Society and Environment in the Face of Territorial Sustainability Challenges: Introductory Reflections

Abstract

This essay examines society–environment relations through the challenges of territorial sustainability, offering an integrated reading of the twenty-three contributions published in issue 18 of Kawsaypacha. It connects debates on safe and just Earth system boundaries, the plurality of nature’s values, and knowledge co-production with research and situated experiences primarily from Latin America, alongside contributions from Indonesia. The articles are organized into six thematic areas: waste generation and management; knowledge and culture; water availability, access, and conservation; forests and woodlands; rural and urban ways of inhabiting places; and resistance to extractivism. Read together, these contributions reveal connections among socio-environmental inequalities, institutional capacities, local knowledge, technological appropriation, and community participation. The essay argues that responses to territorial transformations must consider ecological conditions alongside resource distribution, recognition of diverse forms of knowledge, and opportunities for communities to influence decision-making. It outlines research directions concerning the continuity of interventions, environmental governance, uncertainty and responsibility, and the relationships among affect, territorial identity, and collective action. In doing so, it reaffirms INTE PUCP’s commitment to interdisciplinary dialogue and the production of knowledge relevant to socio-environmental challenges.