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Objectives: Memory deficits are common after stroke, yet remain a high unmet need within the community. The aim of this phase II randomized controlled trial was to determine whether group compensatory or computerized cognitive training approaches were effective in rehabilitating memory following stroke. Methods: A parallel, 3-group, single-blind, randomized controlled trial was used to compare the effectiveness of a compensatory memory skills group with restorative computerized training on functional goal attainment. Secondary outcomes explored change in neuropsychological measures of memory, subjective ratings of prospective and everyday memory failures and ratings of internal and external strategy use. Results: A total of 65 community dwelling survivors of stroke were randomized (24: memory group, 22: computerized cognitive training, and 19: wait-list control). Participants allocated to the memory group reported significantly greater attainment of memory goals and internal strategy use at 6-week follow-up relative to participants in computerized training and wait-list control conditions. However, groups did not differ significantly on any subjective or objective secondary outcomes. Conclusion: Preliminary evidence shows that memory skills groups, but not computerized training, may facilitate achievement of functional memory goals for community dwelling survivors of stroke. These findings require further replication, given the modest sample size, subjective nature of the outcomes and the absence of objective eligibility for inclusion.

Objectives: This pilot study examined how 15 participants in early rehabilitation described their self-composed Songs 6- to 12-months following participation in a 6-week identity-focused songwriting program. Specific focus was given to the process of meaning making and identity reconstruction in the participants’ self-composed songs.Methods: Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews (n = 15) and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings were developed idiographically as super-ordinate themes unique to each participant, then analyzed across cases to identify recurrent themes and subthemes.Results: Participants described the songwriting process as taking them through one of four distinct recovery journeys described by individuals following acquired neurodisability who underwent a focused therapeutic songwriting program. These included (1) re-conceptualizing values and shifting perspectives about self (my body is broken but my mind has been set free); (2) recognizing acquired inner resources to negotiate discrepancies in self (hope is there); (3) confirming existing values and identifying resources and coping strategies (I have what I need to move forward); (4) confirming previously held values and ongoing process of negotiating discrepancies in self (I don’t yet have the answers).Conclusion: The current study provides insight into the nature and process of meaning making and recovery journeys perceived by individuals with neurodisability. Our findings suggest that songwriting could be a therapeutic tool to facilitate identity reconstruction in neurorehabilitation.

Abstract Visitors to Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton National Park were surveyed to elicit their evaluations of experimental outdoor lighting conditions. Luminaires capable of dimming and switching between two LED modules (white, blended red-white) were installed in street and parking areas. The blended red-white lamps consisted of 30 narrowband LED with a peak wavelength 623 nm and two 3000 K white LEDs. Similar “red” lamps were previously shown to reduce impacts to bats and insects. The white and red lamps were closely matched for luminance. Measured horizontal illuminance at survey locations had an interquartile range from 0.63 to 3.82 lx. The red lamps produced lower perceived brightness (V B2(λ)), even after reflection off asphalt, yet survey participants expressed higher ratings for visual comfort and safety under red lighting. Surveys conducted earlier in the evening, with higher levels of predicted solar and measured horizontal illuminance, rated higher on visual comfort and safety, though these correlations were not as strong as the effect of lamp color. Streetlight ratings and support for lighting that protected natural resources were not contingent upon age or gender. Survey participants assessed red lighting as more protective of the environment. These results demonstrate that outdoor lighting designed to reduce ecological impacts can yield superior nocturnal experience for pedestrians.

Abstract Great places have the potential to create enhanced health outcomes and improve quality of life. The positive connection between the built environment and the social determinants of health is well documented as is the role of the built environment in establishing place quality and sense of place. However, the relationship between the concepts of place capital and health capital is less understood and specifically the extent to which high levels of place capital confer a protective and restorative health benefit across the whole of life. COVID-19 changed our appreciation of the role that both health and place play in supporting our quality and way of life and has revealed the negative impact on wellness and wellbeing that arises when our connection to place is fractured. To contribute to the debate surrounding the post-COVID-19 city, this paper explores the intrinsic connection between place and health; it proposes a conceptual model that positions place capital as a tool for enhancing whole of life health capital at a neighbourhood scale. The Framework for measuring this place capital is created from traditional place literature and the new place context literature on the need to be inclusive, equitable and sustainable. It suggests that by building great places that are based on these measurable factors, there can be a reduction in the growth of medical spending and burden of disease over time.

IntroductionPlant-based meats (PBM) are an emerging set of food technologies that could reduce the environmental impacts of food systems by mitigating consumer demand for animal products. However, scaling up the production and consumption of plant-based meats requires overcoming multiple technological, regulatory, political, and market barriers. An evidence-based prioritization of needs and actions may help actors (e.g., investors, funders, policymakers) who wish to help scale PBM achieve desired outcomes with limited resources.Research questionWhat actions could most effectively help to scale up the production and/or consumption of plant-based meat in Brazil?MethodsWe selected Brazil as a case study of a country with a significant animal agriculture sector and a burgeoning PBM sector. We constructed a panel of nine experts and employed the Delphi technique during two rounds of an online survey to iteratively assess the degree of consensus and disagreement around the relative priority of 14 possible actions (identified from relevant literature) that could help to scale up the production and/or consumption of PBM in Brazil. We used the Importance, Neglect, and Tractability framework.ResultsThe panelists collectively concluded that the top priority action for scaling up both the production and the consumption of plant-based meat in Brazil was to reduce the price of products for consumers. For most priority actions, there was greater consensus among panelists in the second round of the survey.DiscussionOur findings contribute to an improved understanding of (a) which actions may be of highest priority for investors, funders, and policymakers, (b) synergies and differences between priority actions to scale up the production versus consumption of PBM in Brazil, (c) the relative merits of focusing on scaling up PBM production versus consumption, and (d) the strengths and limitations of assessing expert opinion on alternative protein futures using the Delphi technique.

Environmental noise knows no boundaries, affecting even protected areas. Noise pollution, originating from both external and internal sources, imposes costs on these areas. It is associated with adverse health effects, while natural sounds contribute to cognitive and emotional improvements as ecosystem services. When it comes to parks, individual visitors hold unique perceptions of soundscapes, which can be shaped by various factors such as their motivations for visiting, personal norms, attitudes towards specific sounds, and expectations. In this study, we utilized linear models and geospatial data to evaluate how visitors’ personal norms and attitudes, the park’s acoustic environment, visitor counts, and the acoustic environment of visitors’ neighborhoods influenced their perception of soundscapes at Muir Woods National Monument. Our findings indicate that visitors’ subjective experiences had a greater impact on their perception of the park’s soundscape compared to purely acoustic factors like sound level of the park itself. Specifically, we found that motivations to hear natural sounds, interference caused by noise, sensitivity to noise, and the sound levels of visitors’ home neighborhoods influenced visitors’ perception of the park’s soundscape. Understanding how personal factors shape visitors’ soundscape perception can assist urban and non-urban park planners in effectively managing visitor experiences and expectations.

Abstract Background Indigenous landscaping has had a revival with Indigenous cultures as an important part of multiculturalism. The landscape elements are generally gleaned from Indigenous Elders and from anthropological texts and pre-invasion history texts (e.g. explorers’ notebooks) that enable an understanding of the ecological, food, and medicine aspects of their propagation. The purpose of this study was to examine how Indigenous landscaping (knowledge, values, management methods, use) can assist with biophilic urbanism, the new approach to bringing natural systems into the built environment. This emphasizes the importance of place meanings in biophilic design. It will illustrate this in Western Australia using the Noongar People’s Six Seasons of distinct landscape each with importance for providing a living environment (shelter, food, medicine, and spiritual nourishment) and as a basic requirement for biodiversity management over 60,000 years. Results The study presents key reasons to include Indigenous interpretive landscaping into biophilic urbanism. Case studies in Six Seasons Gardens are used to show how integrating a cultural element into landscaping can bring many advantages. From the analysis of the case studies, we identified qualities of Indigenous Local Native Gardens. Several reasons for prioritising Indigenous landscaping in urban settings are proposed. These highlight cultural, educational, and professional values that can be achieved. Conclusions In this paper, we presented three case studies of urban indigenous and native gardens. We highlighted implications for adding indigenous dimensions to the management of the natural and built environments and brought to attention how indigenous landscaping is a conveyor of meaning, inclusive culture, and the importance of biodiversity. The future of biophilic urbanism will depend on whether sufficient contact with historians, anthropologists, and remnant indigenous communities can be made in order to emphasize the value for all aspects of biophilic urbanism in creating a deeper sense of place.

Abstract Transformative urban development is urgent to achieve future sustainable development and wellbeing. Transformation can benefit from shared and cumulative learning on strategies to guide urban development across local to national scales, while also reflecting the complex emergent nature of urban systems, and the need for context-specific and place-based solutions. The article addresses this challenge, drawing on extensive transdisciplinary engagement and National Strategy co-development processes for Australia. This includes generation of two frameworks as boundary objects to assist such transdisciplinary strategy development. An ‘enabling urban systems transformation’ framework comprises four generic overarching transformation enablers and a set of necessary underpinning urban capacities. This also built cumulatively on other sustainability and urban transformation studies. A complementary ‘knowledge for urban systems transformation’ framework comprises key knowledge themes that can support an integrated systems approach to mission-focused urban transformations, such as decarbonising cities. The article provides insights on the transdisciplinary processes, urban systems frameworks, and scoping of key strategies that may help those developing transformation strategies from local to national scales. Science highlights • Transdisciplinary national urban strategy development is used to distil generic frameworks and strategy scopes with potential international application. • The frameworks also build on other published framings to support convergent, cumulative and transdisciplinary urban science. • The ‘enabling transformations’ and ‘urban knowledge’ frameworks include the perspective of those developing sustainable urban systems strategies. • The enabling framework also informs ‘National Urban Policy’ and ‘Knowledge and Innovation Hub’ strategies, and prevailing power imbalances. • The knowledge framework can help frame urban challenges, missions and knowledge programs. Policy and practice recommendations • An urban ‘transformation imperative’ and ‘strategic response’ can be co-developed from local to national scales. • Local initiative is crucial to drive urban strategies, but sustained national leadership with coherent policy across sectors and scales is also key. • Diversity in engagement participation and processes generates whole-of-urban-systems and local-to-national perspectives. • Urban solutions are context-specific but generic frameworks can help collaborative issue framing and responses. • Collaborative issue framing informed by generic frameworks can bring broader perspectives to context-specific and contested policy and practice issues.

Abstract Background Bhutan has pledged to remain carbon neutral (CN) in perpetuity. Whether they can sustain this is questionable due to the country’s increasing economic growth (GDP) and commitment to gross national happiness (GNH) outcomes, both of which can lead to a rise in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The nexus between GHG, GNH and GDP is the essence of the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals global project. Results Through scenario modelling using the Long-range Energy Alternative Planning (LEAP) model, the study finds that the carbon neutral declaration will derail between 2037 and 2050 without mitigation measures. By putting in place mitigation measures especially in the industry and transport sectors, CN can be retained even under high growth pressure, which may cost just 2% of GDP. CN can be easily retained under low economic growth, but this could undermine GNH. High growth will require immediate interventions to enable electrification of industry and transport. Conclusions The options to remain CN will require Bhutan to adopt more efficient technologies and electrify industry and transport under both low and high growth scenarios. The additional cost to the Bhutanese economy is feasible through low and high growth opportunities. The options are similar to those confronting emerging nations struggling with issues of climate commitments under economic growth pressures. All will need to adapt their specific economic contexts to achieve the simultaneous objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals whilst addressing the net zero Paris agenda. Bhutan shows it is possible.

Abstract The hydrogen economy has been a major vision for many futurists, for over half a century, as a way to transition to a world not dependent on fossil fuels (Bockris, Science 176:1323, 1972). As with many world views, the hydrogen economy has a complete perspective from which all potential change can be viewed. It therefore has a passionate if somewhat fundamentalist following. This paper outlines how electrification has now superseded much of the originally envisaged hydrogen economy and thus it deconstructs what is left of this vision to highlight hydrogen’s strategic, niche, yet important roles, that remain for supporting the transition to a global net zero emissions economy. In our view, it is critical that policy-makers, industry and researchers take a strategic view on striking the right balance on the adoption of hydrogen. Here we propose a framework for hydrogen development globally, with support directed towards enabling the decarbonisation of harder-to-electrify sectors using renewable hydrogen, including, but not limited to: steel, cement, fertilisers, chemical feedstocks, shipping, and aviation.

ABSTRACT: Objectives: Efforts to monitor and combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are typically focused on the hospital-based laboratory setting. The aim of this study was to longitudinally examine and compare trends in AMR among urine Escherichia coli isolates from a private community-based laboratory and a public hospital-based laboratory in an Australian local health district. Methods: A total of 108 262 urine E. coli isolates from a public hospital-based laboratory (N = 34 103) and a private community-based laboratory (N = 74 159) in a single health district between 2007–2019 were analysed. Linear regression was used to identify significance of change in AMR rates in both laboratories independently and detect any significant interaction of each setting in proportional change over the study period. Results: Similar AMR trends were detected among urinary E. coli isolates in private community-based laboratory and public hospital-based laboratory settings over 12 y. AMR rates were consistently higher in the public hospital-based setting. Ampicillin was the only antibiotic for which the E. coli resistance trend did not significantly change over the time period in either laboratory setting. All other antibiotics showed a significant increase in AMR rates over time in both settings. Conclusions: AMR rates in both the private community-based laboratory and public hospital-based laboratory settings increased over time and were consistently higher in the public hospital-based laboratory setting. Since private laboratories handle the vast majority of pathology volumes in community outpatient settings in Australia, interventions incorporating the community-based laboratory setting are critical to addressing AMR in the community.

Pressurized metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs) deliver life-saving medications to patients with respiratory conditions and are the most used inhaler delivery device globally. pMDIs utilize a hydrofluoroalkane (HFA), also known as an F-gas, as a propellant to facilitate the delivery of medication into the lungs. Although HFAs have minimal impact on ozone depletion, their global warming potential (GWP) is more than 1,000 times higher than CO2, bringing them in scope of the F-Gas Regulation in the European Union (EU). The pharmaceutical industry is developing solutions, including a near-zero GWP “next-generation propellant,” HFO-1234ze(E). At the same time, the EU is also evaluating a restriction on per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) is a persistent PFAS and a potential degradation product of HFO-1234ze(E). We quantified yield of TFA from HFO-1234ze(E) using a computational model under Europe-relevant atmospheric conditions. The modeling suggests that most HFO-1234ze(E) degrades into formyl fluoride within 20 days (≥85%) even at the highest examined altitude. These results suggest that TFA yield from HFO-1234ze(E) varies between 0%–4% under different atmospheric conditions. In 2022, France represented the highest numbers of pMDI units sold within the EU, assuming these pMDIs had HFO-1234ze(E) as propellant, we estimate an annual rainwater TFA deposition of ∼0.025 μg/L. These results demonstrate negligible formation of TFA as a degradation product of HFO-1234ze(E), further supporting its suitability as a non-persistent, non-bioaccumulative, and non-toxic future propellant for pMDI devices to safeguard access for patients to these essential medicines.

Highlights • Social movements progress through three stages: emergence, coalescen ce, mainstream. • Biophilic design emerged as a social movement primarily driven by five motivators. • Successful trials, multiple benefits and strategic policy helped the coalescence. • Learning from these motivators and drivers assists with creating a framework for mainstreaming. • Multi-sector collaboration including government is needed for urban planning and policy delivery structures.

The future ability of urban centres in Australia and around the globe to adapt and respond to big challenges of climate change, economic development, and social inclusion, will depend on how well we integrate and embed them within these built environments. Such a complex agenda presents a major collective challenge for designers, planners and engineers to address with politicians, developers, financiers and community leaders. Refocusing design requires collaborative processes and co-creation in a design space currently dominated by siloed approaches to traffic management, transport planning, precinct design and engineering, architecture and landscaping. With the aim of bridging these silos, an interdisciplinary research team has synthesised and then applied a set of principles of design to a range of development scenarios with the aim of delivering sustainable urban centre outcomes. This paper uses the lens of the Theory of Urban Fabrics to present a place making Sustainable Centres Framework created by the authors, comprising 7 principles and 21 associated practices of design. This formed a critical first step for a national sustainable centres research project underway at the time. The paper then presents the findings of a two-phase investigative study to apply the framework to four place-oriented urban regeneration initiatives (i.e. case study sites) that were endeavouring to enable transit activated corridors with local micro-mobility linkages, in Townsville, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. The first phase of the study comprised a desk-based application of the Sustainable Centres Framework to the four sample urban fabric types observed the case study locations. The second phase involved detailed sense-checking of the framework in the one of the case study locations (Townsville), through stakeholder workshops. The findings provide insights into opportunities and considerations for managing the complexity of urban regeneration projects. The authors discuss the potential for the Framework to inform planning tools and decision support tools, and opportunities to further refine the Framework.

Covid is fading into history in our cities around the world, but its implications are still worth reflecting upon. This special collection called “Covid, Cities and Sustainability” in npj Urban Sustainability has been a pleasure to encourage and edit for the reflections it has provided.

Changes in ambient temperature affect all biological processes. However, these effects are process specific and often vary non-linearly. It is thus a non-trivial problem for neuronal circuits to maintain coordinated, functional output across a range of temperatures. The cardiac nervous systems in two species of decapod crustaceans, Homarus americanus and Cancer borealis, can maintain function across a wide but physiologically relevant temperature range. However, the processes that underlie temperature resilience in neuronal circuits and muscle systems are not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that the non-isolated cardiac nervous system (i.e., the whole heart: neurons, effector organs, intrinsic feedback systems) in the American lobster, H. americanus, is more sensitive to warm temperatures than the isolated cardiac ganglion (CG) that controls the heartbeat. This was surprising as modulatory processes known to stabilize the output from the CG are absent when the ganglion is isolated. One source of inhibitory feedback in the intact cardiac neuromuscular system is nitric oxide (NO), which is released in response to heart contractions. We hypothesized that the greater temperature tolerance observed in the isolated CG is due to the absence of NO feedback. Here, we demonstrate that applying an NO donor to the isolated CG reduces its temperature tolerance. Similarly, we show that the NO synthase inhibitor L-nitroarginine (LNA) increases the temperature tolerance of the non-isolated nervous system. This is sufficient to explain differences in temperature tolerance between the isolated CG and the whole heart. However, in an intact lobster, the heart and CG are modulated by an array of endogenous peptides and hormones, many of which are positive regulators of the heartbeat. Many studies have demonstrated that excitatory modulators increase temperature resilience. However, this neuromuscular system is regulated by both excitatory and inhibitory peptide modulators. Perfusing SGRNFLRFamide, a FLRFamide-like peptide, through the heart increases the non-isolated nervous system’s tolerance to high temperatures. In contrast, perfusing myosuppressin, a peptide that negatively regulates the heartbeat frequency, decreases the temperature tolerance. Our data suggest that, in this nervous system, positive regulators of neural output increase temperature tolerance of the neuromuscular system, while modulators that decrease neural output decrease temperature tolerance.

Amid growing recognition of the need for supply-side policies which set limits on the further expansion of fossil fuel extraction and use, in this article we consider possible elements of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FF NPT), behind which there is growing momentum. We elaborate on the possible institutional mechanisms, principles, procedures, and other elements of an FF NPT, by drawing on relevant precedents and parallels with other treaties and bodies of international law on the environment and other policy arenas, and proposals circulating in academic and grey literatures. We address in turn: the scope, objectives, and principles of an FF NPT; the three pillars of commitments under the treaty of (i) ending expansion, (ii) phasing out fossil fuels, and (iii) a global just transition; and options for implementation, including the review of implementation, compliance and effectiveness, a financial mechanism, institutional arrangements, and the role of non-state actors.

Osmotic compensation by electroneutral ion transport buffers TORC1-mediated changes in the cytosolic proteome, and maintains intracellular homeostasis and cell volume over the circadian cycle. Here, the authors find such ion content changes drive daily rhythms in cardiomyocyte electrical activity.

Streptococcus agalactiae [group B Streptococcus (GBS)] is a major neonatal pathogen and also causes invasive disease in non-pregnant adults. One hundred GBS isolates (n = 50 invasive disease and n = 50 colonizing pregnant women) were characterized using capsular serotyping by latex agglutination, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and whole genome sequencing (WGS). All isolates were susceptible to penicillin, 32% were resistant to clindamycin. Of these, two isolates had reduced susceptibility to ceftriaxone (MIC 0.75 mg/L) and were found to have unique alleles at pbp2X and pbp1A. Capsular serotypes Ia (18%), III (18%), Ib (14%), V (12%), and VI (11%) were most common and comparison of latex agglutination and capsular genotyping by WGS showed 71% agreement. Less common capsular genotypes VI–VIII represented 15% of isolates, indicating that a significant proportion may not be targeted by the proposed pentavalent or hexavalent vaccines under development. WGS is a useful aid in GBS surveillance and shows correlation to phenotypic serotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility data.

Abstract Burgeoning urbanization, development and human activities have led to reduced opportunities for nature experience in quiet acoustic environments. Increasing noise affects both humans and wildlife alike. We experimentally altered human‐caused sound levels in a paired study using informational signs that encouraged quiet behaviours in week‐on, week‐off blocks on the trail system of Muir Woods National Monument, California, USA to test if the soundscape influences both wildlife and human experiences. Using continuous measurements from acoustic recording units (n = 13) spatially distributed within the park, we found signs significantly lowered sound levels by approximately 1.2 decibels (A‐weighted), thereby increasing listening area by 24% and bird availability by approximately 5.8% for every 1 decibel decrease. Visitor‐intercept surveys (n = 537) revealed that our mitigation increased the number of birds perceived by visitors, rankings of soundscape pleasantness, and importantly, preferences for soundscape management. By lowering human‐caused sound levels, we created an acoustic environment equivalent to a ~21% reduction in visitors. The positive feedback cycle we describe may lead to increased conservation support in a time when the extinction of nature experience looms. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Abstract Background Plastics were considered as a magical material owing to their strong, non-degradable and versatile characteristics. After five decades of mass application, plastics’ property of non-biodegradability has become one of the key concerns for scientists, civil society and government owing to the pollution and damage that plastics cause to our environment. Globally we have generated 8.3bn tonnes of plastics since 1950s and around 9% has been recycled, 12% incinerated and the remaining 79% of the plastics has ended up in the environment. The core question is, should this waste be minimised through the zero-waste agenda or banned through the toxic-waste agenda? Results The study analyses the zero plastic waste agenda and the toxic plastic waste agenda. It analyses zero-waste practices at different levels including family to community, industry and city levels. In addition, the study investigates the need to phase out toxic plastics. The study identified the need for both approaches. As plastics promote the throwaway living which is responsible for generating undesirable waste, it should be tackled through better design principles and sustainable consumption practices for the short-term agenda. The study proposes a strategic zero plastic waste framework for moving towards a zero plastic waste society. At the same time, there is a need to identify those plastics that are leading to serious and toxic impacts through micro-particles that necessitate them to be phased out more quickly through transitioning to bio-plastics. Conclusions Both zero plastic and zero toxic agendas are urgently needed. The study concludes that at least three things in the short term need to be implemented simultaneously to achieve a zero plastic waste society. Firstly, through zero-waste design - to eliminate creating any unnecessary plastic waste through closed-loop design thinking. Secondly, through responsible and collaborative consumption - to avoid and reduce generating avoidable plastic waste. Finally, through zero-waste management - to prioritise the value, retain the wasted materials and recover all resources. The study also establishes that a new long-term agenda needs to be created to identify those plastics that must be phased out owing to their toxicity. Consequently, the study suggests a process to achieve it in line with the transition to the post fossil-fuel era through United Nations initiatives as a joint action of the Paris Agreement and the Basel Convention.

Abstract This paper is written as the world faces economic recovery after the Covid pandemic collapse. It also responds to the article in Sustainable Earth by Peter Hancock ‘In Praise of Civicide’ by creating a more hopeful vision of the future. Peter suggests the only hope is in psychological mind-sets that can change behaviour as nothing else will stop the path to destruction from present growth in population, the economy and technology. Rather than seeing inevitable civicidal elements, as devised in the IPAT model used by Peter and many others to explain global environmental destruction, the paper reassesses the fundamentals of this model developed by Paul and Anne Ehrlich in the 1960's. As the global economy has collapsed and environmental impacts improved everywhere, the Hancock argument based on IPAT would seem to have support. The paper shows how it is possible to grow again in the three IPAT factors if the world moves beyond sustainable development which just minimises impact to regenerative development which reclaims environmental impacts. If all three elements combine to create uncontrolled growth as was happening in the 60’s to 80’s then civicide is inevitable, but not if they change to regenerative development. The three stages of exploitive, sustainable and regenerative development turn IPAT from being negative to positive about civilization. These choices are very stark in the 2020’s. The technological possibilities of a regenerative future are outlined and the fundamentals needed for a sustainable earth are sketched, providing some evidence of hope for using the present pandemic and economic collapse as the basis for regenerating civilization not praising civicide.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the growing relevance of natural smells – both pleasant and unpleasant – to park and protected area tourism and the need for more consideration of their role in the visitor experience. Design/methodology/approach - This paper presents four observations – selected via an informal review of the tourism literature – relevant to the future of smellscapes research concerning tourism in parks and protected areas. Findings - An emerging body of literature is indicating natural smells are central to the sensory experience of parks and protected areas. The iconic nature of park smellscapes underscores their role in the tourism experience. Originality/value - This paper extracts the current trends in smellscapes research relevant to park and protected area tourism. It therefore provides value to both tourism practitioners and researchers, alike, through its attempt to compile significant trends.

Abstract Biophilic urbanism is bringing new perspectives to how natural systems need to be integrated into the fabric of cities. This paper shows how biophilic streets can be the front door to biophilic urbanism by integrating nature into a new street design, benefiting a range of economic, environmental and social functions. A theoretical integrated Biophilic Streets Design Framework, is outlined and evaluated through the analysis of four street revitalisation projects from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Berkeley, Portland and Melbourne. Its practical applications and multiple urban benefits will be of value to street designers globally. The Biophilic Streets Design Framework demonstrated that the four case studies meet the main design categories, which is favourable since multiple additional benefits are likely to be obtained. Future research is needed to monitor and quantify the performance of biophilic streets design to address the increasing effects of climate change, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss in a cost-effective way.

The shift from large-scale centralised energy systems to smaller scale decentralised systems based on Distributed Energy Resources (DER) is likely to cause a sector-wide replacement of current electricity management practices and business models—creating a new energy paradigm. If handled well, such a transition will not be inherently disruptive; however, it can cause major disruption if long-held views and assumptions are not rapidly reconsidered and renewed, and new supporting structures are not swiftly put in place—hence, if disruption is experienced it will be due to a lack of strategic responses rather than the nature of the technology. This paper clarifies the nature of DERs and outlines key issues and opportunities associated with a range of associated service configurations and business models. The paper outlines key factors affecting the viability of such approaches and identifies leverage points for accelerating uptake. The paper concludes by considering how shifting landscape factors and related opportunities in the coming decades will shape the transition to a decentralised energy system. This paper contains findings from research performed at the Renewable, Affordable, Clean Energy Cooperative Research Centre (RACE CRC) in Australia.

Reciprocal inhibition is a building block in many sensory and motor circuits. We studied the features that underly robustness in reciprocally inhibitory two neuron circuits. We used the dynamic clamp to create reciprocally inhibitory circuits from pharmacologically isolated neurons of the crab stomatogastric ganglion by injecting artificial graded synaptic (ISyn) and hyperpolarization-activated inward (IH) currents. There is a continuum of mechanisms in circuits that generate antiphase oscillations, with ‘release’ and ‘escape’ mechanisms at the extremes, and mixed mode oscillations between these extremes. In release, the active neuron primarily controls the off/on transitions. In escape, the inhibited neuron controls the transitions. We characterized the robustness of escape and release circuits to alterations in circuit parameters, temperature, and neuromodulation. We found that escape circuits rely on tight correlations between synaptic and H conductances to generate bursting but are resilient to temperature increase. Release circuits are robust to variations in synaptic and H conductances but fragile to temperature increase. The modulatory current (IMI) restores oscillations in release circuits but has little effect in escape circuits. Perturbations can alter the balance of escape and release mechanisms and can create mixed mode oscillations. We conclude that the same perturbation can have dramatically different effects depending on the circuits’ mechanism of operation that may not be observable from basal circuit activity.

Outdoor recreation continues to be persistently high in national parks across the United States, particularly as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased use. In popular frontcountry destinations such as national park campgrounds managers are challenged with new issues more familiar to urban settings. One of these challenges is waste management. The largest source of visitor-generated waste in national parks is campgrounds. This research uses a mixed-methods approach to develop and test strategic communications designed to increase recycling and minimize trash to the landfill by altering campground visitor behaviors. Intercept surveys were used to create theory-based messages, and a quasi-experimental approach was used to evaluate message effectiveness. Our results show that messages emphasizing ease concepts were two times more effective at changing campground visitor waste disposal behaviors than control conditions. The results help inform the management of visitors as national parks strive to meet sustainability goals.

In the post-pandemic era, we must value our cities as cultural and economic centres, that are socially and environmentally diverse. This requires a transformation in the way we plan and govern our cities, but what can be learnt from the current crisis about how cities should be managed? In this article, we report on a scoping review to help identify seven lessons learnt for cities from the COVID-19 pandemic. We build on these lessons through a synthesis, outlining three urban missions that will chart a green urban recovery. The missions are to accelerate the urban mobility transition; to attain regenerative urban development; and create resilient urban infrastructure. We expand on what these missions entail, by defining six pathways that supports transition of urban mobility, energy, food, housing, health and nature. These pathways, when implemented in an integrated manner, provides a roadmap for green recovery in cities, that also builds resilience.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented disruption to daily life for large swaths of individuals and resulted in potentially widespread implications for individuals' health and wellbeing. This study utilized an online survey of avid outdoor recreationists to understand the psychosocial factors influencing recreationist behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic across rural, urban cluster, and urban communities in the United States. Confirmatory factor analyses indicate that the five studied psychosocial factors–perceived risk, social norms, recommendations from authority, health benefits, and lifestyle adjustments–exist as unique constructs influencing individuals' outdoor recreation behaviors. Repeated measures analyses suggest individuals rated seeking benefits to their general health as most important when making outdoor recreation decisions, followed by recommendations from authority, then perceptions of risk, with lifestyle adjustments and social norms rated as least important. Lastly, analysis across community types indicated individuals across the rural-urban gradient weighed perceptions of risk and recommendations from authority differently when making outdoor recreation decisions. Managerial implications and future directions for research are discussed.

The detection of a new and unexpected Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) outbreak in March 2022 in Australia, where JEV is not endemic, demanded the rapid development of a robust diagnostic framework to facilitate the testing of suspected patients across the state of New South Wales (NSW). This nascent but comprehensive JEV diagnostic service encompassed serological, molecular and metagenomics testing within a centralised reference laboratory. Over the first three months of the outbreak (4 March 2022 to 31 May 2022), 1,061 prospective samples were received from 878 NSW residents for JEV testing. Twelve confirmed cases of Japanese encephalitis (JE) were identified, including ten cases diagnosed by serology alone, one case by metagenomic next generation sequencing and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of brain tissue and serology, and one case by RT-PCR of cerebrospinal fluid, providing an incidence of JE over this period of 0.15/100,000 persons in NSW. As encephalitis manifests in

The benefits of ecosystem services to cities are well documented; for example, water-sensitive urban design to mitigate stormwater flows and purify run-off, the cooling benefits provided by tree shade, and psychological benefits of urban greening. Cities tend to displace nature, and in urban environments where nature exists it tends to be as highly altered ecosystems. This paper sets out how it is possible to regenerate nature in cities. We outline the principles of how to do this through a study on a new regenerative urban development in Perth, Australia, where urban planning is intended to support the regeneration of a bioregional habitat within the city. The authors, drawn from sustainability, property development and ecological backgrounds, describe how urban regeneration can potentially facilitate the regeneration of endemic habitat within the city. This builds on the original ecosystem functionality to provide an urban ecosystem that enables biodiversity to regenerate. Perth lies on the Swan Coastal Plain, a biodiversity hotspot; it is home to 2.1 million people and numerous endemic species such as the endangered Black Cockatoo. Low reproduction rates and habitat loss through agricultural clearing, fire and urban expansion have greatly reduced the Black Cockatoo’s range and this continuing trend threatens extinction. However, the charismatic Black Cockatoos enjoy passionate support from Perth’s citizens. This paper describes a range of strategies whereby new urban development could potentially harness the popularity of the iconic Black Cockatoo to build momentum for urban habitat regeneration (for the cockatoos and other species) on the Swan Coastal Plain. The strategies, if systematically operationalised through urban planning, could allow city-scale ecological gain. The authors suggest a framework for nature-positive design and development that offers multiple benefits for human and non-human urban dwellers across scales, from individual gardens, to city/regional scale habitat corridors. Collectively, these strategies can increase the capacity of the city to support endemic species, simultaneously enhancing a bioregional “sense of place”, and numerous associated ecosystem services to increase urban resilience in the face of climate change.

In recent decades, the concept of resource efficient cities has emerged as an urban planning paradigm that seeks to achieve sustainable urban environments. This focus is upon compact urban environments that optimise energy, water and waste systems to create cities that help solve climate change and other resource-based sustainability issues. In parallel, there has been a long-standing tradition of ecological approaches to the design of cities that can be traced from Howard, Geddes, McHarg and Lyle. Rather than resource efficiency, the ecological approach has focused upon the retention and repair of natural landscape features and the creation of green infrastructure (GI) to manage urban water, soil and plants in a more ecologically sensitive way. There is some conflict with the resource efficient cities and ecological cities paradigms, as one is pro-density, while the other is anti-density. This article focusses upon how to integrate the two paradigms through new biophilic urbanism (BU) tools that allow the integration of nature into dense urban areas, to supplement more traditional GI tools in less dense areas. We suggest that the theory of urban fabrics can aid with regard to which tools to use where, for the integration of GI and BU into different parts of the city to achieve both resource efficient and ecological outcomes, that optimise energy water and waste systems, and increase urban nature.

Animal agriculture presents major sustainability challenges. Alternative meat (alt-meat) products (e.g., plant-based and cultured meat) are substitutes for animal meat products, made using innovative food technologies. The potential environmental impacts of plant-based and cultured meat have been well-explored but the social and economic impacts of alt-meat have received less attention, particularly as they relate to rural communities. This paper addresses the research question: What are social and economic opportunities and challenges of cultured and plant-based meat for rural producers in the US? We conducted semi-structured interviews with 37 expert informants, including representatives of cultured meat companies, plant-based meat companies, non-profit organizations, funding agencies, governmental agencies, and the beef, soy, and pea sectors, as well as researchers and farmers. Our interviews revealed a range of ways in which alt-meat sectors might present opportunities or threats for rural producers in the US. Opportunities included growing crops as ingredients for plant-based meat or feedstock for cultured meat; raising animals for genetic material for cultured meat; producing cultured meat in bioreactors at the farm level; transitioning into new sectors; new market opportunities for blended and hybrid animal- and alt-meat products; and new value around regenerative or high-animal welfare farming. Threats included loss of livelihood or income for ranchers and livestock producers and for farmers growing crops for animal feed; barriers to transitioning into emerging alt-meat sectors; and the possibility of exclusion from those sectors. Interviewees also identified a range of roles for universities and research organizations, government agencies, and non-profit organizations that could help to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks from emerging alt-meat sectors. Finally, most interviewees thought it likely that alt-meat would form an additional form of protein that captured some or all of the anticipated growing demand for protein rather than one that displaced animal meat entirely. As such, the emergence of alt-meat sectors alongside animal agriculture may offer more choices for rural producers in terms of which markets they sell to and what forms of production they adopt or pursue. This paper identifies numerous research gaps, to which natural and social scientists could usefully apply their attention.

Non-technical summary Scaling sustainable behaviour change means addressing politics, power and social justice to tackle the uneven distribution of responsibility and agency for climate action, within and between societies. This requires a holistic understanding of behaviour that bridges the ‘individual’ and ‘systemic’, and acknowledges the need for absolute emissions reductions, especially by high-consuming groups, and in key ‘hotspots’ of polluting activity, namely, travel, diet and housing. It counters the dominant focus on individuals and households, in favour of a differentiated, but collective approach, driven by bold climate governance and social mobilisation to reorient institutions and behaviour towards just transitions, sufficiency and wellbeing. Technical summary Sustainable behaviour change has been rising up the climate policy agenda as it becomes increasingly clear that far-reaching changes in lifestyles will be required, alongside shifts in policy, service provision and technological innovation, if we are to avoid dangerous levels of global heating. In this paper, we review different approaches to behaviour change from economics, psychology, sociology and political economy, to explore the neglected question of scalability, and identify critical points of leverage that challenge the dominant emphasis on individual responsibility. Although politically contentious and challenging to implement, in order to achieve the ambitious target of keeping warming below 1.5 degrees, we propose urgent structural interventions are necessary at all points within an ecosystem of transformation, and highlight five key spheres for action: a ‘strong’ sustainability pathway; pursuing just transitions (via changes to work, income and infrastructure); rebalancing political institutions to expand spaces for citizens vis-à-vis elite incumbents; focusing on high polluting actors and activities; and supporting social mobilisation. We call for a move away from linear and ‘shallow’ understandings of behaviour change, dominated by traditional behavioural and mainstreaming approaches, towards a ‘deep’, contextualised and dynamic view of scaling as a transformative process of multiple feedbacks and learning loops between individuals and systems, engaged in a mutually reinforcing ‘spiral of sustainability’. Social media summary box Scaling behaviour change means addressing power and politics: challenging polluter elites and providing affordable and sustainable services for all.