Protected areas play a crucial role in biodiversity conservation worldwide, but often neglect the involvement of local communities. This study presents a participatory planning methodology for promoting social and economic development in protected areas, using Cotopaxi National Park (PNC) in Ecuador as a case study. The PNC represents an appropriate case study due to its diverse ecosystems and challenges related to grazing activities. The proposed methodology integrates a qualitative approach with the Social Network Analysis (SNA) and the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to design a sustainable management approach. Firstly, the SNA maps the stakeholder network, identifying key actors and their relationships. Secondly, interviews with influential stakeholders provide insights into their perceptions of influence, relationships, and strategies to enhance grazing activities. Thirdly, the ANP is used to analyze and prioritize management strategies. Finally, a novel sensitivity analysis was made to validate the results. The promotion of new opportunities for productive projects and alternative sources of income was the best-rated strategy for sustainable grazing. The proposed methodology can facilitate and improve the co-management of the protected areas and their governance. It allows the integration of environmental conservation objectives with the main concerns of the stakeholders, promoting social and economic development. This study confirms that stakeholders have different interests, sensitivities, and ways of understanding sustainability; thus, improving stakeholder communication and the involvement of additional actors, such as NGOs and government agencies, is crucial. The proposed integrated approach can be adapted to any participatory decision-making process related to the conservation of protected natural areas.

This research examines the drivers and barriers influencing the adoption of decentralised renewable energy technologies such as rooftop photovoltaic solar systems and consumer battery energy storage systems. Using the analytic network process, expert input from government, academia, and industry was used to prioritise a range of social, economic, institutional, and technical factors in both countries. The results show that while fiscal incentives and stabilised energy prices are common drivers in both contexts, Colombia faces stronger economic and technical barriers, such as limited access to funding and techno-economic uncertainty. Conversely, Spain's decentralised energy transition is primarily hindered by techno-economic uncertainty, challenges related to the electricity tariff structure, and the lack of technical definition and standardisation. This comparative analysis offers novel insights into expert-based priorities across two contrasting national contexts. Based on the findings, it is recommended that Colombia focus on enhancing access to finance and strengthening regulatory clarity, while Spain should refine existing frameworks and simplify technical procedures to facilitate the scaling up of RET adoption.

Reducing the carbon emissions of buildings and whole districts is one of the main objectives of sustainable development goals. Both policymakers and end-users need reliable information to take actions that lead to achieving those goals. For this, an innovative open access planning tool has been developed to assess the effect of energy consumption on the overall carbon emissions of districts, buildings, and house units. When it comes to the end-users, it would help them know the actual environmental impact of their homes and make environmentally and financially sound decisions before investing in new equipment. The tool is meant to be an online planning service for dwelling end-users and policymakers alike; thus responding to a still unresolved demand. For this, firstly, the study focuses on the obtention of a complete catalogue of open-source conversion factors, which convert the different energy sources to carbon dioxide emissions per unit of energy. Secondly, it presents two case studies to illustrate the use of the tool. The first case study explains how an end-user could estimate the energy savings that may result from changing his domestic energy habits, equipment, and sources. The second case study uses actual data from a district in Valencia (Spain) to show how renewable sources would affect the carbon footprint of an apartment block. Both study cases show greenhouse gas emissions savings by replacing the existing equipment with more efficient ones such as heat pumps or renewable energy-based power systems like photovoltaic panels. This study concludes that providing smart tools is pivotal to planning nearly Zero-Energy Districts (nZED).