| 1. |
- Biermann, Frank, et al.
(author)
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Rich man’s solution? Climate engineering discourses and the marginalization of the Global South
- 2019
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In: International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1567-9764 .- 1573-1553. ; 19:2, s. 151-167
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Numerous recent studies project that ‘climate engineering’ technologies might need to play a major role in the future. Such technologies may carry major risks for developing countries that are often especially vulnerable to, and lack adaptive capacity to deal with, the impacts of such new technologies. In this situation, one would expect that developing countries—especially the least developed countries that are most vulnerable—should play a central role in the emerging discourse on climate engineering. And yet, as this article shows in detail, the discussion about whether and how to engage with these technologies is shaped by experts from just a small set of countries in the Global North. Knowledge production around climate engineering remains heavily dominated by the major research institutions in North America and Europe. Drawing on information from 70 climate engineering events between 2009 and 2017 along with extensive document analysis, the article maps a lack of involvement of developing countries and highlights the degree to which their concerns remain insufficiently represented in politically significant scientific assessment reports. The article concludes by sketching options that developing countries may have to influence the agenda on climate engineering, reflecting on earlier attempts to increase control over novel technologies and influence global agenda setting.
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| 2. |
- Droste, Nils, et al.
(author)
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Bridging differences through classroom simulations : Teaching Global Environmental Governance to international and interdisciplinary PhD students
- 2022
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In: Internationalising Teaching in Higher Education : Supporting Peer Learning - Supporting Peer Learning. - 9789463665377 ; , s. 143-152
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The course Global Environmental Governance Today–Actors, Institutions, Complexity is an in- terdisciplinary PhD course and has welcomed participants from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds with equally varied prior knowledge on environmental governance practices and theories. Thus, every year, participants include students who are not familiar with international relations theories such as realism, institutionalism, or constructivism, as well as PhD candidates in political science who are entirely familiar with such theories and corresponding concepts. We aim to provide an inspiring course for all of them that provides them with new ideas and insights on global environmental governance with its key actors, institutions and processes.We have chosen a teaching approach where we combine three formats: information-intensive lec- tures, participatory seminars, and simulation exercises. The lectures are classical, frontal types of sessions in which the readers’ theoretical and conceptual knowledge is offered in an accessible way for different disciplinary backgrounds and discussed with the participants. In the seminars we focus on the students’ PhD projects and their links to questions of environmental governance. As our third element, the simulation exercises pursue an experiential learning approach (Brock and Cameron 1999). Here we elaborate on the design of two simulations: a gamified and alter- native approach to negotiations inspired by Bruno Latour’s Politics of Nature (2004) and Earth Summit type negotiations.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Gupta, Aarti, et al.
(author)
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De facto governance: how authoritative assessments construct climate engineering as an object of governance
- 2019
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In: Environmental Politics. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0964-4016 .- 1743-8934. ; 28:3, s. 480-501
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Analyses of climate engineering (CE) governance have accelerated in the last decade. A key claim is that CE remains a largely ungoverned space, with shared norms, institutional arrangements, and formal rules to regulate CE not yet present. In contrast, here it is argued that de facto governance of CE is underway, discernible in an ordering of this nascent field of inquiry by unacknowledged sources of steering. One key source of de facto governance is analyzed: high-level ‘authoritative assessments’ of CE. The focus is on how these assessments are constructing CE as an object of governance through demarcating and categorizing this emerging field of inquiry, and how this contributes to normalizing and institutionalizing CE research (and CE research communities). Scrutinizing the distinct nature and political implications of de facto governance, particularly of novel and speculative technological trajec- tories not yet subject to formal steering, remains a key task for governance scholars.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Le Callet, Patrick, et al.
(author)
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Qualinet White Paper on Definitions of Quality of Experience : Version 1.2
- 2013
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This White Paper is a contribution of the European Network on Quality of Experience in Multimedia Systems and Services, Qualinet (COST Action IC 1003, see www.qualinet.eu), to the scientific discussion about the term “Quality of Experience” (QoE) and its underlying concepts. It resulted from the need to agree on a working definition for this term which facilitates the communication of ideas within a multidisciplinary group, where a joint interest around multimedia communication systems exists, however approached from different perspectives. Thus, the concepts and ideas cited in this paper mainly refer to the Quality of Experience of multimedia communication systems, but may be helpful also for other areas where QoE is an issue.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Möller, Ina
(author)
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The Emergent Politics of Geoengineering
- 2019
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis examines the role of science in the earliest stages of the political process. It does this by studying the emergence of ‘geoengineering’ on the political agenda. The term describes a set of ideas on how to stabilize global temperature by intervening into the Earth’s natural systems, and was subject to a strong taboo in the scientific community until the mid-2000s. Yet within a decade, it has become relevant to international climate politics. To understand how this transition took place, the thesis uses mixed methods to study the causal mechanisms by which geoengineering became an object of governance. Paper I describes the internal dynamics of a scientific community that helped transform geoengineering into a distinct, salient and malleable governance object. It explains how social cohesion, brokerage and diversity acted as important mechanisms in this process. Paper II studies the role of authoritative scientific assessments in making geoengineering a normal and relevant topic for research. It shows how such assessments act as a form of de facto governance in shaping the activities of a research landscape. Paper III identifies similarities and differences in the way that different sub-areas of climate change policy are governed. It suggests that, if a problem structure is perceived to be malign, this makes it less conducive to public governance. Conversely, if a problem structure comes to be perceived as more benign, this facilitates public governance. Paper IV examines the role of problem definition and ‘institutional fit’, evaluating how geoengineering matches with the expectations of government actors. It discusses three areas where such fit is lacking, and how this makes it difficult for government officials to form a political position on geoengineering. The results of this study flow into the description of a pattern that seems to be important at many different stages of the opinion-shaping process. This pattern includes the introduction of a topic to a new audience; the audience’s heated debate around this topic; the intervention of an actor with authority; and the streamlining of the audience’s debate according to the authoritative actor’s judgement. Found at many different levels of the political process, the pattern may explain why some topics become subject to political decision making, and others do not.
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| 9. |
- Patra, Kalicharan, et al.
(author)
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Assessment of kallikrein 6 as a cross-sectional and longitudinal biomarker for Alzheimer's disease
- 2018
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In: Alzheimer's Research & Therapy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1758-9193. ; 10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Kallikrein 6 (KLK6) is known to be an age-related protease expressed at high levels in the central nervous system. It was previously shown to be involved in proteolysis of extracellular proteins implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), prompting validation of KLK6 as a potential biomarker of disease. However, analyses of both plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of KLK6 in patients with AD have been inconclusive. We present a detailed analysis of KLK6 in plasma and CSF in two separate cohorts in a cross-sectional and a longitudinal clinical setting. Methods: The cross-sectional cohort included control subjects without dementia and patients with AD, and the longitudinal cohort included patients with MCI and patients with AD followed over a 2-year period. Plasma and CSF levels of KLK6 were quantified by use of a previously developed and validated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Statistical analyses were performed to compare KLK6 levels between diagnostic groups and to identify potential associations between KLK6 level, age, apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype, total apoE level and the classical CSF AD biomarkers. Results: In the cross-sectional setting, KLK6 levels in plasma but not in CSF were significantly higher in the AD group than in control subjects. CSF but not plasma KLK6 levels were positively correlated with age in both the cross-sectional and longitudinal settings. In both cohorts, the CSF KLK6 levels were significantly and positively correlated with the CSF levels of core AD biomarkers. Total plasma and CSF apoE levels were positively associated with KLK6 in the cross-sectional study. Finally, during the 2-year monitoring period of the longitudinal cohort, CSF KLK6 levels increased with disease progression over time in the investigated patient groups. Conclusions: In two separate cohorts we have confirmed the previously reported correlation between age and CSF levels of KLK6. Increased plasma KLK6 levels in patients with AD with a more advanced disease stage suggest KLK6 as a potential biomarker in patients with AD with more severe dementia. Significant correlations between KLK6 levels and core CSF AD biomarkers suggest molecular links between KLK6 and AD-related pathological processes.
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| 10. |
- Schmitt, Vera, et al.
(author)
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How Much is Your Instagram Data Worth? Economic Perspective of Privacy in the Social Media Context
- 2024
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In: Privacy and Identity Management. Sharing in a Digital World - 18th IFIP WG 9.2, 9.6/11.7, 11.6 International Summer School, Privacy and Identity 2023, Revised Selected Papers. - : Springer Nature. ; , s. 292-308
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Numerous smartphone and web applications rely on personal information to analyze user behavior, primarily for targeted advertising and the enhancement of personalized features. However, these applications often provide users with limited choices: either accept their privacy policies or refrain from using the services altogether. Consequently, the prevailing norm is to “pay” for these applications and web services by providing personal data. Given that privacy policies are typically lengthy and difficult to comprehend, most users accept the terms and conditions without fully grasping the potential consequences, even reading the very complex and long privacy policies and terms of use. Sometimes users are left with no other choice than accepting the terms of use, if they rely on a specific service or want to communicate with friends and colleagues, even though they understand the potentially harmful consequences and do not agree with the terms of use. As a result, many users remain unaware of being continuously tracked by multiple applications installed on their smartphones or unwillingly agreeing to privacy policies without an alternative choice of payment other than personal information. An alternative is to establish payment options to pay for the services with money instead of with data. However, to evaluate how much people are willing to pay (WTP) for the protection of their data and which prices to offer for certain services is an under-explored question. This research aims to shed light on users’ WTP for data protection for a specific data-sharing scenario, namely for sharing data with Instagram. Overall, 68 participants took part in a survey evaluating the individual levels of WTP for data privacy when using Instagram. The results show a positive correlation between participants with higher privacy concerns also those willing to pay more for the protection of their data. Interestingly younger participants reported significantly higher privacy concerns but reported lower amounts of money they would spend on protecting their data. Moreover, female participants and the gender type other reported significantly higher WTP values in comparison to male participants.
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| 11. |
- Twohig, Daniel, et al.
(author)
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The relevance of cerebrospinal fluid α-synuclein levels to sporadic and familial Alzheimer's disease
- 2018
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In: Acta neuropathologica communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2051-5960. ; 6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Accumulating evidence demonstrating higher cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) -synuclein (Syn) levels and Syn pathology in the brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients suggests that Syn is involved in the pathophysiology of AD. To investigate whether Syn could be related to specific aspects of the pathophysiology present in both sporadic and familial disease, we quantified CSF levels of Syn and assessed links to various disease parameters in a longitudinally followed cohort (n=136) including patients with sporadic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD, and in a cross-sectional sample from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network (n=142) including participants carrying autosomal dominant AD (ADAD) gene mutations and their non-mutation carrying family members.Our results show that sporadic MCI patients that developed AD over a period of two years exhibited higher baseline Syn levels (p=0.03), which inversely correlated to their Mini-Mental State Examination scores, compared to cognitively normal controls (p=0.02). In the same patients, there was a dose-dependent positive association between CSF Syn and the APOE epsilon 4 allele. Further, CSF Syn levels were higher in symptomatic ADAD mutation carriers versus non-mutation carriers (p=0.03), and positively correlated to the estimated years from symptom onset (p=0.05) across all mutation carriers. In asymptomatic (Clinical Dementia Rating<0.5) PET amyloid-positive ADAD mutation carriers CSF Syn was positively correlated to C-11-Pittsburgh Compound-B (PiB) retention in several brain regions including the posterior cingulate, superior temporal and frontal cortical areas. Importantly, APOE epsilon 4-positive ADAD mutation carriers exhibited an association between CSF Syn levels and mean cortical PiB retention (p=0.032). In both the sporadic AD and ADAD cohorts we found several associations predominantly between CSF levels of Syn, tau and amyloid-(1-40).Our results suggest that higher CSF Syn levels are linked to AD pathophysiology at the early stages of disease development and to the onset of cognitive symptoms in both sporadic and autosomal dominant AD. We conclude that APOE epsilon 4 may promote the processes driven by Syn, which in turn may reflect on molecular mechanisms linked to the asymptomatic build-up of amyloid plaque burden in brain regions involved in the early stages of AD development.
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| 12. |
- Zelli, Fariborz, et al.
(author)
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Global Governance in Complex Times : Exploring New Concepts and Theories on Institutional Complexity. An Introduction
- 2021
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In: Complexity, Governance & Networks. - : Universitatsbibliothek Bamberg. - 2214-2991 .- 2214-3009. ; 6:1, s. 1-13
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article, and the special issue it introduces, seek to contribute to the emerging and much-needed dialogue between the study of global governance and the study of social complexity. We hold that, while there is wide acceptance that global governance is becoming increasingly complex, studying this complexity still faces significant challenges in terms of concepts, theory, and methodology.The article outlines why that dialogue is needed, and how the complexity sciences can help us address some of these challenges. It then introduces key questions central to such an integrated research programme, for instance: under what conditions can a global governance system be regarded as complex? Which methods can help us recognize and assess patterns of stability, iteration, and change in global governance? How can a theory-driven analysis take into account that complexity may influence spaces for political agency, i.e. that it may alter key aspects of legitimacy, accountability, transparency, technocracy, and power and ultimately the strategical options of certain actors? Finally, the article looks ahead to the special issue and summarizes how the authors contribute crucial conceptual, theoretical, and methodical ideas for addressing these and other questions.
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| 13. |
- Zelli, Fariborz, et al.
(author)
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Institutional Complexity and Political Agency in Polycentric Governance
- 2023
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In: Polycentricity : How Governing Works Today - How Governing Works Today. - 9780191957765 ; , s. 73-97
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This chapter addresses the ways in which the complexity of global governance enables or constrains political agency. An increasingly complex global institutional system—with its growing level of unpredictability and uncertainties—challenges some of the classical institutionalist tenets in respect of conditions of power and agency. For instance, the capacities of central governance institutions and their key actors to shape other actors’ preferences and to bind them by lowering transaction costs may be significantly undermined by a growing number of institutional alternatives in their environment. This chapter therefore suggests that institutional complexity should be acknowledged theoretically as a structural characteristic inherent to polycentric global governance, which alters spaces for political agency. We hold that the ability to use these spaces depends inter alia upon core organizational and epistemic qualities of political actors. These include, for example, a central position or brokerage function in a policy network, or a relatively generalist and flexible knowledge of the governance system in question. Such qualities may serve different actors in attaining and upholding meaningful political agency under a state of complexity. With a view to the three core themes of this volume, we argue that these qualities may facilitate new forms of power (e.g. nodal power in a network), techniques (e.g. forum-shopping amongst institutional alternatives) and legitimacy (e.g. peer or mutual accountability) for navigating unpredictable and uncertain institutional systems. Examples from global environmental governance will be used to illustrate how these qualities are enacted.
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| 14. |
- Zelli, Fariborz, et al.
(author)
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Institutional complexity and private authority in global climate governance : The cases of climate engineering, REDD+, and short-lived climate pollutants
- 2017
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In: Environmental Politics. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0964-4016 .- 1743-8934. ; 26:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- How and why do institutional architectures, and the roles of private institutions therein, differ across separate areas of climate governance? Here, institutional complexity is explained in terms of the problem-structural characteristics of an issue area and the associated demand for, and supply of, private authority. These characteristics can help explain the degree of centrality of intergovernmental institutions, as well as the distribution of governance functions between these and private governance institutions. This framework is applied to three emerging areas of climate governance: reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), and climate engineering. Conflicts over means and values, as well as over relatively and absolutely assessed goods, lead to considerable variations in the emergence and roles of private institutions across these three cases.
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