| 1. |
- Bendtsen, Katja Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Particle characterization and toxicity in C57BL/6 mice following instillation of five different diesel exhaust particles designed to differ in physicochemical properties
- 2020
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Ingår i: Particle and Fibre Toxicology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1743-8977. ; 17:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Diesel exhaust is carcinogenic and exposure to diesel particles cause health effects. We investigated the toxicity of diesel exhaust particles designed to have varying physicochemical properties in order to attribute health effects to specific particle characteristics. Particles from three fuel types were compared at 13% engine intake O2 concentration: MK1 ultra low sulfur diesel (DEP13) and the two renewable diesel fuels hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO13) and rapeseed methyl ester (RME13). Additionally, diesel particles from MK1 ultra low sulfur diesel were generated at 9.7% (DEP9.7) and 17% (DEP17) intake O2 concentration. We evaluated physicochemical properties and histopathological, inflammatory and genotoxic responses on day 1, 28, and 90 after single intratracheal instillation in mice compared to reference diesel particles and carbon black. RESULTS: Moderate variations were seen in physical properties for the five particles: primary particle diameter: 15-22 nm, specific surface area: 152-222 m2/g, and count median mobility diameter: 55-103 nm. Larger differences were found in chemical composition: organic carbon/total carbon ratio (0.12-0.60), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon content (1-27 μg/mg) and acid-extractable metal content (0.9-16 μg/mg). Intratracheal exposure to all five particles induced similar toxicological responses, with different potency. Lung particle retention was observed in DEP13 and HVO13 exposed mice on day 28 post-exposure, with less retention for the other fuel types. RME exposure induced limited response whereas the remaining particles induced dose-dependent inflammation and acute phase response on day 1. DEP13 induced acute phase response on day 28 and inflammation on day 90. DNA strand break levels were not increased as compared to vehicle, but were increased in lung and liver compared to blank filter extraction control. Neutrophil influx on day 1 correlated best with estimated deposited surface area, but also with elemental carbon, organic carbon and PAHs. DNA strand break levels in lung on day 28 and in liver on day 90 correlated with acellular particle-induced ROS. CONCLUSIONS: We studied diesel exhaust particles designed to differ in physicochemical properties. Our study highlights specific surface area, elemental carbon content, PAHs and ROS-generating potential as physicochemical predictors of diesel particle toxicity.
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| 2. |
- Gren, Louise, et al.
(författare)
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Effect of renewable fuels and intake O2 concentration on diesel engine emission characteristics and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation
- 2020
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Ingår i: Atmosphere. - : MDPI AG. - 2073-4433. ; 11:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Renewable diesel fuels have the potential to reduce net CO2 emissions, and simultaneously decrease particulate matter (PM) emissions. This study characterized engine-out PM emissions and PM-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation potential. Emissions from a modern heavy-duty diesel engine without external aftertreatment devices, and fueled with petroleum diesel, hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) or rapeseed methyl ester (RME) biodiesel were studied. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) allowed us to probe the effect of air intake O2 concentration, and thereby combustion temperature, on emissions and ROS formation potential. An increasing level of EGR (decreasing O2 concentration) resulted in a general increase of equivalent black carbon (eBC) emissions and decrease of NOx emissions. At a medium level of EGR (13% intake O2), eBC emissions were reduced for HVO and RME by 30 and 54% respectively compared to petroleum diesel. In general, substantially lower emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including nitro and oxy-PAHs, were observed for RME compared to both HVO and diesel. At low-temperature combustion (LTC, O2 < 10%), CO and hydrocarbon gas emissions increased and an increased fraction of refractory organic carbon and PAHs were found in the particle phase. These altered soot properties have implications for the design of aftertreatment systems and diesel PM measurements with optical techniques. The ROS formation potential per mass of particles increased with increasing engine O2 concentration intake. We hypothesize that this is because soot surface properties evolve with the combustion temperature and become more active as the soot matures into refractory BC, and secondly as the soot surface becomes altered by surface oxidation. At 13% intake O2, the ROS-producing ability was high and of similar magnitude per mass for all fuels. When normalizing by energy output, the lowered emissions for the renewable fuels led to a reduced ROS formation potential.
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| 3. |
- Laycock Pedersen, Rebecca, et al.
(författare)
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Distinguishing transdisciplinary (and) action research in sustainability science : a comparative systematic-narrative hybrid literature review
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There are many socially engaged research modes in sustainability science. The main ones are action research and transdisciplinary research. There is also transdisciplinary action research, a field that seems to combine the two. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the differences between these research modes in the context of sustainability science to help potential users to determine appropriate research mode(s) to fulfil their purposes. To do so, we asked three research questions: (i) What are the aims of these research modes? (ii) What are some methods used to fulfil the aims of these research modes? (iii) In what empirical domain are the different approaches being used today? Using a comparative systematic-narrative hybrid literature review and bibliometric studies the paper attempts to fulfil the set aim. In total, we analysed 1487 articles in-depth, of which 633 utilised the action research mode, 787 used transdisciplinary research, and 67 used transdisciplinary action research. There are a lot of similarities between the research modes, e.g. they all use traditional qualitative social science research methods, engage the same types of stakeholders, and address the same sustainability issues. But the differences relate to the aims of the research modes. Researchers employing action research seem to be more intent on achieving action in the practice domain and knowledge from that action for both practitioners and researchers (action-for-knowledge). In contrast, researchers employing transdisciplinary research rather seem to be more intent on producing new, relevant and shared knowledge for an action that is later undertaken in the practice domain (knowledge-for-action). Although this might be a premature conclusion, researchers employing transdisciplinary action research seem to be more intent on achieving action based on integrative knowledge (integrative knowledge-for-action). Finally, some advice regarding the choice of research mode for a particular purpose is presented.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Malmborg, Katja, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
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Embracing complexity in landscape management : Learning and impacts of a participatory resilience assessment
- 2022
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Ingår i: Ecosystems and People. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2639-5908 .- 2639-5916. ; 18:1, s. 241-257
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Landscapes and their management are at the center of many of the sustainability challenges that we face. Landscapes can be described as social-ecological systems shaped by a myriad of human activities and biophysical processes, interacting across space and time. Managing them sustainably requires considering this complexity. Resilience thinking offers ways to address complexity in decision-making. In this paper, we analyse the learning and impact on a diverse group of local actors from participating in a participatory resilience assessment. The assessment, focused on sustainable landscape management in the Helge a catchment, Sweden, produced concrete knowledge outputs, describing ecosystem service bundles, a future vision, conceptual system models, and a strategic action plan. Follow-up interviews indicate that the process and its outputs supported the participants' learning process and helped them to articulate complexity thinking in practice. The outputs, and the exercises to produce them, emerged as complementary in supporting this articulation. Furthermore, they helped build participants' capacity to communicate the diverse values of the landscape to others and to target leverage points more strategically. Thus, it supported the application of resilience thinking in landscape management, especially by generating learning and fostering complex adaptive systems thinking.
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| 6. |
- Malmborg, Katja, 1988-
(författare)
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How on Earth : Operationalizing the ecosystem service concept for local sustainability
- 2019
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ecosystem services are co-produced in social-ecological systems. Due to their social-ecological framing, ecosystem services hold the potential to be a concept around which different stakeholders with vested interests in different aspects of landscape management can meet. However, how this potential is to be realized and the ecosystem services concept operationalized for local decision-making needs to be explored further.In this licentiate thesis, focusing on the Helge å catchment, Sweden, I investigate the social-ecological system dynamics underlying current ecosystem services generation in the area. Together with a group of local to regional stakeholders I performed an iterative, participatory ecosystem service assessment, producing three distinct ecosystem service bundles in the study area. The process to produce the ecosystem service bundles helped in creating a common picture of the landscape among the participants. Ecosystem services also emerged as abridging concept around which the diverse set of participants could meet (paper 1). The ecosystem service bundles were then used as the starting point to co-produce a shared system understanding among the participants and though the formulation of a positive vision for the landscape, start a conversation about sustainability transformations. Based on the outputs from the participatory process and two rounds of interviews with the participants, we assessed to what extent these exercises promoted learning about complexity among the participants, fostered resilience thinking and produced usable knowledge for decision-making (paper 2).Throughout this participatory process of exploring system dynamics and positive futures, I believe that I have kept the rich social-ecological nature of the ecosystem service concept intact while at the same time co-developed concrete, usable results to support local decision-making for sustainability. In addition to being a bridging concept in the participatory process, the ecosystem service concept emerged as a valuable pedagogical tool and as a means for the participants to communicate their system understanding to other actors within and outside their own organizations.
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| 7. |
- Malmborg, Katja, 1988-
(författare)
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How on Earth? : Operationalizing the ecosystem service concept for sustainability
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Production landscapes are at the center of many of the sustainability challenges that we face. The ecosystem service concept has risen in prominence over the last decades as a tool to support sustainable landscape management. Stewardship has been suggested as an approach that individuals and groups of actors can practice when striving for sustainability in complex situations. In this thesis, I explore how the ecosystem service concept can be used as a tool to support the stewardship practices of various local actors who are engaging in sustainable landscape management. The core of this thesis is a participatory resilience assessment conducted together with a diverse group of actors, all involved in different forms of landscape management in the Helgeå catchment in Southern Sweden. In Paper I, I describe the participatory ecosystem service bundles analysis that was part of the process. In Paper II, I describe the process as a whole and show how participating supported learning and articulation of complexity thinking. In Paper III, I compare this process with three other knowledge co-production processes from the Helgeå catchment, and trace how different theoretical approaches led to both similar and diverging ecosystem service knowledge outputs. Finally, in Paper IV, I use a photo elicitation exercise to articulate different narratives of how sense of home motivates private, non-industrial forest owners in the Helgeå catchment to engage in stewardship practice.Together, these four papers show that the ecosystem service concept can support sustainability by facilitating knowledge co-production processes about complex challenges in landscape management. In such settings, it can function as a pedagogical tool and bridging concept. For participating civil servants, ecosystem service knowledge and terminology were also used strategically when communicating with actors in their own organizations, effectively influencing their situated agency to practice stewardship. Finally, the ecosystem service concept has the potential to be useful in the dialogue between private land owners and other actors. However, some pathways to stewardship, such as those rooted in a sense for history and community, would be better represented by other, more relational human-nature conceptualizations. This means that while the operationalization of the ecosystem service concept can contribute to stewardship practices in pursuit of sustainability, there are also important limitations that need to be taken into account in each context of use.
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| 8. |
- Malmborg, Katja, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
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Knowledge co-production in the Helge å catchment : a comparative analysis
- 2022
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Ingår i: Ecosystems and People. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2639-5908 .- 2639-5916. ; 18:1, s. 565-582
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Addressing sustainability challenges in landscape management requires processes for co-producing usable knowledge together with those who will use that knowledge. Participatory futures methods are powerful tools for attaining such knowledge. The applications of such methods are diverse and understanding the intricacies of the knowledge co-production process is important to further develop these research practices. To improve participatory futures methods and contribute to systematic and critical reflections on methodology, we present a comparative analysis of four research projects that applied participatory futures methods in the same study area. Conducted between 2011 and 2020, these projects aimed to co-produce knowledge about the future provision of ecosystem services in the Helge a catchment area in southern Sweden. For structuring the post-hoc, self-reflexive analysis, we developed a framework dividing the knowledge co-production process into three dimensions: settings, synthesis and diffusion. We based the analysis on documentation from the projects, a two-step questionnaire to each research team, a workshop with co-authors and interviews with key participants. The comparison highlights steps in project decision-making, explicit and implicit assumptions in our respective approaches and how these assumptions informed process design in the projects. Our detailed description of the four knowledge co-production processes points to the importance of flexibility in research design, but also the necessity for researchers and other participants to adapt as the process unfolds.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
- Malmborg, Katja, et al.
(författare)
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Mapping regional livelihood benefits from local ecosystem services assessments in rural Sahel
- 2018
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 13:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Most current approaches to landscape scale ecosystem service assessments rely on detailed secondary data. This type of data is seldom available in regions with high levels of poverty and strong local dependence on provisioning ecosystem services for livelihoods. We develop a method to extrapolate results from a previously published village scale ecosystem services assessment to a higher administrative level, relevant for land use decision making. The method combines remote sensing (using a hybrid classification method) and interviews with community members. The resulting landscape scale maps show the spatial distribution of five different livelihood benefits (nutritional diversity, income, insurance/saving, material assets and energy, and crops for consumption) that illustrate the strong multi-functionality of the Sahelian landscapes. The maps highlight the importance of a diverse set of sub-units of the landscape in supporting Sahelian livelihoods. We see a large potential in using the resulting type of livelihood benefit maps for guiding future land use decisions in the Sahel.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
- Malmborg, Katja, et al.
(författare)
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Operationalizing ecosystem service bundles for strategic sustainability planning : A participatory approach
- 2021
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Ingår i: Ambio. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 50, s. 314-331
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ecosystem service concept is recognized as a useful tool to support sustainability in decision-making. In this study, we collaborated with actors in the Helge a catchment, southern Sweden, in an iterative participatory ecosystem service assessment. Through workshops and interviews, we jointly decided which ecosystem services to assess and indicators to use in order to achieve a sense of ownership and a higher legitimacy of the assessment. Subsequently, we explored the landscape-level interactions between the 15 assessed services, and found that the area can be described using three distinct ecosystem service bundles. The iterative, participatory process strengthened our analysis and created a shared understanding and overview of the multifunctional landscape around Helge a among participants. Importantly, this allowed for the generated knowledge to impact local strategic sustainability planning. With this study, we illustrate how similar processes can support local decision-making for a more sustainable future.
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| 14. |
- Rocha, Juan C., 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Panarchy : ripples of a boundary concept
- 2022
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Ingår i: Ecology and Society. - 1708-3087. ; 27:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How do social-ecological systems change over time? In 2002 C. S. Holling and colleagues proposed the concept of panarchy, which presented social-ecological systems as an interacting set of adaptive cycles, each produced by the dynamic tensions between novelty and efficiency at multiple scales. Initially introduced as a conceptual framework and set of metaphors, panarchy has gained the attention of scholars across many disciplines, and its ideas continue to inspire further conceptual developments. Almost 20 years after this concept was introduced, we reviewed how it has been used, tested, extended, and revised, through the combination of qualitative methods and machine learning. Document analysis was used to code panarchy features common to the scientific literature (N = 42), a qualitative analysis that was complemented with topic modeling of 2177 documents. We found that the adaptive cycle is the feature of panarchy that has attracted the most attention. Challenges remain in empirically grounding the metaphor, but recent theoretical and empirical work offer some avenues for future research.
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| 15. |
- Rocha, Juan, et al.
(författare)
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Mapping social-ecological systems archetypes
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Letters. - : IOP Publishing. - 1748-9326. ; 15:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Achieving sustainable development goals requires targeting and monitoring sustainable solutions tailored to different social and ecological contexts. A social-ecological systems (SESs) framework was developed to help diagnose problems, identify complex interactions, and solutions tailored to each SES. Here we develop a data-driven method for upscaling the SES framework and apply it to a context where data is scarce, but also where solutions towards sustainable development are needed. The purpose of upscaling the framework is to create a tool that facilitates decision-making in data-scarce contexts. We mapped SES by applying the framework to poverty alleviation and food security issues in the Volta River basin in Ghana and Burkina Faso. We found archetypical configurations of SES in space, and discuss where agricultural innovations such as water reservoirs might have a stronger impact at increasing food availability and therefore alleviating poverty and hunger. We conclude by outlining how the method can be used in other SES comparative studies.
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| 16. |
- Sellberg, My M., et al.
(författare)
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Engaging with complexity in resilience practice
- 2021
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Ingår i: Ecology and Society. - 1708-3087. ; 26:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In a complex and turbulent world, there is heightened interest in managing for resilience. However, resilience guides, particularly those used in the development field, often lack a theoretical grounding in complex adaptive systems. There is a demand for guidance on how to operationalize complexity in applications of resilience, such as resilience assessment and planning. This study synthesizes lessons from how twelve cases of social-ecological resilience practice are engaging with complexity. We assessed how each case engaged with complexity, according to a framework of six features of complex adaptive systems. The cases are situated in a diversity of contexts, that include rural villages in Tajikistan, a Swedish municipality, Australian catchment management authorities, a Canadian coastal fishery, and the Arctic council. Our results revealed two main ways of engaging with complexity: capturing and making sense of the complexity of a social-ecological system (system complexity) and embodying complexity into the participatory process (process complexity). Our comparison demonstrates that resilience practice provides a useful approach to address system complexity by, for example, conceptualizing social-ecological interactions, identifying interactions across scales, and assessing system dynamics. Strategies related to understanding the adaptive and emergent features of complex systems were less developed and widespread. The study also revealed a set of strategies to address process complexity, such as facilitating dialogue, building networks, and designing a flexible and iterative process, showing how complexity can be embedded into the resilience assessment process. The more participatory and embedded cases of resilience practice were stronger in these process-oriented strategies. The complexity framework we used and the identified practical strategies provide a theoretically-grounded resource for managers, decision-makers, and researchers on how to engage with complexity when applying resilience in a variety of contexts, including development and landscape management.
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| 17. |
- Sinare, Hanna, et al.
(författare)
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D sên maan vees-n-gesgâ n paamyèl ninsa sên kêed ne ”sasa wâ toeengsên yala têms ninsa pùgê warâ sênbeê wâ – d tôe n dàka makr ne Sayèllesên paam tà b sel tààs beenê”
- 2015
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Rapport (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- This booklet presents a popular sience summary of research conducted in six villages in Northern Burkina Faso 2011-2012 within the research project "Adapting to changing climate in drylands: The re-greening in Sahel as a potential success case". The booklet is intended for the participants in the research and local administrations in Burkina Faso, and has been distributed and presented there in January 2016. It is written in the local language mooré. The booklet presents the landscape units - social-ecological patches - identified in the villages, and the set of ecosystem services generated in each social-ecological patch. It also presents the benefits people obtain from the different ecosystem services. The booklet further presents mapping of the social-ecological patches at provincial scale, as well as on-going mapping of how the distribution of patches have changed over time (since 1950) in the villages.
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| 18. |
- Sinare, Hanna, et al.
(författare)
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Résultats de la recherche dans le cadre de "Adaptation au changement climatique dans des zones sèches - le reverdissement au Sahel comme un cas de success potentiel"
- 2015
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Rapport (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- This booklet presents a popular sience summary of research conducted in six villages in Northern Burkina Faso 2011-2012 within the research project "Adapting to changing climate in drylands: The re-greening in Sahel as a potential success case". The booklet is intended for the participants in the research and local administrations in Burkina Faso, and has been distributed and presented there in January 2016. The booklet presents the landscape units - social-ecological patches - identified in the villages, and the set of ecosystem services generated in each social-ecological patch. It also presents the benefits people obtain from the different ecosystem services. The booklet further presents mapping of the social-ecological patches at provincial scale, as well as on-going mapping of how the distribution of patches have changed over time (since 1950) in the villages. The second part of the booklet presents results from a vegetation inventory and soil sampling in four of the villages.
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