1,827 research outputs found

    Microcredentials to support PBL

    Get PDF

    Alternative Seafood - Exploring Pathways for Norway in the Protein Transition

    Get PDF
    Our global food system is facing major challenges. The growing global population and demand for animal proteins are driving resource pressures, environmental impacts, and hazardous health effects for humans and animals. If we are to feed the world without further destabilizing our planet, major transformations in our food systems are called for. This requires shifts towards sustainable and healthy diets, coupled with transitions to sustainable and equitable production systems. Meat and livestock production is gaining increased attention for being an environmental and health hazard. Seafood on the other hand has a reputation for being a healthy and sustainable alternative. However, seafood supply chains and fish farming systems are currently far from innocent. Industrial wild capture, fish farming and feed production are harming marine and terrestrial ecosystems alike, and the health and wellbeing of animals and humans. Along with the transition to renewable energy and a circular economy, a sustainable civilization calls for transitions toward alternative proteins and regenerative food systems – including a shift in seafood production. New technologies are opening possibilities for a phase-shift in how we produce food. Innovation in plant-based proteins, microbial fermentation and cellular agriculture are providing alternative ways of making the seafood and animal products we know and love – without any animals involved. These alternative proteins are accelerated by the convergence of biotechnology, information technologies, nanotechnologies, 3D-printing, sensors and the like. The fourth industrial revolution has reached the agro-food industry, with sustainable innovations disrupting the incumbent system, and opening up an ocean of opportunity. Megatrends such as the sustainability imperative and flexitarian movement are creating ripe conditions for change. In this research, we explore how Norway can contribute to the protein transition by leading the way in alternative seafood. Despite scarce activity in the space, Norway has an abundance of resources that could be leveraged for alternative proteins, ranging from natural resources to financial and cultural capital. We investigate opportunities, barriers, and strategies to drive forward value chains for this emerging industry, while ensuring a sustainable and just transition. The intended outcomes are foundations for a shared vision and strategy – a roadmap for building an innovation system that can enable new value chains and the protein transition in Norway. We apply pragmatic tools and theoretical frameworks to address this complex challenge - such as systems innovation, value chains, and sustainability transitions. Keywords: alternative proteins, alternative seafood, aquaculture, food systems, bioeconomy, sustainability transitions, socio-technical systems, multi-level perspective, value chains, technological innovation systems, innovation ecosystems, strategy, Norwa

    Wooden multi-storey construction market development in Sweden

    Get PDF
    The ongoing climate change is closely related to greenhouse gas emissions from industries. One of the contributors to these sustainability challenges is the house construction industry. Although residential and commercial construction is needed, the production practices needs to be altered in order to meet sustainability objectives. This licentiate dissertation focuses on conditions for wooden multi-storey construction (WMC) in a Swedish context. It explores the conditions for market development for residential WMC. The dissertation focuses on corporate perspectives, but it also integrates the role of end-consumers. A systematic literature review served as an orientation before conducting empirical case studies analysis. With an understanding of the industrial norm, currently reflected in materials such as concrete and steel, the empirical studies focused on wooden multi-storey construction case studies and end-consumer’s perceptions. These case studies indicate that a transition to WMC is hindered by path dependence, strong market positions for the currently used materials, and dated understandings of wood as a construction material. In the production process of residential construction, wood or other material, the end-consumer, the resident of an apartment in the house to be, is relatively anonymous. This is a reflection of a product dominant logic of the value chain where the end-consumer is a buyer or renter of an apartment. Enabling factors for further WMC market development that were verbalised by the case study respondents are captured in four factors: the properties of wood in a pre-fabrication setting, shorter erection times on site, fewer transports, and awareness of legislative sustainability demands. The case study interviewees report focusing on efficiency and technical properties in their business models - and limited concern for marketing communication and co-creation with end-consumers. The new legislation was seen as an enabling factor for the WMC market development by the case interviewees. It is clear that a sustainability transition, such as a gradual change to renewable construction materials that have carbon capture capacity, will take time. Business models that foster co-creation of value in public private partnerships may enable a WMC market development. The development of new legislation and increased awareness of sustainability aspects in construction is seen as future research areas for sustainable development

    Handbook Transdisciplinary Learning

    Get PDF
    What is transdisciplinarity - and what are its methods? How does a living lab work? What is the purpose of citizen science, student-organized teaching and cooperative education? This handbook unpacks key terms and concepts to describe the range of transdisciplinary learning in the context of academic education. Transdisciplinary learning turns out to be a comprehensive innovation process in response to the major global challenges such as climate change, urbanization or migration. A reference work for students, lecturers, scientists, and anyone wanting to understand the profound changes in higher education

    Exploring the Preventive Quality of Innovations in Adoption and Adoption Intention

    Get PDF
    Among the choices that can be made to address pressing sustainability issues and build resilient societies, the adoption of innovations with preventive qualities represents an opportunity with untapped potential. The preventive quality of innovations is a distinctive feature of innovations that is directed towards avoiding a future, possibly harmful event. However, the adoption of innovations with preventive qualities can be challenged, as their benefits are delayed in time and difficult to observe. Prevention entails proactivity, and this proactive approach can contribute to achieving contemporary sustainability objectives, thus warranting efforts to understand the adoption of innovations with preventive qualities. The study of innovation adoption has seldom considered the preventive quality of innovations outside of health-related applications. However, there are many innovations with underlying qualities of prevention where this aspect could influence adoption; for example, information security behaviors preventing cyber-attacks, wearable devices preventing future diseases, and green innovations and behaviors preventing environmental damage. Studies focusing on the adoption and diffusion of these innovations have not considered this preventive quality. Therefore, there is a research opportunity to study the preventive quality of innovations. This dissertation aimed to explore the preventive quality of innovations, particularly toward building this construct further and identifying factors influencing their adoption. This objective was achieved through the following two research questions (RQs). How do the preventive quality and perceived attributes of innovations influence individual and organizational adoption and intent to adopt? How can adopter characteristics and background factors influence the adoption and intention to adopt innovations with preventive qualities? Six articles covered a series of innovations with preventive qualities across different empirical settings to answer the RQs. All the studied innovations have underlying qualities of climate change prevention and mitigation within the construction and energy sectors. These innovations include the adoption of wood as a building material (Articles I and VI), the purchase of photovoltaic systems (Article II), support for the communal adoption of prevention products and services (Article III), and intent to adopt photovoltaic systems through third-party ownership (Articles IV and V). This work was conducted using a mixed methods approach through qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative methods (in-depth interviews and content analysis) were applied to explore how adopters perceived innovations with preventive qualities. These methods also helped explore the influence of the characteristics of the unwanted event that the innovation seeks to avoid. Quantitative methods (surveys, regression modeling, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling) were then used to identify traditional elements covered across studies of innovation adoption, such as the attributes of innovations and the user and background factors that influence adoption and adoption intention. The findings of these studies helped answer two RQs. Regarding the first RQ, this study identified the preventive quality of innovations to have a positive and influential role in the intent to adopt the innovation; the ability of photovoltaic systems to contribute toward climate change mitigation was a predictor of the intent to adopt. The five attributes of innovations perform differently for innovations with preventive qualities. Relative advantage is less tangible and present in personal forms; trialability and observability can be challenged, as benefits are delayed in time; compatibility might be context specific, as it requires individuals to be motivated toward a goal of prevention; and complexity from cause-and-effect relationships is high. Regarding the second RQ, adopter characteristics and background factors have been identified to influence the adoption of innovations with preventive qualities; these include gender, education, and knowledge about environmental issues. Prevention might be challenging to foster; consequently, innovations with preventive qualities can be perceived as difficult to adopt and diffuse. However, this work found the preventive quality of the innovation to be influential and positive over adoption and adoption intention. Hence, findings in this work highlight the need to conceptualize preventiveness as a construct of innovations to understand better and promote the adoption of innovations with preventive qualities. Future research should delve deeper into the preventive quality, which has now been measured as an influence over adoption; however, could it also be a mediator to other characteristics of innovations? Other avenues for future research include studying the factors behind the adoption of other types of innovations with preventive qualities in cross-cultural settings. Finally, an important research avenue is the further exploration of the characteristics of the unwanted event (namely probability and severity) and the role these play in adoption

    Innovation of Tourism Mobility Systems in Historic City Centres: The Case of Austria

    Get PDF
    Fundamentally, tourism involves people on the move. Although controlled and well-managed tourism mobility can facilitate the sustainable touristic utilisation of places, uncontrolled touristic movement often creates significant challenges for host destinations. Developments in technology and digitalisation, such as the ubiquitous use of smartphones, are changing not only the way tourists move and behave while visiting historic cities, but also the evolution and management of tourism mobility systems in cities. Therefore, it is crucial to understand these changes and their effects on existing tourism mobility systems to benefit from digitalisation. This thesis develops a detailed understanding of the configuration of existing tourism mobility systems to analyse and model digitally induced innovations in tourism mobility systems in tourist-historic cities in Europe. This study employs the multi-level perspective (MLP) as an analytical tool. This approach enables a holistic analysis of innovation processes within tourism mobility by incorporating both internal and external factors that may influence system change. A two-step empirical approach was adopted. First, a scoping study was employed to identify the current innovation status of tourism mobility systems in United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage City Centres in Europe. Based on these findings, in-depth expert interviews were then conducted for the Austrian case cities of Vienna, Salzburg and Graz to develop a detailed understanding of stepwise innovation within digitally penetrated tourism mobility systems. The main contribution of this study is the development of an analytical five-phase innovation model of tourism mobility systems in tourist-historic cities. This model provides a detailed understanding of the general characteristics of each innovation phase of the tourism mobility system and the drivers and constraints of innovation. The five-phase model can be used as an assessment tool to establish the current innovation status of a local tourism mobility system and to evaluate the readiness of the system to innovate (further). In addition, for the tourism mobility systems investigated in the research, a detailed understanding of the actor configuration was revealed, including the roles and responsibilities of the actors. This thesis also contributes to the conceptual discussion of tourism mobility as a joint objective for research and will be of utility to practitioners in developing more sustainable tourism mobility systems

    Evidence-based practice to develop social communication competency: listening to the voices of teachers of autistic children

    Get PDF
    In education research, there is a firm belief that reflecting on inclusive pedagogy is imperative for teachers, as effective inclusion means considering the child’s needs on all levels and adopting appropriate practices to meet these needs in schools (Lerner and Johns 2015). The appropriate practices, recommended for teachers of autistic children should have a research base, with evidence of their effectiveness to show what works to support learning. Such practices are termed evidence-based practices (EBPs). The 2016 Review of Autism Spectrum D[ifference] (ASD) Provision, commissioned by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), has identified that in Ireland there are ‘significant gaps in our knowledge of interventions for supporting children and young people with ASD, at different ages and in different educational settings’ (Bond et al. 2016, p.139). Despite global efforts, an upsurge in the availability of literature on ASD and the existence of high-quality experimental research, recommendations from empirical studies are not always transmitting into effective practice (Joyce and Cartwright 2020). The researcher sought to document the EBPs, that teachers report as most effective in early years’ classrooms, to facilitate social communication competency (SCC), which is acknowledged, nationally and internationally, as significant for autistic children. The research study utilised a detailed systematic literature review to provide an authentic evidence-based foundation that informed data collection, for teachers to use to reflect on their practice. The research adopted a cross-sectional survey as the data collection instrument, which was completed by a purposeful sample of teachers nationally across Ireland. A mixed methods approach to data analysis was embraced, whereby quantitative and qualitative analyses were combined to yield rich data (Creswell and Guetterman 2021). The study adopted Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory as its theoretical framework for analysis. It unveiled the perspectives of teachers in relation to EBPs, which they employ to teach SCC to autistic children in early years’ classrooms. Emerging from the voices of the teachers, seen as key stakeholders in the provision of education for autistic children, several recommendations are suggested for policy and practice, nationally and internationally.N
    • …
    corecore