Deconstructing Security Discourse in Circular Economy Governance : Towards an Inclusive Approach to Circular Transformation

Global environmental challenges, coupled with growing material resource consumption, are exacerbated by an increasingly hostile geopolitical environment and the securitisation of politics. The circular economy (CE) proposes a solution to address these challenges by transforming production and consumption systems, which has sparked significant interest in the concept among scholars, policymakers, and businesses. Meanwhile, the directionality of this transformative change depends on political priorities in multiple socio-economic contexts, which can be affected by geopolitical considerations and security concerns. Drawing on a conceptual background from environmental studies, sustainability transition, innovation, and critical security studies, this thesis explores the role of security discourse in shaping prioritisation among circular solutions to sustainability challenges and explains the connections between security discourse and implications of circular transformation. Conceptual results include a typology of circular solutions for resource security, a typology of security discourses in CE, and a framework of geopolitical implications of the circular transformation. Furthermore, the thesis provides empirical evidence of the effects of the security discourse on circular transformation at the national, regional, and global levels. These results can help future CE studies relate conceptually to security and broaden the spectrum of applicable solutions. Moreover, the developed frameworks can be used to evaluate the security and geopolitical implications of circular policies and initiatives, inform political debates, and support marginalised circular solutions to ensure an inclusive circular transformation

Between green and safety : navigating sustainability and public health risks in growing media

Production and use of growing media involve a trade-off between sustainability and public health. We claim that a paradigm shift is needed, focusing on properties supporting environmental sustainability and human health, with a holistic approach involving One Health expertise. We use Legionella in growing media, soil, and gardening as an example to highlight key knowledge gaps

Scientists as Experts in Public Debates Characterised by Scientific Uncertainty: The Swedish COVID-19 Debate

This study explores how academic scientists engage as experts in public debates characterised by scientific uncertainty and societal urgency, focusing on rhetorical positioning and communicative intentions. The research centres around the debate concerning COVID-19 measures in Sweden and analyses 109 opinion pieces written by scientists in various newspapers. The analysis identifies four ideal-typical expert roles: Reformers, Advisors, Informers, and Evaluators. These roles illustrate how scientific expertise can serve multiple purposes in societal crises marked by uncertainty. Reformers take a critical stance, questioning foundational assumptions and advocating for systemic change. Advisors offer actionable recommendations in the face of uncertainty, while Informers contribute by clarifying facts and providing context; Evaluators look back to assess what has worked, guiding future improvements. The typology responds to calls for greater transparency and reflexivity among experts by illustrating the diverse ways scientists assume expert roles in public debate. Recognising the variety and complementarity of these roles and promoting awareness and openness about them can play an important role in sustaining science’s legitimacy amid uncertainty. By shedding light on scientists’ rhetorical positioning and communicative intentions, our framework supports a more structured and nuanced reflection on public engagement. Such awareness is necessary for building and maintaining public trust, particularly during times of crisis

Competence-Based Trust in Token-Based New Ventures

This paper investigates the importance of competence-based trust on the fundraising success of Initial Coin Offerings. Based on a dataset with 3,644 ICOs, our models test the influence of generic and specific human capital on the probability of token-based new ventures to secure the amount of funds they intended to during ICOs. Our results suggest a positive and statistically significant influence of the previous working experience (generic human capital) of the whole TMT. Additionally, our results also point to the importance of college education (generic human capital) of the CEO for prospective investors, whereas in the case of the CTO both generic human capital and specific human capital (associated to knowledge about crypto and blockchain) are important screening mechanisms used by prospective investors to assess the quality of token-based new ventures

Light Sensitive Bumblebee Species Are Associated With Forest Habitat and Forest-Dominated Landscapes

We investigate whether the eye parameter of bumblebees—a visual trait measuring the tradeoff between light sensitivity and visual resolution—is associated with: (i) local habitats, (ii) forest cover at the landscape scale (1 km radius), and (iii) the shade tolerance of the plants they forage on. The association of bumblebee species with local habitat and forest cover at the landscape scale was analyzed using generalized linear mixed models. We combined data from the Norwegian national bumblebee monitoring program with Corine CLC+ land cover and bumblebee functional traits: eye parameter and intertegular distance. These analyses were done at the species and community level. To determine whether bumblebee light sensitivity correlated with the shade tolerance of the plant they forage on, we combined bumblebee–plant interactions from a British database with a Swedish plant trait database. Our findings showed that bumblebee species with high light sensitivity were more common and abundant in forest habitats and areas with greater forest cover, while species with high visual resolution showed the opposite trend. This pattern was reflected at the community level, as indicated by the community-weighted mean of the eye parameter, which increased with forest cover and was higher in forest habitats. Furthermore, bumblebees with higher light sensitivity tended to forage on plants with greater shade tolerance. These results suggest that visual adaptations for light sensitivity contribute to shaping bumblebee species distributions across different scales. Our study underscores the importance of pollinator vision in understanding species niches and its value for species distribution modeling. Moreover, by relating pollinator visual abilities to plant niches for the first time, this study provides an important basis for future modeling of plant–pollinator interactions and targeted conservation measures for plants and pollinators in forested landscapes

Decision-support tools for pollinators and pollination in agricultural landscapes : A systematic map

Insect pollinators are declining globally, partly due to agricultural intensification, which threatens biodiversity and ecosystem services. To help decision-makers make informed choices, a variety of tools such as softwares, websites and frameworks have been developed to guide pollinator-friendly management and conservation. However, the lack of a comprehensive overview of these tools limits stakeholders' ability to select and use them. We conducted a systematic mapping of bibliographic databases, grey literature and websites to create the first extensive database of tools explicitly or implicitly designed to inform pollinator and pollination management in agricultural landscapes. We assessed which pollinator groups and pollination services were addressed, the delivery methods used, their general focus, the geographical or ecological contexts in which they can be applied, and the extent to which they are designed for specific user groups. Our analysis revealed key gaps and patterns: Fewer tools focused on wild pollinators (including non-bee pollinators), fewer tools addressed the underlying drivers of pollinator decline and many tools targeted unspecified stakeholders or pollinators. There was a geographical bias in tool availability, which mirrored data bias in pollinator decline research, with a focus on regulating pollination services. Many tools required advanced and technical skills, limiting accessibility for practitioners. Practical implications. Our database offers a practical resource for practitioners, land managers, researchers and policymakers, facilitating the identification of tools that are suited to their specific management context, as well as their skills and expertise. Our study also highlights priorities for future tool development that could increase the effectiveness and impact of pollinator conservation and management efforts in agricultural landscapes

Bio-Efficiency: On the valorisation of innovation in the bioeconomy

This article discusses a concept that institutions from the OECD to the EU increasingly employ in their response to the ecological crisis: The bioeconomy, wherein materials for economic activity would be bio-based and renewable. As a present-day project, the bioeconomy translates the critique of (fossil) carbon into patterns of (material) resource use and (economic) resource allocation, not least through a new valorisation of innovation in the form of public– private partnerships. Yet where literature on the bioeconomy scrutinizes innovation, the concrete link between funders and funded has seldom been subject to focused analytical inquiry. This link is essential to the structure of the bioeconomy project. To broach the arrangements by which efforts to conjure a (bio-)economy underwrite specific patterns of value distribution, this article asks: Which discursive and conceptual resources are deployed to define the worth by which projects are construed as worthy of funding? Drawing on online ethnographic observation at funding events as well as on document analysis, we show how these arrangements are structured by a valorisation of efficiency. We propose to call this bio-efficiency, and relate it to a construal of the world as scarce

Value of information-driven innovation in Gerber saddles monitoring

Innovation plays a crucial role in shaping technological, economic, and social progress in modern societies. In the realm of bridge integrity management, the development and diffusion of technologies to acquire information can significantly enhance industries' safety and functionality capabilities. Among the most widely diffused bridge types in Europe and North America, Gerber bridges are particularly susceptible to deterioration over time. Gerber saddles are typically not instrumented and are checked only through visual inspections. This paper introduces the metric of the Value of Information for Innovation to estimate the benefit associated with introducing an established technology in a new market of application. Herein, the operational value of implementing microelectromechanical inclinometers in the integrity management of Gerber saddles is quantified for the specific case of a bridge in northern Italy. Microelectromechanical systems companies may use these results to optimally select the technology price, investigate diverse market strategies, and optimize sensor arrangement

Multi-observational estimation of regional and sectoral emission contributions to the persistent high growth rate of atmospheric CH4 for 2020-2022

Atmospheric methane (CH4) growth rates reached unprecedented values in the years 2020-2022. To identify the main drivers of this increase, an inverse modeling study estimated regional and sectoral emission changes for 2016-2022. Three inverse estimates based on different sets of atmospheric CH4 observations (surface observations only, surface and aircraft observations, and GOSAT observations) consistently suggest notable emission increases from 2016-2019 to 2020-2022 in the tropics (15° S-10° N) (10-18 Tg CH4 yr-1) and in northern low latitudes (10-35° N) (ca. 20 Tg CH4 yr-1), the latter of which likely contributed to the growth rate surge from 2020. The emission increase in the northern low latitudes is attributed to emissions in South Asia and northern Southeast Asia, which abruptly increased from 2019 to 2020, and elevated emissions continued until 2022. Meanwhile, the tropical emission increase is dominated by Tropical South America and Central Africa, but emissions were continuously increasing before 2019. Agreement was found in the sectoral estimates of the three inversions in the tropics and northern low latitudes, suggesting the largest contribution of biogenic emissions. Uncertainty reductions demonstrate that the flux estimates in Asia are well constrained by surface and aircraft observations. Furthermore, a sensitivity test with the probable reduction of OH radicals showed smaller emissions by up to 2-3 Tg CH4 yr-1 in each Asian region for 2020, still suggesting notable emission contributions. These results highlight the importance of biogenic emissions in Asian regions for the persistent high growth rate observed during 2020-2022