About this journal

Aims and scope

Sustainable Communities is an online, open access, international journal publishing across all areas of sustainable research and is part of our Elevate Series. This means that you will receive a concierge-level publishing experience, including dedicated support from our expert in-house Editorial team, with guaranteed response times of within 48 hours, an initial decision on whether your article will be peer reviewed within 5 working days, and a first decision on your research within an average of 22 working days.

Sustainable Communities is a scholarly open access, internationally peer-reviewed and cross-disciplinary journal, that provides a platform for academics working in different disciplines, to collaborate and offer a joint focus for their research in advancing sustainable practices. The journal will be made up of broad sections covering various dimensions of how sustainability drives responses to environmental change.

The journal welcomes original research articles, review articles, method articles, registered reports, data notes and editorials. Letters to the Editor are also considered and should discuss an analysis of an article previously published in Sustainable Communities.

The aims and scope for each section can be found below. 

Building Sustainable Cities

Section Editor: Beniamino Murgante

This section covers all areas of urban sustainability. This encompasses a comprehensive understanding of the intricate interplay between various elements, aiming to create ecologically sustainable and socially resilient cities. We also invite urban studies, where modeling is a pivotal instrument during the planning phases. These studies aim to provide solutions for cities facing environmental challenges resulting from inadequate choices.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Sustainable Cities
  • Sustainable Communities
  • Sustainable Urban Development
  • Climate change mitigation and adaptation in urban environments
  • Sustainable Transports
  • Urban Mobility
  • Sustainable mobility
  • Land Take Reduction
  • Ecosystem Services Analysis
  • Green Infrastructures
  • Environmental Modelling
  • Smart city governance
  • Renewable Energy in urban environments
  • Urban simulation models
  • Performance based planning  

Sustainable and Green Economics

Section Editor: Hugo Benitez-Silva

This section welcomes all high-quality economic-based research on sustainable futures.

The time for debate over the human influence in climate change has ended. The future of all species on our planet, chiefly humans, depends on revolutionizing the production, consumption, investment, and regulatory paradigms in which our economies have been functioning in the last two centuries. The key to our future is embedded in the promise of sustainability as a concept that should permeate our society in every respect. However, the green revolution requires a long transitional period in which multiple technologies, multiple vintages of capital and multiple production paradigms interact, compete, and lobby for favorable regulation from governments which struggle with the uncertainties and geopolitical turmoil created by a deteriorating environment. Economics should lead the way in providing deep and policy relevant insights into our choices, their trade-offs, and the policies that should help us save the planet for all living entities.  

Sustainable Energy

Section Editor: Xiaohang Ren

This section aims to provide a platform for the dissemination of high-quality research and scholarship related to sustainable energy and environmental management.

The “Sustainable Energy” section seeks to publish original research, review articles, and critical perspectives that advance our understanding of the complex interrelationships between energy production, consumption, and environmental impacts. Our primary goal is to contribute to the development of evidence-based policies and practices that promote sustainable development and mitigate the adverse impacts of energy production and use. The section covers a broad range of topics related to sustainable energy and environmental management, including but not limited to:

  • Renewable energy technologies and systems
  • Energy efficiency, conservation, and demand-side management
  • Sustainable transportation systems, including electrification and low-carbon fuels
  • Carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies
  • Environmental impact assessments of energy production and consumption
  • Energy and environmental policy development, implementation, and evaluation
  • Social and economic dimensions of energy transitions and sustainability
  • Sustainable agriculture and food systems, including bioenergy production and waste management
  • Water and land management in the context of sustainable energy and environmental management
We welcome submissions from scholars and practitioners across a range of disciplines, including engineering, environmental science, economics, public policy, and social sciences. We strive to promote interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration in the pursuit of sustainable energy and environmental management.  

Sustainable Development and Tourism

Section Editor: Peter Kumble

The section covers all topics within sustainable development and tourism, including but not limited to:

  • Impacts of tourism on a global scale and ecotourism on sensitive resources in the Global North or South.
  • Broad-based land protection and sustainable land use
  • Innovative approaches within planning
  • Promoting techniques that foster resource conservation on natural and cultural landscapes to wider areas within the umbrella of sustainable development
  • Impacts of tourism on a global scale and ecotourism on sensitive resources in developing countries.  

Sustainable Law and Agriculture

Section Editor: Rhett Martin

This section aims to advance cross disciplinary scholarship in respect to agriculture, law and sustainability. The scope is addressing innovation and developments in the agricultural sector and how the law should respond to these developments in the context of sustainability objectives. This scope is international.

The policy on submissions is based on accepting submissions that display scholarship in the connection between agriculture, law and sustainability. Submissions may include scholarly articles and contributions to particular themed approaches that may be followed from time to time. The section does not accept submissions simultaneously submitted elsewhere, submissions that are not in English, previously published submissions, handwritten submissions or submissions consisting of unmodified student work or dissertation chapters.

Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Section Editor: Susana C. Santos

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation section of Sustainable Communities aims to advance cross-disciplinary scholarship with respect to entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability. We welcome high-quality interdisciplinary research, including business, economics, environmental sciences, social sciences, and technology, to foster a holistic understanding of how sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation can drive positive change. The Entrepreneurship and Innovation section of Sustainable Communities seeks to bridge the gap between these critical domains and explore the transformative potential they hold for addressing pressing sustainablity challenges from a global and community level.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Sustainable Entrepreneurship
  • Community-based Entrepreneurship
  • Innovative Sustainable Business Models
  • Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship
  • Local Sustainable Supply Chains
  • Rural Entrepreneurship and Agriculture
  • Cooperative and Collective Entrepreneurship
  • Green Innovation for Local Entrepreneurship and Communities
  • Community-based, Cultual and Creative Entrepreneurship 
  • Indigenous Entrepreneurship and Traditional Knowledge
  • Macro and Micro Foundations in Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Innovation
  • Adversity and Poverty in Entrepreneurship

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Editorial board

Building Sustainable Cities

Section Editor: Beniamino Murgante, University of Basilicata, Italy

Associate Editors
Vladimir J. Alarcon, Mississippi State University, USA
Jagannath Aryal, University of Melbourne, Australia
Gilberto Corso Pereira, Federal University of Bahia, Brazil
Chiara Garau, University of Cagliari, Italy
Yong Ge, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Malgorzata Hanzl, Lodz University of Technology, Poland
Claudia van der Laag Yamu, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
Enrica Papa, University of Westminster, UK
Anastasia Stratigea, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
Marj Tonini, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Peter Zeile, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
Ljiljana Zivkovic, Department for Project Planning and Management, Republic Geodetic Authority of Serbia, Serbia

Sustainable Energy

Section Editor: Xiaohang Ren, Central South University, China

Associate Editors
Cheng Cheng, School of Management Science and Engineering, Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, China
Kun Duan, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
Chenglu Jin, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, China
Xianming Sun, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, China
Zongrun Wang, Central South University, China
Pengxiang Zhai, Beihang University, China

Sustainable and Green Economics

Section Editor: Hugo Benitez-Silva, Stony Brook University, USA

Sustainable Development and Tourism

Section Editor: Peter Kumble, Czech University of Life Sciences, Czech Republic

Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Section Editor: Susana C. Santos, Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, Florida State University, USA

Sustainable Law and Agriculture

Section Editor: Rhett Martin, University of Southern Queensland, Australia

Associate Editors
Simon Young, University of Southern Queensland, Australia
Lynda Crowley-Cyr, University of Southern Queensland, Australia
Kathy Reeves, University of Southern Queensland, Australia

Open access

Sustainable Communities is an open access journal and only publishes open access articles. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research.

Why choose open access?

  1. Increase the discoverability and readership of your article
  2. Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those with easy access to a research library
  3. Freely share your work with anyone, anywhere
  4. Comply with funding mandates and meet the requirements of your institution, employer or funder
  5. Rigorous peer review for every open access article

Article Publishing Charges (APC)

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