Achieving sustainability on the ground poses a challenge in decoding globally defined goals, such as sustainable development goals, and aligning them with local perspectives and realities. This decoding necessitates the understanding of the multifaceted dimensions of the sustainability challenges in a given context, including their underlying causes. In case studies from Brazilian drylands, we illustrate how an enhanced multiscale participatory method, combined with systems thinking tools, can shed light on systemic structures that currently entrench unsustainable development trajectories. This method offers insights into co-designing potential pathways toward sustainable futures and unlocking transformative capacities of the local population.

Translating United Nations global sustainable development goals (SDGs) into actions that address local realities and aspirations is an urgent challenge. It requires new thinking and approaches that foster the discussion about the main challenges to implementing the SDGs at multiple levels. This paper presents a novel multiscale participatory approach that combines the popular Three Horizons diagram with the formalism of causal loop diagrams in systems thinking. We present results from six multi-stakeholder dialogues held across drylands in Brazil with a focus on desired futures aligned with SDGs. Focusing on identifying the root causes and systemic structures of unsustainability, participants identified lock-ins, leverage points, and interventions for how these could be changed. The core lock-ins are the discontinuity of public policies, and the historical land and power concentration reinforced by the current expansion of large-scale agricultural, mining, and energy projects. The proposed interventions are structural and – if implemented – would contribute to achieving SDGs in an integrated manner. The unique approach developed in this study can provide leverage as it bridges the inclusivity of participatory visioning with the change potential of systems thinking tools to tackle root causes and unleash societal transformations.

We are not achieving SDGs. Understanding root causes of unsustainability is critical to move toward sustainable and just futures.

This article examines the challenges and opportunities to integrate diverse sources of evidence in assessments produced by international platforms working at the science–policy interface. Diversity (or pluralism) of sources of literature, both in terms of their geographic origin and disciplinary focus, is essential for assessments to inform decision-making across social–ecological contexts. Using the recently completed ‘Methodological Assessment of the Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature’ of the Intergovernmental Science–Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services as a case, we find that significant effort has been dedicated to reviewing diverse literature. We discuss three strategies to expand pluralism in future assessments.

Representing plural views in science–policy platforms is essential to avoid reproducing geographic and epistemic biases that permeate contemporary scientific knowledge production and synthesis. The Intergovernmental Science–Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has strived to produce assessments that incorporate information from diverse regions and knowledge systems. We explore the geographic and epistemic pluralism of the literature included in the ‘Methodological Assessment of the Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature’ (VA), and the challenges and opportunities to achieve such knowledge pluralism. We applied a bibliometric analysis to the sources of evidence cited in the VA, and reflected on the assessment development process, in which we were directly involved. Our results highlight the success of different strategies developed by VA experts to engage with diverse sources of literature. Still, most evidence was English-language academic literature produced in Western Europe, Canada, and the United States, echoing the prominence of this literature in scientific publication in environmental disciplines. Reflecting on our experiences, we discuss strategies that could further enhance the geographic and epistemic pluralism in the information reviewed for future environmental assessments produced by IPBES and other international science–policy platforms.

Epistemic and geographic pluralism was partially achieved in IPBES Values Assessment, and can be further enhanced in future assessments.

The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the consumption of selected food groups and insulin resistance, with an emphasis on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB).

The present research is a large multicentre European study in adolescents, the HELENA-CSS (Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence Cross-Sectional Study).

Homeostasis model assessment–insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) was calculated. Several anthropometric and lifestyle characteristics were recorded. Dietary assessment was conducted by using a short FFQ.

The participants were a subset of the original sample (n 546) with complete data on glucose, insulin and FFQ. All participants were recruited at schools.

Median (25th, 75th percentile) HOMA-IR was 0·62 (0·44, 0·87). Mean HOMA-IR was significantly higher among adolescents consuming brown bread ≤1 time/week than among those consuming 2–6 times/week (P = 0·011). Mean values of HOMA-IR were also higher in adolescents consuming SSB >5 times/week compared with those consuming less frequently, although a statistically significant difference was detected between those consuming SSB 5–6 times/week and 2–4 times/week (P = 0·049). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that only the frequency of SSB consumption was significantly associated with HOMA-IR after controlling for potential confounders. In particular, it was found that HOMA-IR levels were higher among adolescents consuming SSB 5–6 times/week and ≥1 time/d compared with those consuming ≤1 time/week by 0·281 and 0·191 units, respectively (P = 0·009 and 0·046, respectively).

The present study revealed that daily consumption of SSB was related with increased HOMA-IR in adolescents.