This Research Topic is focused on the critical role families play in shaping a sustainable future across cultural, economic, environmental, educational, and humanitarian domains. Families are key partakers in promoting resilience, preserving cultural heritage, and ensuring the well-being of future generations. However, the complex interchanges of modern pressures, such as globalization, digital transformation, and climate change, require families to adapt and evolve. Recent advances in the field highlight the growing recognition of family-centered solutions, such as fostering intergenerational wealth management, adopting eco-friendly household practices, and supporting lifelong learning. Additionally, the role of families in humanitarian work and community building is gaining attention as a critical factor in addressing social vulnerabilities and fostering cohesion. This Topic builds on the discussions from the 2nd Edition of the Family and Society Conference and examines how families adapt to contemporary challenges while promoting intergenerational solidarity and resilience. It explores themes such as preserving cultural heritage and linguistic diversity, family-driven environmental responsibility, economic sustainability, and the pivotal part families play in supporting education and humanitarian efforts.
The research compiled in this collection aims to provide a deeper understanding of families' multifaceted contributions to promoting sustainability, enhancing social well-being, and bridging generational gaps in an increasingly globalized world. We analyze how families can contribute to shaping a sustainable future amidst growing global challenges that include environmental degradation, economic instability, and the erosion of cultural traditions.
This Research Topic aims to provide insights into how families can become proactive agents of sustainability, highlighting their challenges and the innovative practices they are adopting to secure a resilient, sustainable future. Additionally, this Topic seeks to understand how family dynamics, structures, and practices influence broader social systems, including cultural continuity, economic resilience, environmental responsibility, and social well-being.
This Research Topic invites contributions that explore family-centered solutions to pressing global challenges and those that highlight the importance of families in creating resilient, sustainable communities. We welcome papers that address issues such as intergenerational solidarity, cultural heritage preservation, and the social impacts of family-driven sustainability efforts, and in doing so this collection seeks to contribute to sociological theories on social change, community building, and collective resilience. Contributions that use sociological frameworks to analyze how families interact with larger societal forces, adapt to social transformations, and act as agents of social change are encouraged. This collection will ultimately advance our understanding of the intersection between family systems and sustainable development, reinforcing the role of families as fundamental units in promoting social stability and progress.
Keywords: Family resilience, intergenerational solidarity, sustainable families, cultural heritage preservation, language sustainability, environmental responsibility, economic sustainability, family practices and sustainability, education for sustainability
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
