Microorganisms are transforming the way we address sustainability across agriculture, food production, waste remediation, bioenergy, and industrial bioprocessing, offering novel solutions for the food systems of tomorrow. This systematic review examines literature from the last twenty years in order to identify key advances, challenges, and future directions in harnessing microbial systems for sustainable applications, especially those underpinning a resilient future food system. The selected documents allowed a mapping of the most important trends: innovations based on metabolic engineering and omics, the use of integrated biorefineries, and digital monitoring platforms are emerging as catalysts for the transition, while high scaling costs, regulatory challenges, and low public acceptance continue to limit large-scale implementation. The analysis highlights both the major advantages (reducing ecological impact, valorizing waste, diversifying food sources) and the current limits of these technologies, proposing a multi-stakeholder roadmap to accelerate the transition to a circular bioeconomy and a low-carbon and climate-resilient food system.

Regenerative agriculture (RA) is an alternative approach in combating climate change adaptation; however, its effective implementation at scale depends on the development and adoption of standardized metrics. The methodology of this systematic review was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, in order to maintain a high level of transparency and rigor throughout the process of selecting and evaluating the included studies. This research identified the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing a robust monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) framework, which combines direct measurements, proximal sensors and remote sensing to balance accuracy and costs. An innovative aspect of this work is the integration of both social and economic indicators for assessment of RA performance, highlighting the importance of incentives based on verifiable outcomes to support the long-term adoption of regenerative practices. In addition, innovations that can facilitate the scaling and validation of these metrics are explored, which encompasses the use of open and interoperable digital infrastructures to enhance connectivity and integration. This systematic approach contributes to the development of an integrated and adaptable setting for the evaluation and monitoring of RA, serving as a cornerstone for policy formulation and sustainable management strategies.

In developing countries, sustainable development strategies are increasingly shifting toward a green economy that integrates economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Despite the growing importance of green economic growth, comparative empirical studies examining its determinants in Turkey and Romania remain limited. This study investigates the dynamic relationships between environmentally sustainable growth, carbon emissions, life expectancy, renewable energy consumption, education, and technological innovation in Turkey and Romania over the period 1980–2023. Using annual time series data, the analysis applies the Augmented Dickey–Fuller and Zivot–Andrews unit root tests to examine stationarity and potential structural breaks. The empirical framework is based on the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach, which allows the estimation of both long-run equilibrium relationships and short-run dynamics. The results provide partial evidence of long-run relationships among the variables. Although the ARDL bounds test results fall within the inconclusive region, the negative and statistically significant error correction terms indicate that deviations from long-run equilibrium are corrected over time. The findings also reveal heterogeneous short-run causal interactions across the two countries, suggesting that the drivers of environmentally sustainable growth differ between Turkey and Romania. Overall, the results highlight the importance of country-specific policy frameworks, institutional structures, and energy transition pathways in promoting green economic growth.