On behalf of the editorial board, I am very pleased to present you with the seventh issue of APN’s flagship publication, APN Science Bulletin, which features the results, outcomes and findings of a number of APN-funded projects on regional research and capacity development in global change and sustainable development. This publication serves as a record of recently completed activities by project teams who conducted activities for the benefit of developing nations of APN member states.

The APN Science Bulletin continues to evolve since it was first published in March 2011. We are continuing to facilitate a more rigorous, open and constructive peer-review during the process and the independent expert reviewers that make up the 2017 editorial board are listed in the front matter of the Bulletin. Our reviewers’ contributions uphold the scientific rigour and relevance of the articles and I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to them, and to the authors of the articles.

This year, too, APN has moved towards providing a web-based Science Bulletin so that the outputs of the projects that APN funds are able to reach as wide an audience as possible. The layout of the digitized version and the features available will allow each reader to target articles of particular interest using web-based features such as browsing by author or keyword, and full-text search. In addition to this, the reader is able to gather information on authors and other relevant work they have undertaken. Readers can also provide their comments and join online discussions under each article. As we digitize the APN Science Bulletin, the printed version will be phased out this year.

The articles featured in this issue are contributions from projects that were completed between 2015 and 2017 covering the period of APN’s Fourth Strategic Phase (2015-2020). The articles comprise a range of topics considered as high priority by APN.

For example, some of the articles presented this year focus on an important element of global change and sustainability, which is resilience. These articles address issues such as the need to develop tools and indicators for assessing urban resilience by addressing multi-dimensional criteria; synthesizing key barriers to resilience in vulnerable communities in least developing countries; and developing resilience assessment tools for climate change adaptation in local communities.

It is our hope that this publication will be useful for scientists and researchers, policy- and decision-makers, as well as practitioners working in the frontline of leveraging the scientific knowledge on global environment change to build a safer, more resilient, and more sustainable world. On behalf of APN, we hope that the information contained in the 2017 Science Bulletin continues to pave the way to new and deeper collaboration and partnerships among like-minded scientists and researchers working on global environmental change and sustainability.

Dr Linda Anne Stevenson
Head, Communication & Scientific Affairs Division
APN Secretariat