| 1. |
- Andersson-Sköld, Yvonne, et al.
(författare)
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A framework for assessing urban greenery's effects and valuing its ecosystem services
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Environmental Management. - : Academic Press. - 0301-4797 .- 1095-8630. ; 205, s. 274-285
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ongoing urban exploitation is increasing pressure to transform urban green spaces, while there is increasing awareness that greenery provides a range of important benefits to city residents. In efforts to help resolve associated problems we have developed a framework for integrated assessments of ecosystem service (ES) benefits and values provided by urban greenery, based on the ecosystem service cascade model. The aim is to provide a method for assessing the contribution to, and valuing, multiple ES provided by urban greenery that can be readily applied in routine planning processes. The framework is unique as it recognizes that an urban greenery comprises several components and functions that can contribute to multiple ecosystem services in one or more ways via different functional traits (e.g. foliage characteristics) for which readily measured indicators have been identified. The framework consists of five steps including compilation of an inventory of indicator; application of effectivity factors to rate indicators' effectiveness; estimation of effects; estimation of benefits for each ES; estimation of the total ES value of the ecosystem. The framework was applied to assess ecosystem services provided by trees, shrubs, herbs, birds, and bees, in green areas spanning an urban gradient in Gothenburg, Sweden. Estimates of perceived values of ecosystem services were obtained from interviews with the public and workshop activities with civil servants. The framework is systematic and transparent at all stages and appears to have potential utility in the existing spatial planning processes.
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| 2. |
- Arghand, Taha, et al.
(författare)
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An experimental investigation of the flow and comfort parameters for under-floor, confluent jets and mixing ventilation systems in an open-plan office
- 2015
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Ingår i: Building and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0360-1323 .- 1873-684X. ; 92, s. 48-60
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is a new trend to convert the workplaces from individual office rooms to open offices for motivating money saving and better communication. With such a shift the ability of existing ventilation systems in meeting the new requirements is a challenging question for researchers. The available options could have an impact on workers' health in terms of providing acceptable levels of thermalcomfort and indoor air quality. Thus, this experimental investigation focuses on the performances of three different air distribution systems in an open-plan office space. The investigated systems were: mixing ventilation with ceiling-mounted inlets, confluent jets ventilation and underfloor air distribution with straight and curved vanes. Although this represents a small part of our more extensiveexperimental investigation, the results show that all the purposed stratified ventilation systems (CJV and UFAD) were more or less behaving as mixing systems with some tendency for displacement effects. Nevertheless, it is known that the mixing systems have a stable flow pattern but has the disadvantage of mixing contaminated air with the fresh supplied air which may produce lower performance and in worst cases occupants' illness. For the open-plan office we studied here, it will be shown that the new systems are capable of performing better than the conventional mixing systems. As expected, the higher air exchange efficiency in combination with lower local mean age of air for corner-mounted CJV and floor-mounted UFAD grills systems indicates that these systems are suitable for open-plan offices and are to be favored over conventional mixing systems.
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| 3. |
- Arushanyan, Yevgeniya, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental Assessment of Possible Future Waste Management Scenarios
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energies. - : MDPI AG. - 1996-1073. ; 10:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Waste management has developed in many countries and will continue to do so. Changes towards increased recovery of resources in order to meet climate targets and for society to transition to a circular economy are important driving forces. Scenarios are important tools for planning and assessing possible future developments and policies. This paper presents a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) model for environmental assessments of scenarios and waste management policy instruments. It is unique by including almost all waste flows in a country and also allow for including waste prevention. The results show that the environmental impacts from future waste management scenarios in Sweden can differ a lot. Waste management will continue to contribute with environmental benefits, but less so in the more sustainable future scenarios, since the surrounding energy and transportation systems will be less polluting and also because less waste will be produced. Valuation results indicate that climate change, human toxicity and resource depletion are the most important environmental impact categories for the Swedish waste management system. Emissions of fossil CO2 from waste incineration will continue to be a major source of environmental impacts in these scenarios. The model is used for analyzing environmental impacts of several policy instruments including weight based collection fee, incineration tax, a resource tax and inclusion of waste in a green electricity certification system. The effect of the studied policy instruments in isolation are in most cases limited, suggesting that stronger policy instruments as well as combinations are necessary to reach policy goals as set out in for example the EU action plan on circular economy.
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| 6. |
- Bergsten, Eva L., 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Fall and collision related injuries among pedestrians, sickness absence and associations with accident type and occupation
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Safety Research. - : Elsevier. - 0022-4375 .- 1879-1247. ; 86, s. 357-363
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: This study explores pedestrian fall accidents and collisions with other road users in the Swedish road transport system, and sickness absence (SA) in relation to accident type, injury, and occupation. Further, it studies the associations between accident type, occupation, and duration of SA. Methods: Data from several national registers were used that included 15,359 working age pedestrians (20–64 years) receiving healthcare after a fall or collision throughout 2014–2016. Individual characteristics, accident type, injury, and occupation were presented and related to SA. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR), with 95% confidence intervals, for associations between accident type, occupation, and SA duration. Results: About 11,000 pedestrians (72%) were involved in fall accidents in the road traffic environment and well over 4,000 in collisions with another road user; 22% of all injured pedestrians had a new SA. The population had a higher proportion of women and individuals in older age groups (≥45). Of the falls, 31% were due to snow or ice, and these were associated with a higher OR for both short SA (<90 days) 1.76 (95% CI 1.56–1.98) and long SA (≥90 days) 1.81 (95% CI 1.51–2.18), compared to the group slipping, tripping, and stumbling. The working sectors health & social care, and construction had the highest ORs for SA. A higher OR was found for health & social care, short SA 1.58 (95% CI 1.38–1.81), long SA 1.79 (95% CI 1.45–2.20) and for construction, short SA 1.56 (95% CI 1.24–1.96), long SA 1.75 (95% CI 1.26–2.44), compared to the sector finance, communication, & cultural service. Conclusions: The OR for having short and long SA was higher in falls due to snow or ice and differed between occupational sectors. Practical implications: This information contributes to the knowledge base for planning a safe road transport system for pedestrians.
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| 7. |
- Bui, Tuyet, et al.
(författare)
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Influence of weather conditions on the quality of ‘Ingrid Marie’ apples and their susceptibility to grey mould infection
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Agriculture and Food Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 2666-1543. ; 3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Apple (Malus domestica) is one of the most popular fruits consumed around the world. Environmental factors influence the development and quality of apples. We determined the influence of weather conditions on the quality of ‘Ingrid Marie’ apples harvested from eight different orchards in south Sweden in the years 2015–2017 and their susceptibility to infection by grey mould (Botrytis cinerea). We infected apples and collected data on fruit firmness, starch index, weight of fruit and lesion size in addition to collecting data on temperature, rainfall, sunlight and humidity in the period April–September. High rainfall in early April, during tree flowering, and in early June, during early fruit development, correlated with improved quality, namely reduced lesion size and low firmness level. Furthermore, with humidity higher than 77% in early June apples became more tolerant to grey mould, while low temperatures and high humidity in a period from the end of August to end of September, during the end of the fruit cell enlargement stage, correlated with larger apples. We conclude that rainfall, humidity and temperature are important weather factors influencing the quality of apples and their susceptibility to grey mould. This information may help apple growers understand the effects of weather conditions on apples more in detail. From such updated information, preharvest techniques may be applied (e.g. pruning, nutrition, irrigation or drainage) to improve conditions and apple quality as well as to reduce their susceptibility to pathogen attack.
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| 8. |
- Colding, Johan, 1958-, et al.
(författare)
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Applying a Systems Perspective on the Notion of the Smart City
- 2020
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Ingår i: Smart Cities. - : MDPI AG. - 2624-6511. ; 3:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper focuses on the need for a widened definition of the notion of technology within the smart city discourse, with a particular focus on the “built environment”. The first part of the paper describes how current tendencies in urban design and architecture are inclined to prioritize high tech-solutions at the expense of low-tech functionalities and omits that information and communication technology (ICT) contrasts the art of building cities as an adaptable and habitually smart technology in itself. It continues with an elaboration on the need for expanding the limits of system boundaries for a better understanding of the energy and material telecouplings that are linked to ICT solutions and account for some perils inherent in smart technologies, such as rebound effects and the difficulty of measuring the environmental impacts of ICT solutions on a city level. The second part of the paper highlights how low-tech technologies and nature-based solutions can make cities smarter, representing a new technology portfolio in national and international policies for safeguarding biodiversity and the delivery of a range of ecosystem services, promoting the necessary climate-change adaption that cities need to prioritize to confer resilience.
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| 9. |
- Cronhjort, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
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Leadership and Pedagogical Skills in Computer Science Engineering by Combining a Degree in Engineering with a Degree in Education
- 2020
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Ingår i: 2020 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE). - : IEEE. - 0190-5848. - 9781728189611 ; , s. 1-9
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this full paper on innovative practice, we describe and discuss findings from dual degree study programmes that combine a master's degree in engineering with a master's degree in education. This innovative study programme design has emerged in Sweden due to an alarming demand for more Upper Secondary School teachers in STEM subjects. Studies on alumni from these programmes indicate that the graduates are highly appreciated not only as teachers in schools, but also in business and industry, e.g. in roles as IT consultants and computer science engineers. Data indicate that the breadth of the combined education, and especially leadership and pedagogical skills, are important factors for these graduates' success as engineers.
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| 10. |
- Egegård, Colin Hultgren, et al.
(författare)
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Climate Proofing Cities by Navigating Nature-Based Solutions in a Multi-Scale, Social–Ecological Urban Planning Context: A Case Study of Flood Protection in the City of Gothenburg, Sweden
- 2024
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Ingår i: Land. - : MDPI. - 2073-445X. ; 13:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Due to unsustainable land management and climate change, floods have become more frequent and severe over the past few decades and the problem is exacerbated in urban environments. In the context of climate-proofing cities, the importance of nature-based solutions (NBSs), obtaining relevant outcomes in the form of ecosystem services, has been highlighted. Although the role of ecosystem services in building resilience against negative climate change effects is widely recognized and there is an identified need to better integrate ecosystem services into urban planning and design, this has proven difficult to operationalize. A critical limitation is that modeling is a time-consuming and costly exercise. The purpose is to roughly estimate the ecosystem service of water run-off mitigation through simplified, cost-effective, and user-friendly modelling at three nested biophysical scales, under four climate change scenarios. Using the Swedish city of Gothenburg as an example, we propose an approach for navigating NBS-oriented flooding adaptation strategies, by quantifying the ecosystem service of water run-off mitigation at three nested biophysical scales, under four climate change scenarios, hence, proposing an approach for how to navigate nature-based solutions in a multi-scale, social–ecological urban planning context against present and future flooding events. Our findings validate the effectiveness of employing an ecosystem service approach to better comprehend the significant climate change issue of flooding through user-friendly and cost-efficient modeling.
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