Contextual differences, contrasting trends? Sustainable development, economic performances, and divergence in land resource depletion

Spatial convergence of ecological/environmental processes has attracted an increasing interest of geo-economic disciplines and social science at large. In this perspective, a quantitative assessment of convergence (or divergence) in specific variables across space is particularly challenging in a context of global change and may contribute to delineate and clarify both linear and more complex processes of natural resource depletion and their underlying factors. In this contribution, we reviewed the theoretical notion of “convergence” in environmental processes, discussing the role of geographical scales as reflective of political, economic, and territorial heterogeneities. Convergence processes have been also disentangled according to the specific background context, and the most relevant implications for policy implementation have been finally discussed. In line with the empirical studies testing for convergence in economic and social variables, our contribution indicates that an “ecological convergence” analysis requires an integrated, multidisciplinary approach aimed at a thorough understanding of socio-environmental systems’ complexity.