Current Approaches of Ecological Sustainability in Urban Planning

The most important way to deal with urgent problems in the history of world is to pay attention to the dialogue with our past. The fact that the local government is effective in the city administration, which came to the agenda with the COVID- 19 process, shows that the planning approaches should be specific to the city. Because every city is affected by this process in different ways due to its own dynamics. Therefore, the protection of local knowledge and the development of planning and design decisions based on local knowledge is highly valuable. In this respect, it should be remembered that the international environmental law documents developed as a result of environmental crises and the urban planning approaches created within the scope of these documents provide important knowledge and experience in dealing with global problems. This study examines the perspectives and approaches of urban planning theory and practices related to nature- culture harmonization, which have come to the fore intensively with the COVID- 19 process. Perspective is the way you always observe and understand something from one angle. The information produced in this direction is contextual. In other words, knowledge does not develop independently of the fact, and the opinion of the individual. Approaches defining the theoretical and conceptual background of anthropocentric perspective and ecocentric perspective, which determines the human- nature relationship in landscape architecture have existed as a result of local, regional and global phenomena and since the establishment of the profession;but their conceptualizations have taken place in recent years. Although it is too early to predict how the pandemic process will create a change in the planning and design knowledge (episteme) in the field of landscape architecture, it is obvious that the professional discipline has to use the knowledge of the past more effectively in both planning and design, and it has to improve its relationship with the field of landscape ecology and social sciences. It is possible that sustainability rhetoric is used extensively in developing the relationship in between Landscape Architecture and other fields. However, Landscape Architecture has the power to overcome the sustainability rhetoric with ecological design approaches such as sustainable infrastructure, green infrastructure and ecosystem services, and to integrate the ecosystem into daily life and to ensure harmony with nature. © 2023 Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften.

Advancing the consideration of ecological connectivity in environmental assessment: Synthesis and next steps forward

We hope this special issue will help improve the treatment of ecological connectivity in the EA process and will inspire progress by catalyzing findings and emerging areas of research related to the measurement and integration of connectivity in the practice of EA. Specifically, we aimed to (1) highlight the need for studies that link EA and connectivity;(2) learn about current challenges and compile approaches for improving the consideration of connectivity in EA;and (3) foster interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral work that evaluates and advances current practices of connectivity consideration. The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered reflection and debate about an urgent need to re-evaluate how humans relate to the natural world, particularly biodiversity, and how environmental assessment (EA) can be improved to prevent further biodiversity decline (Gannon [15];Figueiredo Gallardo et al. [14]). [Extracted from the article]

A Knowledge Review on Integrated Landscape Approaches

Holistic and multi-transdisciplinary approaches, where multiple goals are achieved in order to improve resilience in societies and ecosystems in the short, medium, and long term, are ideal, even utopian. Hence, science has come together with practical experiences that highlight the importance of working at a ‘landscape’ level. Landscapes, as socio-ecological systems, are key for sustainability and sustainable development, and they represent a realistic unit to interconnect local, national, and ultimately global scales. International efforts regarding holistic natural resources management approaches are not new;however, they are currently pointing to an Integrated Landscape Approach (ILA). Based on a documentation review and analysis, the present article review aims to promote the disambiguation of the ILA concept and provide an updated synthesis knowledge on the ILA. Especially for the forest sector, the ILA has been identified as particularly beneficial, strongly highlighted by the scientific literature, and with an infrastructure of organizations that are encouraging it. The paper presents the rationale of the science behind the concept, as well as the main principles, we identified a variety of definitions with some significant points of overlap, we highlight the inclusion of ILAs in the current international arena and the relationship of ILA’s and Jurisdictional Approaches, and we make a review of the ILA in a challenging world of rapid change. Our review recognizes ILAs socio-ecological management strategy to reconcile conservation, development, climate change, and human well-being goals. ILAs naturally have a social and idealistic construction behind it, which might be just as necessary andsignificant as the journey toward sustainability itself.

Lifestyle Properties, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity Protection in Peri-Urban Aotearoa–New Zealand: A Case Study from Peri-Urban Palmerston North

Intensive agriculture and urbanization are putting pressure on natural capital in Aotearoa–New Zealand (NZ), with native ecosystems and water quality suffering degradation. As the population has increased, so development has pushed into the rural–urban fringe. Over the last 30 years, the number of lifestyle properties in NZ has increased dramatically. Many of these properties have been developed on some of NZ’s most productive soils, meaning a loss of provisioning services from this land. However, given their location, these developments present new opportunities for the enhancement and protection of other ecosystem services. This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study conducted on lifestyle block residents in peri-urban Palmerston North. The results showed that these residents have a good sense of environmental stewardship and a desire to plant native species, improve connectivity, and protect their land from the invasion of pests and weeds. These residents are also quite community-focused and protective of their special place. This creates an excellent basis from which to encourage greater collaborative action towards protecting and enhancing biodiversity and to put in place land management strategies that can enhance natural capital and assist in other ecosystem service protection serving to improve the landscape ecology of peri-urban environments.