Book Series ‘Circular Economy and Sustainability’

Call for book chapters: 

Nature-Based Solutions for circular management of urban water

EDITORS

Asst. Prof. Alexandros Stefanakis, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Greece (astefanakis@tuc.gr)

Asst. Prof. Dr Hasan Volkan Oral, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, İstanbul Aydın University, Turkey (volkanoral@aydin.edu.tr)

Dr Cristina Calheiros, CIIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Portugal (cristina@calheiros.org)

Assoc. Prof. Pedro Carvalho, Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Denmark (pedro.carvalho@envs.au.dk)

SCOPE & OBJECTIVE

Climate change is widely recognized as an existential threat to our global society. Today we increasingly realized that the linear economic model is not sustainable in the long run and cannot sustain the life standards and the environmental status. The circular economy approach suggests the adjustment of our priorities and the re-orientation, especially of the future infrastructure investments. In this context, we are looking for new, innovative and sustainable solutions to increase the resiliency of our societies, to protect and restore the ecosystems, and to maintain the necessary economic growth without further undermining the planet’s boundaries. In particular, transforming today’s cities into sustainable cities is one of the main adaptations and chellenges that will be necessary. A holistic approach looking at cities from a system’s perspective is needed to achieve this goal.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) serve exactly this ambitious and multi-factorial purpose due to their inherent ability not only to tackle climate change but also to provide a series of ecosystems services and social benefits. In a circular economy, NBS can contribute to such strategies for climate change adaptation and create a holistic resource management system for the urban biosphere.

In the urban context, NBS can deal with main challenges such as urban heat islands, flooding, wastewater treatment, runoff control, well-being improvement and food provision. At the same time, NBS provide a series of ecosystem services beneficial for the environment and the society including clean water production, nutrient recovery, heavy metals retention and a broad range of plant-based materials.

The goal of this book is to provide a single reference that presents, discusses and summarizes the role, applications and effectiveness of NBS in the urban environment and how these systems can contribute to the circular management of water, nutrients and resources towards resilient, sustainable and healthy cities. The scope of the book extends to various fields and disciplines such as the built environment, urban water and wastewater, resource recovery, urban farming, urban agriculture, geographical information systems, smart sensing, research and development, technology and innovation, society and governance. Research studies, pilot projects, experimental works and case studies can be part for the book.

TIMELINE

15 September 2022   :  Chapter Proposal Submission Deadline

30 September 2022   :  Notification of Acceptance

31 January 2023         :  Full Chapter Submission & review process

28 February 2023       :  Review Results Returned

31 March 2023            :  Revised Chapter Submission

SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

Researchers, professionals and practitioners are invited to submit via email a chapter proposal to the Editors (astefanakis@tuc.gr; volkanoral@aydin.edu.tr; cristina@calheiros.org; pedro.carvalho@envs.au.dk) before September 15, mentioning:

1. chapter title,
2. names, affiliations and contact details of all co-authors,
3. an abstract up to 500 words explaining the topic and goals of the proposed chapter

Important notes

• Manuscripts should be original and written in English
• All submitted chapters are subject to a blind review process. At the time of submission, authors are encouraged to suggest a number of reviewers’ names
• The manuscripts submitted for the book must be original and not previously published elsewhere or currently under review.
• Expected chapter length is approximately 8,000 words.
• Publication is free of charge for all Authors.
• All chapter contributors will receive one electronic copy of the book, free of charge