| 1. |
- Biermann, Frank, et al.
(author)
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Transforming governance and institutions for global sustainability : key insights from the Earth System Governance Project
- 2012
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In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. - : Elsevier BV. - 1877-3435 .- 1877-3443. ; 4:1, s. 51-60
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The current institutional framework for sustainable development is by far not strong enough to bring about the swift transformative progress that is needed. This article contends that incrementalism-the main approach since the 1972 Stockholm Conference-will not suffice to bring about societal change at the level and speed needed to mitigate and adapt to earth system transformation. Instead, the article argues that transformative structural change in global governance is needed, and that the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro must turn into a major stepping stone for a much stronger institutional framework for sustainable development. The article details core areas where urgent action is required. The article is based on an extensive social science assessment conducted by 32 members of the lead faculty, scientific steering committee, and other affiliates of the Earth System Governance Project. This Project is a ten-year research initiative under the auspices of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), which is sponsored by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), and the United Nations University (UNU).
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Carpenter, S. R., et al.
(author)
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General resilience to cope with extreme events
- 2012
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In: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 4:12, s. 3248-3259
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Resilience to specified kinds of disasters is an active area of research and practice. However, rare or unprecedented disturbances that are unusually intense or extensive require a more broad-spectrum type of resilience. General resilience is the capacity of social-ecological systems to adapt or transform in response to unfamiliar, unexpected and extreme shocks. Conditions that enable general resilience include diversity, modularity, openness, reserves, feedbacks, nestedness, monitoring, leadership, and trust. Processes for building general resilience are an emerging and crucially important area of research.
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| 4. |
- Carpenter, Stephen R., et al.
(author)
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Program on ecosystem change and society : an international research strategy for integrated social-ecological systems
- 2012
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In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. - : Elsevier BV. - 1877-3435 .- 1877-3443. ; 4:1, s. 134-138
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS), a new initiative within the ICSU global change programs, aims to integrate research on the stewardship of social-ecological systems, the services they generate, and the relationships among natural capital, human wellbeing, livelihoods, inequality and poverty. The vision of PECS is a world where human actions have transformed to achieve sustainable stewardship of social-ecological systems. The goal of PECS is to generate the scientific and policy-relevant knowledge of social-ecological dynamics needed to enable such a shift, including mitigation of poverty. PECS is a coordinating body for diverse independently funded research projects, not a funder of research. PECS research employs a range of transdisciplinary approaches and methods, with comparative, place-based research that is international in scope at the core.
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| 5. |
- Costanza, Robert, et al.
(author)
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Developing an Integrated History and future of People on Earth (IHOPE)
- 2012
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In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. - : Elsevier BV. - 1877-3435 .- 1877-3443. ; 4:1, s. 106-114
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Integrated History and future of People on Earth (IHOPE) initiative is a global network of researchers and research projects with its International Program Office (IPO) now based at the Stockholm Resilience Center (SRC), Uppsala University, Arizona State University, Portland State University, and the Australian National University. Research linked to IHOPE demonstrates that Earth system changes in the past have been strongly associated with changes in the coupled human-environment system. IHOPE supports integrating knowledge and resources from the biophysical and the social sciences and the humanities to address analytical and interpretive issues associated with coupled human-earth system dynamics. This integration of human history and Earth system history is a timely and important task. Until recently, however, there have been few attempts at such integration. IHOPE will create frameworks that can be used to help achieve this integration. The overarching goal is to produce a rich understanding of the relationships between environmental and human processes over the past millennia. HOPE recognizes that one major challenge for reaching this goal is developing 'workable' terminology that can be accepted by scholars of all disciplines. The specific objectives for IHOPE are to identify slow and rapidly moving features of complex social-ecological systems, on local to continental spatial scales, which induce resilience, stress, or collapse in linked systems of humans in nature. These objectives will be reached by exploring innovative ways of conducting interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary science, including theory, case studies, and integrated modeling. Examples of projects underway to implement this initiative are briefly discussed.
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| 6. |
- Galaz, Victor, et al.
(author)
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'Planetary boundaries' - exploring the challenges for global environmental governance
- 2012
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In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. - : Elsevier BV. - 1877-3435 .- 1877-3443. ; 4:1, s. 80-87
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A range of studies from Earth system scientists argue that human activities drive multiple, interacting effects that cascade through the Earth system. Recent contributions state and quantify nine, interacting 'planetary boundaries' with possible threshold effects. This article provides an overview of the global governance challenges that follow from this notion of multiple, interacting and possibly non-linear 'planetary boundaries'. Here we discuss four interrelated global environmental governance challenges, as well as some possible ways to address them. The four identified challenges are related to, first, the interplay between Earth system science and global policies, and the implications of differences in risk perceptions in defining these boundaries; second, the capacity of international institutions to deal with individual 'planetary boundaries', as well as interactions between them; third, the role of international organizations in dealing with 'planetary boundaries' interactions; and fourth, the role of global governance in framing social ecological innovations.
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| 7. |
- Galaz, Victor, et al.
(author)
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Polycentric systems and interacting planetary boundaries : Emerging governance of climate change—ocean acidification—marine biodiversity
- 2012
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In: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 81, s. 21-32
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Planetary boundaries and their interactions pose severe challenges for global environmental governance due to their inherent uncertainties and complex multi-scale dynamics. Here we explore the global governance challenge posed by planetary boundaries interactions by focusing on the role of polycentric systems and order, a theoretical field that has gained much interest in the aftermath of claims of a stagnant UN-process. In the first part we work toward a clarification of polycentric order in an international context, and develop three propositions. We then present a case study of the emergence of international polycentricity to address interacting planetary boundaries, namely the climate change, ocean acidification and loss of marine biodiversity complex. This is done through a study of the Global Partnership on Climate, Fisheries and Aquaculture (PaCFA) initiative. As the case study indicates, a range of mechanisms of polycentric order (ranging from information sharing to coordinated action and conflict resolution) operates at the international level through the interplay between individuals, international organizations and their collaboration patterns. While polycentric coordination of this type certainly holds potential, it is also vulnerable to internal tensions, unreliable external flows of funding, and negative institutional interactions.
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| 8. |
- Kadin, Martina
(author)
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Man, murres and modern fisheries : A case study in the Baltic Sea
- 2012
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Overfishing and climate change put increasing pressure on marine systems, with effects on commercially targeted fish and top predators dependent on these resources. To achieve sustainable resource use, governance mechanisms need to incorporate knowledge about ecosystem dynamics. Another key for success is the perception among actors about the challenges oceans are facing. Seabirds have become well-known symbols of coasts and oceans and their struggles with the consequences of human actions provide an illustration of the need to properly govern marine resources. Seabirds can be useful indicators of states of marine systems, forming tools that can help informing ecosystem approaches to management. The thesis focuses on the piscivorous seabird the common murre Uria aalge in the Baltic Sea, investigating two different aspects of interactions between seabirds and fisheries. In paper I, the effects of food quality and quantity during the chick-rearing period were investigated. Food quality (sprat Sprattus sprattus weight-at-age), but not quantity (sprat abundance), was positively related to murre fledging success. The adjustments of parental effort in relation to quality and quantity showed the opposite pattern – no relationships between parental effort and sprat weight-at-age but a negative relationship between sprat abundance and the duration of foraging trips. Paper II uses a long-term ring recovery dataset to study murre bycatch in Baltic Sea fisheries. We found an increase in the proportion bycatch between 1972 and 2008, and a strong bimodal intraannual pattern in bycatches, with peaks in spring and autumn, similar in three investigated periods. Uncertain finding dates were common and could potentially affect conclusions about intraannual patterns. Reported bycatches were concentrated to waters around the Hel peninsula, Poland. In recent years, 2000-2008, an increase of reported bycatch could be observed in the southeastern parts of the Baltic Sea. The findings of this thesis can aid the selection and interpretation of indicators for ecosystem approaches to Baltic Sea fisheries management, and further be used to communicate the need for such approaches.
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| 9. |
- Orwelius, Lotti, et al.
(author)
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Physical effects of trauma and the psychological consequences of preexisting diseases account for a significant portion of the health-related quality of life patterns of former trauma patients
- 2012
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In: Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 2163-0755 .- 2163-0763. ; 72:2, s. 504-512
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is known to be significantly affected in former trauma patients. However, the underlying factors that lead to this outcome are largely unknown. In former intensive care unit (ICU) patients, it has been recognized that preexisting disease is the most important factor for the long-term HRQoL. The aim of this study was to investigate HRQoL up to 2 years after trauma and to examine the contribution of the trauma-specific, ICU-related, sociodemographic factors together with the effects of preexisting disease, and further to make a comparison with a large general population.Methods: A prospective 2-year multicenter study in Sweden of 108 injured patients. By mailed questionnaires, HRQoL was assessed at 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months after the stay in ICU by Short Form (SF)-36, and information of preexisting disease was collected from the national hospital database. ICU-related factors were obtained from the local ICU database. Comorbidity and HRQoL (SF-36) was also examined in the reference group, a random sample of 10,000 inhabitants in the uptake area of the hospitals.Results: For the trauma patients, there was a marked and early decrease in the physical dimensions of the SF-36 (role limitations due to physical problems and bodily pain). This decrease improved rapidly and was almost normalized after 24 months. In parallel, there were extensive decreases in the psychologic dimensions (vitality, social functioning, role limitations due to emotional problems, and mental health) of the SF-36 when comparisons were made with the general reference population.Conclusions: The new and important finding in this study is that the trauma population seems to have a trauma-specific HRQoL outcome pattern. First, there is a large and significant decrease in the physical dimensions of the SF-36, which is due to musculoskeletal effects and pain secondary to the trauma. This normalizes within 2 years, whereas the overall decrease in HRQoL remains and most importantly it is seen mainly in the psychologic dimensions and it is due to preexisting diseases
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| 10. |
- Widström, Torun
(author)
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Enhanced Energy Efficiency and Preservation of Historic Buildings : Methods and Tools for Modeling
- 2012
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- As the environmental impacts of the energy usage of the world today becomes more and more evident, enhancement of energy performance of the already existing building stock becomes more urgent. Buildings belonging to the cultural heritage are often the ones that are most difficult to deal with in this context.The subject of this thesis is the use of building simulation of historic buildings. The task here is to identify and when necessary develop simulation tools and methods that are suitable for planning of retrofitting strategies in historic buildings, and to identify and analyze what demands such tools and methods would have to fulfill, in what contexts different simulation strategies are suitable, how the demands on the tools might be met and what results and how the results would facilitate the decision making process in the most optimal way. A powerful means to acquire such analyses is the use of whole-building simulation. In the case of historical buildings there are several aspects to take into consideration, determining the choice of simulation tool and method.This thesis includesInvestigation of the variability of the demands on simulation tools and methods that the historic buildings pose, and its implication on complexity of the simulation process, and suggestion of a complexity index tool.Investigation of the whole-building simulation process and how it complies with the demands identified, and how the exergy concept can be used, exemplified by a case study.Identification of a need for a tool and method for a large amount of cases not easily covered by abundantly available tools and methodsSuggestion of a tool and method to address these cases, and presentation of a case study where the suggested tool and method have been applied, with good agreement between the simulated and measured values.One important feature of the suggested tool is the Very Small Wall-part Method, that includes the assessment of especially damage prone points into the whole-building simulation model, otherwise unable to accommodate these points. Another is the damage risk assessment feature where a mould risk prediction tool is presented.
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