This article provides a perspective on nature-based solutions. First, the argument is developed that nature-based solutions integrate social and ecological systems. Then, theoretical considerations relating to relational values, multifunctionality, transdisciplinarity, and polycentric governance are briefly outlined. Finally, a conceptual model of the social–ecological system of nature-based solutions is synthesised and presented. This conceptual model comprehensively defines the social and ecological external and internal systems that make up nature-based solutions, and identifies theoretical considerations that need to be addressed at different stages of their planning and implementation The model bridges the normative gaps of existing nature-based solution frameworks and could be used for consistent, comprehensive, and transferable comparisons internationally. The theoretical considerations addressed in this article inform practitioners, policymakers, and researchers about the essential components of nature-based solutions. The conceptual model can facilitate the identification of social and ecological interconnections within nature-based solutions and the range of stakeholders and disciplines involved.

Architectural education plays a fundamental role in achieving sustainable development by training future professionals who can contribute to sustainability through their practice. Nevertheless, to ensure the introduction of sustainable development in the education of future architects, it is fundamental to understand what is being done and what could be improved. Despite this, a big gap has been detected in the assessment of architectural education in Spain and worldwide. Thus, a close-ended questionnaire for students has been designed based on the outcomes from a literature review, exploratory interviews with specialists, and the qualitative analysis of two schools of architecture. Additionally, it has been revised by experts, through the pilot study of a preliminary version, and with the supplementary analysis of the answers to a final test with students from different schools. In particular, this questionnaire allows for comprehensively measuring the students’ perception of their sustainability learning outcomes, their learning experience, and the connection between, with the aim of facilitating the adjustment of Spanish architectural education towards the introduction or enhancement of sustainable development by education managers, teachers, policymakers, and professional associations.

After developing a systematic analysis of the vernacular phenomenon in different disciplines, this paper presents a flexible model to understand the multiple factors and the different degrees of vernacularity behind the many processes that lead to the generation of material culture. The conceptual model offers an open, polythetic and integrative approach to the vernacular by assuming that it operates in different dimensions (temporal, socio-political, sociological, locational, epistemological, procedural, economic and functional), and that the many attributes or characteristics included in those dimensions are all relevant but not strictly necessary. The model is intended to facilitate a more methodical and rigorous connection between the vernacular concept and contemporary discourses on sustainability, resilience, globalization, governance, and rural-urban development. In addition, and due to its transdisciplinary character, the model will enable the development of comparative studies within and between a wide range of fields (architecture, landscape studies, design, planning and geography). A prospective analysis of the use of the model in rural landscapes reveals its potential to mediate between the protective approach that has characterized official planning during the last decades and emergent approaches that advocate the reinterpretation of the vernacular as a new form to generate new collective identities and to reconnect people and place.

The metabolic study of the southeastern part of the Calderona Mountain Range (Sierra Calderona) was developed over an area of 200 square kilometers. Due to its location on the outskirt of the Metropolitan Area of Valencia (Spain), the Calderona Mountain Range presents most of the metabolic challenges and potentials that characterize peri-urban areas. The main goal of the study was to increase the sustainability levels of the region by optimizing the flows of materials and energy, as well as flows related to the transport of people within and in/outside the region. The following article includes a methodological introduction to regional and urban metabolic studies. Secondly, it presents the specific application of those principles in the Sierra Calderona case and the qualitative and quantitative results of the assessed regional flows. Moreover, the use of Metabolic Functional Areas (FMAs) is proposed to better integrate metabolic studies with land-use and spatial planning. In its second section, the article also presents the potential for shifting toward an optimized metabolism of the studied area, as well as a set of strategies and actions for their achievement. Finally, in the conclusions, we present a critical reflection on the methods, data, exportability and scalability of the results produced in the Sierra Calderona Case. Due to its regional character, the metabolic performance of the Sierra Calderona is connected to a wide range of land uses, productive functions and stakeholders. That is the reason why the formulated strategies and actions are deeply interlinked with different sectors and why they were supported by the results of an open participatory process. However, and in spite of its regional scope, the urban systems of the Sierra Calderona proved to be an essential lever for improving the regional and local sustainability, due to their varied morphological structures, distinctive ways of functioning, and different types of interaction with the surroundings.

Through this paper, we investigate the key characteristics of planning studios and how they relate to new demands in planning education. The research is conducted through an analytical framework that is applied to a highly transferable case study (iWater Summer Schools). Results confirm that the prototypical characteristics of planning studios can support the design of multidisciplinary, research-oriented, personalized, and intensive courses, and that all these demands can be simultaneously satisfied. In addition, results indicate that positive alignments and connections can be established between different pedagogical variables (e.g., learning methods, assessment methods, provided skills) and the educational demands mentioned above.