A strong sense of commitment and legacy: An eye to the future

• Published date: 01 February 2023
• Author: Laura Corazza,Shaista Wasiuzzaman
• Date: 01 February 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2854

EDITORIAL

A strong sense of commitment and legacy: An eye to

the future

1|INTRODUCTION

In the last issue of the Journal of Public Affairs (JPA) in 2021, Phil Harris

and Danny Moss announced a changing of the guard in the running of

this prestigious and long-running journal with their final editorial. We

have taken over the reins from their able hands to continue to steer

the journal in the direction that it deserves. As we take up our new

leadership roles, we are confident that we will continue the journal's

tradition and vocation of remaining focused on the evolving function

of public affairs, but we also recognise the importance of finding an

editorial position that can carry the journal into the future. The sub-

ject of public affairs has always been interdisciplinary in nature.

Although it is closely linked to political science, the evolution of the

discipline has involved management, economics, sociology and

anthropology. While recently, debates regarding the sustainable tran-

sition of the world's economies, and the achievement of adequate

sustainable development, have also involved scientists originally asso-

ciated with the so-called ‘hard sciences’in the field of public affairs.

As such, this multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary orientation will be

at the centre of JPA's new editorial policy.

In recent years, the journal has made positive strides in develop-

ing its interdisciplinary approach. As we develop this approach further,

it will be important to ensure clarity and a clear operating space for

interdisciplinarity underpinned by scientific rigour, which could

also include new methodologies and theories. For this reason, also

thanks to the intense work of Wiley's editorial office, the aims and

scope of the journal have been updated, defining the essential

nature of JPA and continuing its philosophy of expanding the base

of public affairs perspectives, while alsoprioritising robust method-

ologies and sound resear ch. The new aim and scope is available her e:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/14791854/homepage/

productinformati on.html

The two of us have similar backgrounds in accounting, which is,

however, closely related not only to the processing of information,

but to its visual, critical representation, communication, reception and

learning. Moreover, we have both been involved for years in the study

of the role of sustainability reporting in addressing and making visible

complex social and environmental problems, which by their very

nature require a multidisciplinary approach to be better understood.

Within our work, many of the theories and interpretative approaches

are philosophical, sociological and anthropological, so we want to

reassure the scholarly community of our commitment to develop the

visibility of JPA as a growing journal, not only in the rankings, but

especially in the legitimacy of academics worldwide. We, at JPA, want

to work alongside authors to develop ideas pertinent to the journal

philosophy of the public/private/citizen boundary, and to embrace

the evolving fields encompassed by public affairs. As the Editors-in-

Chief, we will be leading a team of Associate Editors with expertise in

a range of disciplines to represent the interdisciplinary breadth of the

journal.

2|ACRITICALROLEFORTHEJPA

A journal like JPA cannot avoid taking part in the international debate

on issues involving public, private, profit, non-profit and social enter-

prise organisations. Over the past year, a series of complex events

have occurred on our planet, socially, environmentally, geo-politically

and economically. It is the duty of us as academics to take part in

these debates and to tell, interpret, explore and contribute solutions

to these complex problems. As recalled by the Sixth Report of the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, there is no doubt about

the speed and severity of the impacts that await us in the near future,

and although coordinated efforts can be orchestrated, the time

available to us is becoming increasingly limited and the probability

that global warming will lead to an increase in temperatures of more

than +1.5C is almost a certainty (IPCC, 2022).

The current climate ha s shown us a drought that has had devas-

tating consequences in Europe and China during the summer, and at

the same time, floods hav e wreaked havoc on a third o f Pakistan's

surface where more than 3 0 million inhabitants have been forced to

migrate due to changing cl imatic conditions. T ens of millions of

Africans have faced, eve n more severely this year, se vere food inse-

curity also due to drought in the Horn of Africa, and the list goes

on. At the international level, during COP 27, t he Loss and Damage

Fund was finally established, which should represent financing for

investments in climate ad aptation measures towar ds those national

economies least respon sible for the climate emer gency, but bearing

most of the consequences.

Populations and gover nments, which were faci ng a post-

recovery phase from the COVID -19 pandemic (Harris & Moss,

2021), also characterised by r ising economic inflat ion, were then

irreparably overwhel med by the devastating c onsequences of some

of the most serious humanit arian and geopolitica l crises of recent

decades. The Ukraine–Russia war has devastat ed the perception of

European political and eco nomic stability, alteri ng global energy

Received: 24 February 2023 Accepted: 24 February 2023

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2854

J Public Affairs. 2023;23:e2854. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2023 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 1of3

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2854