Summary Urban transport remains an important source of energy consumption and air pollutant emissions, particularly under the transient driving conditions associated with signalized intersections. This Comment examines the integration of real-time traffic signal countdown information into mobile navigation platforms as a potential low-cost digital behavioural intervention for improving urban transport efficiency. Drawing on published field observations and simulation studies, we show that previous research has associated access to signal timing information with smoother driving trajectories, reduced unnecessary idling and acceleration and lower fuel consumption and traffic-related emissions under specific traffic and control conditions. Building on this evidence, our aim is to place countdown-informed driving within a broader environmental management framework and to examine how existing digital infrastructure could be used to support behaviour-based emission mitigation without requiring major physical infrastructure changes. We further identify driver response, safety, signal data reliability, accessibility and governance as critical factors determining whether these potential benefits can be realized in practice. More broadly, we propose traffic signal countdown information as an illustrative case of how digitally enabled behavioural adaptation may complement technological and infrastructural strategies for more sustainable urban mobility.
Summary In China’s push towards peak carbon and carbon neutrality targets, the coordinated, secure and sustainable development of water resources, energy, food and carbon is of vital importance. To analyse the current security status and degree of coupling coordination in the water–energy–food–carbon (WEFC) coupling system in Northeast China, this paper constructs an indicator system to evaluate the security level and changes over 2013–2022 of the system by integrating an entropy approach, a coupling coordination mechanism and a comprehensive safety evaluation model. The coupling coordination degree of the WEFC system is also predicted for the period 2023–2030 using a long short-term memory model. The analysis demonstrates that the comprehensive security status of the WEFC system in Northeast China remained relatively low from 2013 to 2022, with the subsystem of water resources exerting the most pronounced influence. The security evaluation indices of the energy and carbon subsystems showed steady growth, while those of the water resources and food subsystems experienced fluctuating growth. The coupling coordination degree underwent minor fluctuations due to policy interventions and climatic impacts but revealed a gradually improving trajectory. Influenced by resource endowments, the northern and southern regions of Northeast China displayed more disharmony than the central region (Jilin > Liaoning > Heilongjiang) in terms of coordination levels. The coupling coordination degree is expected to continue to increase and progress towards a high-level coordination state by 2030.
Summary We contribute to research addressing links between forest restoration and human well-being with an experimental study testing how exposure to a restored forest and birdsong impact mental stress, positive and negative experiences and perceived restorativeness. This study engaged 106 campus participants at North Carolina State University in a 2 × 2 experiment to assess the impacts of soundscapes (i.e., traffic noise versus birdsong) and a restored riparian forest (compared to proximate grey space). Soundscape and location were drivers of all well-being metrics (p < 0.001 for main effects in every case, with effect sizes ranging from η 2 = 0.05 to 0.34). The restored forest with birdsong combination elicited the lowest stress, lowest negative experiences, highest positive experiences and highest perceived restorativeness (p < 0.05). The grey space with traffic noise combination was always the least beneficial (p < 0.05), and mixed treatments yielded intermediate results. These results build evidence that exposure to restored forest reduces stress, increases well-being and assists with perceived restorativeness; they also suggest that birdsong soundscapes have additive beneficial effects. These findings support the value of ecological restoration in urban areas, particularly when landscape restoration is accompanied by restoration of bird communities.
Summary This paper critically engages Büscher and Fletcher’s The Conservation Revolution , an influential manifesto within contemporary critical conservation scholarship. While the book offers a powerful political–economic critique of fortress, neoliberal and neoprotectionist conservation paradigms and advances ‘convivial conservation’ as a transformative alternative, this paper evaluates both its intellectual contributions and limitations. The analysis examines the book’s citational politics, theoretical framing and empirical scope, arguing that its reliance on metropolitan critical theory and limited engagement with place-based case studies constrain its claim to global applicability. Particular attention is given to the book’s terrestrial bias and minimal engagement with marine socioecological systems, which restricts its capacity to address governance challenges in oceanic environments. Drawing on interdisciplinary literature, including Indigenous-led conservation in Papua New Guinea and community-based coexistence strategies in Botswana, the paper demonstrates that many practices aligned with convivial conservation already exist as grounded, relational and locally governed approaches. These cases suggest that conservation transformation often emerges through incremental, situated governance rather than universal political rupture. The paper concludes that while The Conservation Revolution re-politicizes conservation debates, future scholarship must integrate systemic critique with epistemic plurality, marine and terrestrial ecologies and empirically grounded understandings of conservation practice.
Summary Conservation science is constrained by conditional visibility, an epistemic trap whereby recognition depends on alignment with Global North priorities. This phenomenon represents the operational intersection of the Matthew and Matilda effects, compounded by the feminization of poverty in the Global South. By marginalizing Indigenous and local knowledge, this structural filter severs global mandates from grounded ecological realities, leading to maladaptive conservation interventions. To bridge this gap, we propose specific interventions targeting the financial, administrative and evaluative pillars of the discipline. By matching structural reform with internal empowerment, we move beyond rhetoric to ensure effective planetary stewardship.
