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Call for Papers: The Role of Law in Sustainability Transitions

Introduction

Sustainability transitions need complete system changes that affect technical, economic, and institutional systems. Existing research concentrates on socio-technical systems because the legal framework has not received sufficient study as a factor in sustainability transitions. People commonly view legal systems as tools that either support or prevent progress, yet this basic understanding fails to recognise how legal systems develop together with wider societal changes.

The relationship between law and markets and governance structures and cultural systems establishes the framework that governs transition processes throughout time. The relationship of Law in sustainability transitions establishes a connection that drives innovation, development, institutional actions and the development of regulatory frameworks. Legal frameworks operate as more than rule systems because they actively drive transition processes through their impact on institutional structures and their development of policy and regulatory systems.

The Special Issue seeks to receive both theoretical research and empirical studies that demonstrate how legal systems impact sustainability transitions across multiple sectors and different levels of governance.

Scope

This Special Issue welcomes research from multiple fields that study how legal systems develop sustainability practices in different areas of the world. The research will examine how Sustainability transitions law functions through various sectors and their associated governance systems and institutional frameworks, which demonstrate its ongoing development and situational dependency.

  • The study investigates how legal systems help or obstruct social and economic systems that need to achieve their sustainability goals.
  • The study analyses how legal institutions work together with social and technical systems to produce fundamental transformations in society.
  • The research examines specific applications that exist in energy and agriculture, mobility, finance and urban development sectors.
  • The research examines how Environmental Law and sustainability transitions
  • Law enforcement measures, together with Environmental law, create sustainable operations through their support of innovative regulations.
  • The study investigates how legal norms affect three areas, which include organisational behaviour, institutional development and technological progress.
  • The research evaluates how law functions in various governance systems that operate at national, regional and international levels while using comparative analysis for relevant cases.
  • Know More About This Issue

    Recent research shows that sustainability transitions develop through complex processes that organisations must manage using different systems for technology, economy and institutional frameworks. Law establishes essential functions for sustainability transitions because it determines the method through which organisations create, execute and modify their policies during times of changing governance systems.

    The legal frameworks of today do not remain fixed but rather develop with both technological progress and changes in economic conditions, which create new possibilities and obstacles for sustainable development. Sustainability legal frameworks function as innovation drivers because they create new market opportunities, which help businesses develop new technologies, and direct changes in consumer behaviour. The existing system contains two types of regulations, which stem from its strict structure and outdated rules, which prevent progress because they cannot keep up with the fast changes in current conditions.

    The multiple stakeholders who participate in sustainability transitions include government entities, business organizations non-profit groups and global institutions. The study of how legal systems allocate power and establish policies in different governance levels requires gaining insight into how Governance functions in sustainability transitions.

    Environmental law and sustainability

    Key Themes

    Researchers can submit their manuscripts to study the following topics and additional areas of research:

  • The role of Environmental law and sustainability demonstrates its capacity to both enable and restrict progress.
  • The relationship between legal systems and innovation processes that involve social and technical systems.
  • The process of sustainability transitions is affected by institutional frameworks and regulatory systems, and policy implementation.
  • The study examines various legal methods that different governance systems and regional areas implement to solve their specific challenges.
  • The legal system evaluates energy transition, circular economy, sustainable finance, and climate policy development.
  • Organisations, institutions and stakeholders play a vital role in establishing the legal standards which govern their activities.
  • Legal frameworks for sustainability establish power relations which affect equity outcomes, justice distribution and inclusiveness in their applications.
  • How We Support Your Submission

    Publishing in a high-impact Special Issue requires strong academic quality, methodological rigour, and adherence to journal standards. The research support team provides complete support to authors for creating detailed and effective sustainability transition and legal framework research papers.

  • The process of academic editing and manuscript refinement improves the academic quality of work through better clarity and coherence.
  • The service provides guidance to create research papers that meet the requirements of academic journals through both theoretical and empirical research.
  • The organisation provides support to combine insights from law and policy and Governance in sustainability transitions studies into a unified interdisciplinary framework.
  • The service helps researchers with all aspects of journal submission by assisting with formatting and referencing styles and compliance with submission requirements.
  • The service assists authors who need to revise their manuscripts according to reviewer comments to achieve publication success.
  • The evaluation process helps researchers enhance their work by assessing its originality and contribution, and research impact. The evaluation process helps researchers enhance their work by assessing its originality, contribution and research impact.
  • Journal Guidelines:

  • The research must demonstrate original findings through its research work or through comprehensive review articles, which must not be submitted to any other publication at the same time.
  • All authors must give their approval to the final manuscript, while they need to reveal their possible conflicts of interest.
  • Authors must adhere to the journal’s official Guide for Authors together with its specific formatting requirements when they make submissions.
  • The Editorial Manager submission system serves as the required platform through which authors need to submit their manuscripts.
  • Authors need to choose the correct Special Issue article type when they submit their work.
  • The evaluation process for all submissions includes a double-blind peer-review system, which independent experts use to assess quality, originality and scientific integrity.
  • Important Dates

    Submission Deadline: 26 February 2027

    To ensure successful and timely submission to the special issue “The Role of Law in Sustainability,” researchers are encouraged to seek expert publication support from conceptualisation to final submission.

    Free Guide: How to Write the Journal Manuscript

    Book a free consultation to get guidance from the PhD assistance research lab for writing a credible research manuscript and submitting it to a high-quality journal.

    Reference

    Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. (2026, March 13). Call for papers: The role of law in sustainability transitions. Elsevier.  Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier – Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier  

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