Related Info Links
More by Authors Links
News and Announcements
EDITORIAL
Interdisciplinarity, systems thinking, and systematic design: The core paradigm for deep carbon neutrality transition
Show Less
1 School of Design, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan , China
2 College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan , China
AJWEP, 026310211 https://doi.org/10.36922/AJWEP026310211
Received: 29 July 2026 | Accepted: 4 August 2026 | Published online: 9 September 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathways to Carbon Neutrality and Low-Carbon Energy Transition in China: Policy, Technology, and Systemic Innovation)
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this editorial.
References
- Li L, Wang X, Miao J, Abulimiti A, Jing X, Ren N. Carbon neutrality of wastewater treatment—a systematic concept beyond the plant boundary. Environ Sci Ecotechnol. 2022;11:100180. doi: 10.1016/j.ese.2022.100180
- Xu Z. Towards carbon neutrality in China: a systematic identification of China's sustainable land-use pathways across multiple scales. Sustain Prod Consum. 2024;44:167-178. doi: 10.1016/j.spc.2023.12.008
- Cifuentes-Faura J, Khan K, Khurshid A. Does digital financial inclusion support carbon neutrality? A cross-regional study. Financ Innov. 2026;12:36. doi: 10.1186/s40854-025-00826-4
- Morgan M, Lin YC, Walsh-Dilley M, et al. Convergence, transdisciplinarity, and team science: an interepistemic approach. Ecol Soc. 2025;30(1):3. doi: 10.5751/ES-15492-300103
- Voulvoulis N, Giakoumis T, Hunt C, et al. Systems thinking as a paradigm shift for sustainability transformation. Glob Environ Change. 2022;75:102544. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2022.102544
- Leng J, Guo J, Xie J, et al. Review of manufacturing system design in the interplay of Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 (Part I): design thinking and modeling methods. J Manuf Syst. 2024;76:158-187. doi: 10.1016/j.jmsy.2024.07.012
- Qi Y, Liu T, Jing L. China's energy transition towards carbon neutrality with minimum cost. J Clean Prod. 2023;388:135904. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.135904
- Punjabi S, Misra S, Rippy MA, et al. A conceptual framework for knowledge integration in cross-disciplinary collaborations. Environ Sci Policy. 2025;172:104197. doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104197
- Lee E, Kim N. Dynamics of school environmental education policy through systems thinking: a case study of carbon-neutral model schools in Korea. Environ Educ Res. 2026;32(6):1194-1210. doi: 10.1080/13504622.2024.2435508
- Yang M, Qiu Y, Zeng C, Yang R, Song T. Enhancing the Ability of Logical Thinking and Knowledge Integration in the Context of Carbon Neutrality and Environmental Sustainability: A Case Study of the Teaching Practice Base in the Karst Areas. Water Environ Res. 2026;98(6):e70418. doi: 10.1002/wer.70418
- Zhang Z, Gao Q, Shao S, Zhang Y, Bao Y, Zhao L. Carbon emission scenarios of China's construction industry using a system dynamics methodology—based on life cycle thinking. J Clean Prod. 2024;435:140457. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.140457
- Zhang J, Cao G, Peng Q, Tan R, Liu W, Zhang H. A systematic knowledge-based method for design of transformable product. Adv Eng Inform. 2022;52:101638. doi: 10.1016/j.aei.2022.101638
- Wang L, Yan X, Fang M, Song H, Hu J. A systematic design framework for zero carbon campuses: investigating the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Fahua Campus case. Sustainability (Basel). 2023;15(10):7975. doi: 10.3390/su15107975
