Challenges in Sustainability: Another Brick in the Wall

Dear reader,

We are proud of Challenges in Sustainability's (CiS) fruitful start. A variety of quality research articles, edi- torials and notes have been published on a range of themes and topics, including sustainability governance [1], improved cookstoves [2], [3], the potentials of 3-D printing in the global South [4], and the need for con- siliences between the natural and social sciences and the humanities [5], to name just a few. Furthermore, despite the journal's short history, we are pleased with its high visibility, where numerous articles have been viewed or downloaded over 1200 times since publication. The high exposure rate and the quality of publications affirm our aspirations for stable growth and development in the future.

Much of CiS's early success can be acredited to the competent and devoted administrative, managerial and editorial staff. We must first begin by thanking former Editor-in-Chief, Jürgen Kropp, for his work in estab- lishing and placing the journal on a solid footing for the future. Much of the success can also be attributed to the diverse, but impressive, editorial group with competencies in a multitude of sustainability-relevant areas, nor must we forget the devoted managerial and administrative staff at the journal. Thank you all!

Pathway Forward

Notwithstanding our progress, we will continue to work diligently to place CiS at the forefront of sus- tainability knowledge dissemination, not as a highbrow and inaccessible outlet for academic research and discourses on sustainability; our intentions, rather, are to promote the journal as an innovative forum for cutting-edge research, opinions and notes on sustainability (science).

The first step in this process is an updated focus and scope [6] which, we feel, better encapsulates the changing nature and the state of the art of today's sustainability research and the myriad debates and discourses that surround it. In addition to the journal 's timely review process for knowledge prompt dissemination to wider audiences, we will also work actively to promote special issues on specialized cutting-edge themes in the field. Discussions are already underway on topic areas. Furthermore, we will work to promote CiS as a novel instrument for the promotion of alternative forms of knowledge dissemination, e.g., short films [3], forms that are likely to catch the attention of the new generation of savvy multimedia consumers and decision-makers, both in- and outside of academia.

Finally, we will strive to be an innovative forum to link knowledge on sustainability to action. Because CiS is open access, it has the potential to reach broader audiences. Librello, our publisher, leads the change in academic publishing where large scientific journals and publishing houses historically played an important role in science by creating a network for the cir- culation of information. However, in the digital era, the traditional network can actually work against the exchange of information by means of high subscription rates and pay-per-view barriers. As one reaction, a boycott against Elsevier was started in 2012; it now counts roughly 15000 scholars [7].

Open access publishers have increased in number rapidly, contributing to the free-availability of knowledge. Nevertheless, the open access system has an intrinsic problem: the revenue of a company is propor- tional to the number of its publications.Several publishers of dubious reputation have been surfing on this wave and taking advantage of an academic market, which pressures the scholar toward productivity indices based on the number of his/her publications [8], [9].

Librello is an environment sponsored and supported by scholars and their institutions. Our membership program allows us to keep the decision of publication from any economic pressure, and we rely on our editorial team of experts to take decisions impartially. Our system also benefits the authors, since the annual membership fee covers multiple submissions. We aim at working closely together with scientists and experts outside academia, creating and establishing this community-based channel of science dissemination and advocacy, postulating solutions towards a more sustainable society.