers of this deactivation of field cropping, and then contemplate the possible socio-economic and ecological implications at local and national scales. We show that there are numerous and profound implications that require greater understanding and policy responses.

Background: Most individuals with physical disabilities do not meet physical activity recommendations, which may negatively impact quality of life. Physical literacy is a concept that considers the key elements necessary to support lifelong physical activity. Limited attention has been directed towards physical literacy for individuals with physical disabilities. Objectives: To obtain expert consensus on strategic priorities to delineate the next steps on physical literacy for individuals with physical disabilities. Methods: The Collaborative Prioritized Planning Process was followed during a two-day online consensus meeting with experts in disability and physical activity. This systematic four-step process involved: 1) knowledge synthesis before the meeting, 2) challenge identification and prioritization, 3) solution identification, consolidation and prioritization, and 4) action planning. Results: Thirty-one experts participated in the meeting. Five challenges related to physical literacy for individuals with physical disabilities were prioritized. The following solutions were suggested: developing a massive online open course, creating a physical literacy measurement toolkit, developing a physical literacy resource portal, creating a national database of physical literacy outcomes, and redefining an existing international consensus statement for physical literacy to be more inclusive. Conclusions: Collaborations between experts are needed to advance the research in physical literacy for people with disabilities through education and measurement.

Abstract Urban food is a key lever for transformative change towards sustainability. While research reporting on the urban food practices (UFPs) in support of sustainability is increasing, the link towards transformative potential is lacking. This is because research on urban food is often place-based and contextual. This limits the applicability of insights to large-scale sustainability transformations. This paper describes UFPs that aim to contribute to transformative change. We present signposts for potential change based on the types of intended transformative changes as described in the reviewed literature based on the processes and outcomes of the urban food policies and programmes. Secondly, we classify diverse UFPs to elevate them beyond their local, place-based contexts. We find that UFPs carry a lot of potential to facilitate sustainability transformations. Based on that analysis, we provide insights on how urban food research can further contribute to harnessing the transformative potential of UFPs for actionable purposes.

Abstract Non-technical summary We identify a set of essential recent advances in climate change research with high policy relevance, across natural and social sciences: (1) looming inevitability and implications of overshooting the 1.5°C warming limit, (2) urgent need for a rapid and managed fossil fuel phase-out, (3) challenges for scaling carbon dioxide removal, (4) uncertainties regarding the future contribution of natural carbon sinks, (5) intertwinedness of the crises of biodiversity loss and climate change, (6) compound events, (7) mountain glacier loss, (8) human immobility in the face of climate risks, (9) adaptation justice, and (10) just transitions in food systems. Technical summary The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Reports provides the scientific foundation for international climate negotiations and constitutes an unmatched resource for researchers. However, the assessment cycles take multiple years. As a contribution to cross- and interdisciplinary understanding of climate change across diverse research communities, we have streamlined an annual process to identify and synthesize significant research advances. We collected input from experts on various fields using an online questionnaire and prioritized a set of 10 key research insights with high policy relevance. This year, we focus on: (1) the looming overshoot of the 1.5°C warming limit, (2) the urgency of fossil fuel phase-out, (3) challenges to scale-up carbon dioxide removal, (4) uncertainties regarding future natural carbon sinks, (5) the need for joint governance of biodiversity loss and climate change, (6) advances in understanding compound events, (7) accelerated mountain glacier loss, (8) human immobility amidst climate risks, (9) adaptation justice, and (10) just transitions in food systems. We present a succinct account of these insights, reflect on their policy implications, and offer an integrated set of policy-relevant messages. This science synthesis and science communication effort is also the basis for a policy report contributing to elevate climate science every year in time for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Social media summary We highlight recent and policy-relevant advances in climate change research – with input from more than 200 experts.

This paper explores how pump irrigation has evolved along the Kenyan shores of Lake Victoria. Over the past two decades access to petrol pumps has allowed small-scale horticultural enterprises to start up and then transform the size, intensity and nature of their production. We analyse the spread of petrol pumps as the assimilation and wider use of a modern device along a mutated trajectory of change. We argue that it was not led by external actors but is a local and self-organised process driven by actors who negotiated interfaces between themselves and those operating at the macro level. The assimilation unfolded not as a temporally and spatially linear process but through its embeddedness in complex and dynamic social relationships that structure access to the key resources required for vegetable production. This in turn has given rise to a range of strategies in which the pumps' performance is adjusted to fit with various socially differentiated contexts.

Risks and hazards associated with climate change and geological factors, especially in the world's youngest mountains, are inevitable and may have been exacerbated in recent decades. However reports about increased landslips and landslides in some areas are being presented as examples to argue that most natural hazards in mountain areas are due to climate change. Based on a field study in the Yourjogh area of Chitral District in Pakistan, we argue that this discourse is based on generalized conclusions that do not hold in all cases and for all types of disasters. Our study challenges the climate change discourse as disregarding the political dimension of water management that also contributes to landslides and landslips in Pakistan's mountainous regions. The climate change discourse has taken the politics out of external-donor-led development interventions that replaced traditional irrigation management practices and institutions with an arrangement in which external development agencies and the state control crucial economic and social processes that shape the distribution of water. This not only depoliticizes disasters and their effects but also leads to further mismanagement of abundantly available irrigation water, contributing to the frequent occurrence of landslips in our study area. We conclude that attributing hazards only to climatic or geological factors leaves little room to promote locally appropriate solutions for locally created hazards.