Factor X -Volume 6
Resource Systems for Human Flourishing - Aligning Agreements with the Conditions for Life to Thrive
A curated edited volume in the Factor X series. We work with invited contributors—and we also accept strong public Expressions of Interest.
If your idea is a fit, you’ll receive an invitation and the full author brief.
Routledge series • Open Access (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
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Series: Factor X – Studies in Sustainable Natural Resource Management
Publisher status: Under contract with Routledge (Taylor & Francis) — currently inviting Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from prospective chapter authors.
Call closes: 28 February 2026
Expected manuscript completion: Q4 2026
Word Count Chapter: 3,500–5,000 words (20 short, focused chapters)
Editors: Christoph Hinske (Saxion University of Applied Sciences) · James Ritchie-Dunham (The University of Texas at Austin) · Harry Lehmann (PtX Lab Lausitz)
Corresponding editor (contact): Christoph Hinske — c.hinske@saxion.nl
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We invite chapter proposals that are conceptually sharp, empirically grounded, and useful for decision-makers. Good chapters do at least one of these well:
offer a systemic model for regenerative resource use and flourishing outcomes
show institutional redesign (finance/IT/HR/metrics/governance) that changes what becomes possible
surface agreement structures that shift coordination, contribution, and risk in ecosystems
provide case-based evidence from real transitions (public, private, civic)
translate ideas into tools, maps, or frameworks that practitioners can apply
This book is not for generic sustainability essays. We are looking for work that helps readers understand what changes a system’s capacity to regenerate, and what blocks it.
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Factor X follows a simple scholarly principle: authors are 100% responsible for everything they submit — text, data, graphics, sources, and citations.
Because publisher AI policies can change between invitation, submission, and publication, we recommend light, future-proof guardrails that protect authors from avoidable rework while keeping standards clear:
Use AI in reversible ways: improve clarity and structure in small, section-by-section steps so changes remain easy to adjust later.
AI is not a source: you may use AI to draft/refine prose, but facts, numbers, quotes, and references must be verified against primary sources and provided by the author.
One short disclosure is enough: no prompt logs. A 2–4 sentence statement in the chapter (or book front matter) describing how AI was used and what was verified.
Copy-paste disclosure example (adapt as needed):
“Generative AI was used for ideation, language refinement, wording alternatives, structural edits, summarising the author’s own notes, and testing counterarguments. The author(s) remain fully responsible for the content; all claims and citations were checked against original sources before submission.”
WHY FACTOR X EXISTS
Factor X is a long-running book series on how societies can redesign resource use so transitions actually hold. It began with Friedrich Schmidt-Bleek’s work on resource productivity and was established under the leadership of Harry Lehmann and the German Environment Agency (UBA). Earlier volumes built the scientific foundations for understanding the physical and political dynamics of resource use and for identifying systemic leverage points for efficiency.
Building on that tradition, the series now shifts from efficiency toward resource coherence: aligning material, institutional, and human systems so societies can regenerate their capacity to thrive. Factor X bridges natural and social sciences—engineering, economics, governance, and human development—and brings empirical precision together with design implications for real-world action.
Official series pages (Springer and Routledge)
WHAT VOLUME 6 ADDS
This volume explores how societies can reshape natural resource use by placing human flourishing at the center of systemic change. Moving beyond incremental efficiency fixes, we ask what it takes to align resource systems with the conditions that enable people and institutions to thrive over time.
The book connects the Factor X tradition of resource productivity with a second leverage point: agreements. These often unseen structures shape coordination, decision rights, and the distribution of value and risk across institutions and ecosystems. By combining theory, applied models, and grounded cases, the volume reframes resource use as a societal design challenge: not only how to reduce harm, but also how to build the conditions that make life worth living.
We invite chapters that link biophysical possibility (stocks, flows, energy, limits) with social feasibility (value, institutions, agreements, leadership).
Fit test: A strong chapter answers: what the material system allows, what the social system blocks, and what redesign makes flourishing feasible.
Script: Christoph Hinske; AI narration/visuals: Google NotebookLM (Video Overview); Final edit & publication: Christoph Hinske
AUDIENCE & USE
Best for: researchers · educators · policymakers · business/NGO leaders · transformation practitioners
This volume is for people working where research meets real-world system change — not for a general audience. It belongs in Routledge’s Environment & Sustainability and Business & Management spaces, especially for readers who need concepts that hold up under constraints and can be translated into decisions, governance, and coordination.
It will be most useful for: sustainability and systems researchers; higher-education educators and curriculum designers; policymakers and public-sector innovators; business and NGO leaders; and practitioners/consultants working on organizational transformation and ecosystem design. It fits graduate, postgraduate, and professional development contexts.
Evidence of reach (example): the latest Factor X comic reached 26,823 unique visitors (English only, 2022). Now available in 6 languages, a conservative extrapolation (low organic growth + additional language access) suggests ~40k–70k total unique visitors by 2026. Counts exclude mirrors/forwards; real reach likely higher.
TOPICS WE’RE LOOKING FOR
These five clusters mirror the five-part architecture above. Use them to position your proposed chapter. Final placement in the volume will follow the bbook'seditorial structure.
Cluster 1 — From Extraction to Regeneration
Chapters that redefine “productivity” by linking resource systems (stocks, flows, limits) to human flourishing outcomes. We welcome strong conceptual work, models, and grounded cases that clarify what “better” means—and how to tell.
Example chapter angles (illustrative):
What changes when “value” is measured as human outcomes per unit of resource use, not output per unit of cost?
Which system boundaries make the difference between “efficiency gains” and real regenerative impact?
How do we detect false progress—when performance improves on paper while flourishing declines in reality?
Cluster 2 — Shaping Institutions for Regenerative Contribution
Chapters that show how institutions can be redesigned so regenerative contribution becomes structurally easier—not dependent on exceptional individuals. We’re looking for mechanisms: rules, incentives, routines, governance, and operational design.
Example chapter angles (illustrative):
Which institutional incentives keep good intentions trapped in non-regenerative behavior, and what redesign breaks the lock?
What governance or operating model shifts reliably move organizations from “doing projects” to building regenerative capacity?
How do institutions create decision structures that maintain economic viability while reducing resource harm?
Cluster 3 — Structuring Agreements that Enable Ecosystem-Wide Flourishing
Chapters that treat agreements as the invisible infrastructure of coordination across ecosystems: decision rights, boundaries, risk sharing, accountability, and learning loops. We want contributions that make agreement patterns observable and changeable.
Example chapter angles (illustrative):
Which agreement patterns reliably predict coordination breakdown and cost/risk shifting in transition efforts?
How do negotiable agreements reduce friction and enable adaptive decision-making under stress?
What agreement shifts turn a fragmented network into a system capable of shared learning and shared risk?
Cluster 4 — Leadership as Civic Stewardship and Systemic Navigation
Chapters that position leadership as a systemic practice: navigating trade-offs, legitimacy, uncertainty, and coordination across institutional boundaries. We’re not looking for hero stories—we want transferable leadership mechanisms.
Example chapter angles (illustrative):
What leadership moves prevent resource transitions from collapsing into polarization, blame, or paralysis?
How do leaders hold legitimacy while changing the rules of the game—without breaking trust across stakeholders?
Which decision practices help leaders face hard trade-offs (jobs, costs, resources) without turning them into moral theatre?
Cluster 5 — Building the Scaffolding for Regenerative Societies
Chapters that focus on the enabling infrastructure around organizations: policy, finance, education, metrics/data, accountability systems, standards, and cross-sector coalitions. We want what makes regenerative contribution repeatable at scale.
Example chapter angles (illustrative):
What financing and accountability rules reward long-term regenerative value, not short-term extraction?
Which education or capability infrastructures build the human capacity needed for system-level coordination?
How can policy and data systems make flourishing outcomes visible, comparable, and actionable without oversimplifying reality?
GOOD FIT
You link biophysical reality (stocks/flows/limits) to institutional and human outcomes (value, governance, flourishing).
You make a testable claim and show the chain: evidence → mechanism → design implication.
Your chapter creates a usable bridge across disciplines (technical ↔ social) and points to decision-relevant levers.
You can write for mixed expert readers without losing precision.
NOT THIS BOOK
Opinion, vision, or critique without evidence, mechanism, or design consequences.
Single-silo chapters (only technical / only social) that don’t build the bridge.
Consulting marketing (branded frameworks or promotional case stories).
Cases without transfer: interesting story, no mechanism readers can reuse.
No decision hook: no clear implication for governance, metrics, or coordination.
SELECTION PROCESS
(CURATED, WITH PUBLIC ENTRY)
Step 1: Expression of Interest (public entry)
Submit an EOI through the form. We review on a rolling basis.
EOIs are reviewed by the editorial team for fit, coherence, and contribution to the overall arc of the volume.
If it’s a fit, you’ll receive an invitation and the full author brief.
Ready to submit an EOI? Use the form.
Deadline: [EOI_February 28th]
Step 2: Chapter Proposals / outline (invited only)
Invited authors will receive a detailed guidance note on submitting a structured proposal aligned with the volume architecture, including evidence base and figures.
Editors ensure alignment of chapters across framing, overlap, and editorial consistency.
Deadline: [PROPOSAL_Q2 2026]
Step 3: Full chapter manuscript
Authors submit the final chapter (manuscript + figures/tables + permissions).
The editorial team reviews for fit, coherence, quality, and evidence base. Authors may be asked for revisions to strengthen the chapter and align it with the volume’s arc. The editorial team confirms inclusion in the volume once revisions are complete.
Deadline: [CHAPTER_Q3 2026]
NON-NEGOTIABLES
These essentials describe what we are building toward and what we invite contributors to provide. Read them as an alignment check: if your chapter can strengthen coherence and clarify actionable implications, submit an EOI. If you are unsure, reach out.
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Assume smart, busy readers. Write for use in graduate/post-graduate contexts and real decision settings—clear structure, plain language where possible, and no “inside baseball.
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Your chapter should help readers see how material constraints, institutional arrangements, and human coordination fit together—and how to realign them. We are looking for work that does not stop at optimization, but clarifies what coherence would look like and how it can be built.
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Treat human flourishing as a concrete design lens for resource systems: what conditions make flourishing more likely, what breaks it under pressure, and what structural choices (governance, incentives, agreements, infrastructures) shift the odds.
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Bring evidence (data, cases, models, traceable practice) and then do the hard part: translate it into clear implications—what should change, who must coordinate, where costs/risks currently land, what trade-offs are real, and what could be tested next.
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Assume the chapter will be openly accessible: use original material where possible, and avoid relying on third-party figures/tables that may not be reusable. If you include third-party content, it must be permission-clearable for Open Access reuse (details are provided upon invitation).