Despite significant global efforts to address energy access gaps, most off-grid communities remain underserved—solutions have frequently fallen short by treating energy transitions as primarily technical and financial challenges, neglecting the socio-cultural dimensions that determine whether communities can genuinely shape and sustain energy systems aligned with their values and ways of life. This paper examines three remote off-grid communities, Moa Village (Indonesia), Pasi Island (Indonesia), and Warraber Island (Australia), through comparative qualitative case analysis across contrasting institutional, governance, and socio-cultural contexts. Findings reveal that community agency, rather than social capital alone, determines whether energy systems build adaptive capacity or perpetuate dependency, and that governance frameworks and regulatory arrangements function as critical enablers or barriers to the socio-cultural conditions necessary for genuine energy autonomy. Divergent pathways, from customary governance-driven autonomy to systematic exclusion despite formal recognition, demonstrate that institutional arrangements either support or suppress the socio-cultural foundations of climate-resilient energy transitions. Grounding analysis in lived community experiences, the study refines seven literature-derived principles into nine interdependent dimensions for navigating socio-culturally appropriate energy transitions, arguing that genuine energy justice requires operational sovereignty, facilitative institutional support, and the legitimisation of customary governance within—rather than displacement by—formal regulatory frameworks. The findings offer empirically grounded guidance for policymakers, energy practitioners, and communities navigating off-grid energy transitions that genuinely serve community needs and strengthen climate resilience.

Access to clean energy is a development imperative, particularly for the estimated 3.5 billion people globally residing in off-grid settings who lack reliable electricity access. As the energy sector faces increasing climate change impacts, and these communities emerge as particularly vulnerable, developing locally sourced, clean, and renewable energy systems becomes crucial for sustaining life on ancestral lands. While renewable energy systems can play essential roles in supporting sustainable livelihoods and building climate resilience in these communities, their successful implementation remains challenging. This paper presents the first bibliometric analysis of peer-reviewed literature, industry and government studies examining established foundations—including frameworks, models, theories, and concepts—relevant to community-scale infrastructure and natural resource management. Analysis of practical case studies from 37 countries reveals a significant gap in addressing socio-cultural dimensions, with only 30% of studies considering these factors in their examination of barriers and enablers, despite the dominance of socio-technical and socio-economic considerations. This global analysis establishes benchmarks for implementing renewable energy systems in off-grid communities. As the first stage of a doctoral research project, this review aims to identify empirically based approaches and develop context-specific, culturally appropriate strategies for implementing renewable energy systems that enhance community resilience to climate change.

This study investigates circular ecosystem opportunities in the context of human urine-derived fertilizers, focusing on nutrient recovery within Australia's circular economy framework. Nutrient recovery is pivotal for sustainable resource management; however, existing literature largely focuses on technological advancements while overlooking a systemic business innovation perspective. This research maps key processes and stakeholders within the urine-based fertilizer ecosystem, systematically identifying primary drivers and barriers across four sustainability dimensions: socio-cultural, environmental and health, economic, and technological. The methodology integrates a literature review, extensive stakeholder engagement, and Circular Nutrient Ecosystem Roadmapping Workshops, fostering consensus-building and strategic action planning. Three primary circular ecosystem opportunities emerged: (1) locally sourced urine-based fertilizers, (2) health risk assessment and micropollutant treatment, and (3) precision agriculture services. Transition roadmaps were developed for each opportunity, detailing value propositions, essential processes, and key actors. This study advances the practical application of circular economy principles to ecosystems in bioeconomy context, particularly concerning nutrient recycling from human urine, with implications for sustainability, agriculture, and public health. The findings emphasize actionable roadmaps for the adoption of urine-based fertilizers, demonstrating the potential to transform wastewater management into a more resilient and integrative circular business platform while reducing dependency on phosphate and nitrogen-based fertilizer imports. Furthermore, the research expanded a vision focused only on the technological and economic aspects of the urine-based fertilizers to an ecosystem vision integrating the main dimensions of sustainability. It also expanded the classic roadmap structure by embedding circular ecosystem elements at the core of roadmap development.

The circular business environment is complex. Incorporating circular economy (CE) requires changes in organizational culture while relying on innovative organizational practices. These practices, by significantly influencing the business' performance, can provide guidelines for implementing CE principles. Organizational values, for example, influence innovation and performance while seeking the alignment of the values shared among leaders, employees, suppliers, partners, consumers/users, and society. Furthermore, behaviors and mindsets dictate a positive predisposition toward CE offerings, determining, for instance, consumers' acceptance and adoption of circular products or services. Hence, the organizational need is urgent to evaluate its adherence to these innovations brought by CE to improve their performance, prevent obstacles, and overcome barriers. This can be achieved by combining circular practices, values, and mindsets and associating them to maturity levels, which is supported by a systematic and collaborative view, considering the whole business ecosystem, which allows the increase of responsiveness, flexibility, and resilience in the organization. Therefore, this chapter aims to propose a pathway based on a circular business system perspective to support the organizational transition journey toward CE, associating, at maturity levels, practices related to circular ecosystems, human and organizational competencies, circular business models, resources and their flows, and support activities, also considering the relevance of organizational culture change and consumer mindset.

The utilization of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in agriculture has surpassed the safe-operating thresholds for biogeochemical cycles, necessitating the adoption of more efficient nutrient management strategies to restore this balance. The predominant source of N and P supplementation globally stems from the application of synthetic fertilizers. This study explores the potential of nutrient recovery and recycling from human urine as a viable alternative at sub-global and regional levels. Such an approach could significantly reduce energy consumption associated with fertilizer production and transportation, as well as the demand for precursor materials. Additionally, it would mitigate the risk of eutrophication resulting from the release of excess N and P into the environment via untreated or inadequately treated wastewater. By integrating waste material utilization within the nexus of social and ecological systems, this strategy may enhance socio-ecological resilience, particularly in urban areas. Here, economies of scale could facilitate the successful implementation of urine diversion and conversion initiatives, offering a sustainable solution for nutrient management in densely populated regions.

The broader adoption of urine-diverting technologies (UDTs) and related products has been proposed as a strategy for moving towards a more circular economy. While some studies have explored the performance of UDTs, the interconnected factors involving supply, demand, and economic feasibility of UDTs remain under-researched. Our systematic review addresses this gap. Our search identified only 64 relevant, peer-reviewed studies, 71% of which addressed the supply side (primarily the technical aspect of UDTs) and 58% of which addressed the demand side (focusing on consumers’ perceptions). Approximately one-third (18) of these studies delved into the economic feasibility of UDTs, with only 9 employing a cost benefit analysis (CBA) framework. However, none of these studies have analysed the economic performance of UDTs that have been fully deployed, indicating a significant knowledge gap. Our review suggests that overcoming challenges in scaling up UDTs can be achieved by engaging those stakeholders driving the uptake, developing business cases that offer an overall understanding of both market and non-market benefits of UDTs, addressing technological constraints by optimising urine treatment options for efficiency and economic viability, and enhancing stakeholders’ acceptance of UDTs.

The expansion of the global agricultural sector has brought about significant environmental challenges, including greenhouse gas emissions, land degradation, and biodiversity loss. This study explores the nexus between fertilizer use and sustainability, framed within the circular economy principles, from a business management perspective. The primary objective is to map the current research landscape, identify key thematic areas, and suggest avenues for future research. A systematic literature review of 3026 articles from Scopus and Web of Science was conducted, with a bibliometric analysis revealing trends and thematic clusters. Five main thematic groups emerged: (i) greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in agriculture, emphasizing the importance of mitigation strategies; (ii) sustainable agriculture and fertilizers, focusing on sustainable agricultural practices; (iii) waste-derived fertilizers, underscoring the responsible reuse of animal waste; (iv) agricultural production and productivity, highlighting efficient farming practices; and (v) environmental impact and conservation, assessing ecological impacts. From these, 50 articles were selected and classified according to sustainability dimensions and their integration with circular business models. The analysis of the Triple Bottom Line demonstrated a dominant environmental focus (77.1%), while economic and social dimensions still need to be explored. Circular economy practices were prevalent, remarkably “Regenerate” and “Optimize” from the ReSOLVE framework. Future research should focus on practical implementations, circular business model development, and comprehensive impact assessments. These findings offer crucial insights for advancing sustainable agricultural practices and minimizing the environmental footprint of fertilizer production and use.

Pacific Island Countries (PICs) collectively have the lowest rates of access to safely managed or basic drinking water and sanitation globally. They are also the least urbanised and have dynamic socioeconomic and increasing climate-based challenges. Community-based water managers need to effectively respond to variability in water availability and quality caused by a range of hazards. Water safety planning (WSP), a widely adopted approach to managing water quality and quantity offers a risk-based approach to mitigating both existing and future hazards. WSP is adaptable, and making modifications to prescribed WSP to localise it is a common practice globally. As part of the Pacific Community Water Management Plus project, we used formative research and co-development processes to understand existing modifications, to know whether further modifications are required, and to identify, where possible pilot, additional modifications to WSP in Fiji, Vanuatu, and Solomon Islands. The types of additional localisations that were recommended reflect the unique context of PICs, including adjusting for community-based water management, community governance, levels of social cohesion, and preferred adult-learning pedagogies. Incorporating these factors into future WSP will improve the likelihood of sustained and safe community water services.

The built environment and the communities that contribute to its infrastructure, services, and systems are important aspects of human life. As urbanization increases, time spent indoors also increases, with urban residents spending most of their time indoors. This indoor lifestyle concentrates the effects of water, energy, and food consumption in the built environment, with local, regional, and global implications for interconnected resources and their supply chains. As such, resource consumption in the built environment has sustainability implications, especially with increasing populations and living standards. This focus issue, ‘Resource Consumption and Sustainability in the Built Environment’, examines infrastructure and sustainability from many perspectives. The articles investigate water, energy, and/or food consumption across various scales, ranging from a single household to nationwide supply chains to global climate models. Each paper in this issue considers essential elements of context, since water, energy, and food have local and global sustainability considerations, along with multi-sector dependencies within urban metabolism. Digital technologies, data, and modeling approaches are opening new opportunities for better monitoring and understanding of the built environment. In an uncertain future, understanding resource consumption in the built environment and its implications for the environment and society is a critical aspect of overall human health and well-being. In-depth knowledge of the dynamics shaping the built environment is paramount to supporting adaptive infrastructure planning and management, including supply and demand interventions to help cities and communities become climate neutral while increasing equity in access and affordability of resources and services.

Rainwater tanks are a common means of reducing potable consumption in individual households and are mainly used for non-potable purposes, such as toilet flushing, laundry, and outdoor use. An alternative to individual rainwater tanks is the use of communal rainwater tanks. Such systems collect rainwater from multiple households' roofs and, through gravity collection networks, transport the rainwater to large communal storage tanks. The rainwater can then be treated to a potable standard (depending on the end-use) and then stored in a separate collection tank for pressurised distribution to households. Communal rainwater systems offer benefits such as economies of scale, centralised storage and treatment system, smaller land footprint, and reduced system maintenance issues commonly associated with household rainwater tanks. Their economies of scale allow communal systems to be potentially more cost-effective than individual household rainwater tanks as the costs are shared amongst a number of households. Maintenance issues would also be resolved through the employment of a corporate body to manage the system, in comparison with individual systems where the onus on maintaining the tanks is on home owners. This chapter reports on the literature, design, and economics of communal rainwater tanks.

Pacific Island countries have among the lowest access to improved drinking water sources and sanitation services in the world. Due to geography, climate, the high frequency, and severity of disasters, transportation difficulties and resource constraints, government and private sector support to rural populations are limited and likely to remain so. However, the unique demographic characteristics of the region see considerable support flowing to rural areas from village kin in urban centres and overseas, hinged on strong socio-cultural norms of reciprocity, self-help, and obligation. Focusing on Fiji, this paper examines how select social networks are being used to support improved rural water and sanitation outcomes. Results demonstrate that kinship-orientated urban–rural linkages, select customary norms, relations and practices, common interest associations (such as village development committees), and select social media groups, all constitute critical components of the WaSH enabling environment in Fiji. Given the unique character of the Pacific Islands region, leveraging existing social networks to support improved rural water and sanitation outcomes may constitute a fruitful community water management ‘plus’ strategy for both governments and non-government organisations seeking to strengthen rural water and sanitation service outcomes.

Sustainable water management in remote Australian communities is a delicate balance between sufficient and acceptable supply options and appropriate and effective demand approaches. This paper focus on the evaluation of community-based water demand management strategies piloted in four remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities in Australia. Findings of the pilot demonstrate that from a systems perspective, community-based demand management centred around education and encouragement of residents to conserve and use water efficiently, provide greater opportunities for long-term sustainable water management outcomes that support building of social capital. To ensure truly transformative management outcomes, a toolbox of socio-technological strategies should be used including, where possible, smart metering of water consumption and use of water-efficient devices. A key element of this approach to demand management calls for a shift away from business-as-usual policy towards a flexible learning approach that involves genuine collaboration between water managers and Indigenous communities.

Drinking water and sanitation services in high-income countries typically bring widespread health and other benefits to their populations. Yet gaps in this essential public health infrastructure persist, driven by structural inequalities, racism, poverty, housing instability, migration, climate change, insufficient continued investment, and poor planning. Although the burden of disease attributable to these gaps is mostly uncharacterised in high-income settings, case studies from marginalised communities and data from targeted studies of microbial and chemical contaminants underscore the need for continued investment to realise the human rights to water and sanitation. Delivering on these rights requires: applying a systems approach to the problems; accessible, disaggregated data; new approaches to service provision that centre communities and groups without consistent access; and actionable policies that recognise safe water and sanitation provision as an obligation of government, regardless of factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, ability to pay, citizenship status, disability, land tenure, or property rights.

Solid waste and its associated environmental, health and wellbeing impacts and resource and land availability are becoming increasingly challenging to manage in remote and isolated communities. This is primarily due to the lack of infrastructure, land availability, high collection cost, poor economies of scale and low environmental awareness. This paper seeks to understand the factors that contribute to this solid waste management challenge and that hinder more sustainable management in a remote community context, through a systematic and critical literature review. 265 scientific articles and industry and government reports were collected and reviewed from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google search from 2011 to 2021. Barriers and enablers were synthesised and critically reviewed using a systematic literature review approach following the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework. The review identified a lack of waste collection and recycling infrastructure, increasing trade and local economic development, low environmental awareness with respect to impacts of consumer waste products and disposal, and limited access to funding as the major drivers for the current unsustainable waste problem in remote communities. Notable impacts literature identified include water pollution (including marine environments), land pollution, and air pollution. Six categories of responses reported in the literature are: 1) technological improvements, 2) waste avoidance and reduction, 3) reuse and recycle, 4) increase government support, 5) inter-organisation partnership, and 6) innovative solutions to create value from waste. This paper informs policy makers on existing problems and potential circular economy approaches to achieve greater sustainability in this area. The paper also provides recommendations on a future research agenda to achieve such changes on the ground.

Safe drinking water and effective sanitation is a basic human right. The health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples living on traditional Country in remote Australia can be supported or undermined by these essential services. Despite global and Australian commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals, water and sanitation service levels have regularly been identified as unreliable, unsafe, and of a lower standard than non-Indigenous and non-remote settlements. This research sought to identify the optimal conditions to enable consistent delivery of safe water and sanitation in remote Indigenous communities of Australia. Using a combination of literature reviews, interviews with key stakeholder groups and applied research findings, key conditions for improved water and sanitation outcomes were identified. These included technology for water and sanitation that is fit for purpose, people and place; capacity-building, training and ongoing support for local Indigenous service operators; and that all personnel involved in delivery require a level of cultural competency to the local and Indigenous context. These findings are intended to contribute to informing more sustainable water and sanitation outcomes in Indigenous communities.

This research proposes a model for enhancing the pro-poor water supply and provision of sanitation services in informal urban settlements in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The model was developed from semi-structured interviews, a rigorous literature content analysis of best-practice case studies and application of the Policy Transfer Framework. Development and adoption of a long-term strategy to mobilize financial resources and guide the water sector to develop pro-poor plans were key recommendations. While not a panacea, it is hoped that adoption of the model would significantly improve the current water supply and sanitation service delivery to informal urban settlements Dar es Salaam.

SummaryMotivationRural water services are poor in Pacific Island countries (PICs); ineffective water management (WM) is one of the key reasons. Greater social inclusion in WM groups is a key goal of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, but there is a lack of data on the make‐up of WM groups and what appropriate and effective inclusivity in WM looks like in the region.PurposeThis article contributes to filling these gaps by examining national community WM policy and the attributes and activities of rural WM groups, in practice, in villages across Solomon Islands. The purpose is to influence government policy and guidance relating to the structure and functionality of rural WM groups.Methods and approachQualitative and quantitative data were gathered from eight rural communities in Solomon Islands between 2018 and 2020 by a team of international and local Solomon Islander researchers. Detailed data from six formalized WM groups along with an analysis of national policy and rural WM guidelines are used to identify strengths and weaknesses in current WM policy and approaches.FindingsWM group inclusivity has improved with regard to women, but they still often remain excluded from decision‐making. Young people are essential to the ongoing operation of water systems yet were rarely formal members of water committees. Intra‐village levels of social cohesion were stronger than village‐wide levels. Most water committees had collapsed in the past, lacked institutional sustainability, and failed community expectations. Factors informing this included the high mean age of committee members, multiple obligations of executives, and often poor intra‐village social and geographical representation.Policy implicationsVillages are not homogenous communities, but include many smaller social units—tribes, extended families, different faith groups—that tend to have stronger social cohesion than “village‐wide” groups or committees. Moreover, many of these groupings are often socio‐spatially demarcated in formalized “zones/areas” of a village. This needs to be reflected in WM group membership and national policy guidelines. At these levels, social cohesion, collective action, and agency are greater than at the village‐wide level, offering opportunities for more inclusive and effective WM outcomes.

AbstractThis research investigated relationships between the most notable characteristics of end-use events, namely, event duration, volume, and intensity, in order to categorize water use as being...

Urine diversion (UD) systems require less water to operate and thus have the potential to reduce water use by 90% compared to traditional toilets. Drawing on an applied research project in South East Queensland, Australia, this chapter analyzes the institutional environment and social networks which both supported and ultimately hindered the UD research trial and ongoing system uptake. Increasing interest in UD systems, both nationally and internationally, has in part been driven by growing awareness of global phosphorus scarcity. The chapter explores a specific case of emerging innovation – decentralized UD systems in a peri-urban setting – whose institutional context played identifiable roles both in securing its initial success and subsequently in hindering successful development of the complete stages of the Ecovillage trial. It concludes with a discussion of the need to manage the politics of innovation in basic infrastructure for essential services by considering multiple institutional factors and actors supporting and facilitating the emergence of innovative technologies in practice.

Climate change mitigation strategies are multifaceted and require collaboration among a range of stakeholder groups. The objective of this paper was to develop an overarching Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Area Policy (REECAP) framework. The framework was developed based on a comprehensive literature review, in which seven principles for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Policies were identified. The paper also includes a case study to demonstrate an application of the REECAP framework. The novelty of the framework stems from its integration of carbon-energy-cash flows among different decision-making spheres, scales and area specific characteristics. The framework provides a mathematical understanding of how energy strategies can be transformed and optimised in a cost-effective manner by integrating stakeholders under a shared vision.