Ackerwildkrautschutz in Luxemburg durch Schutzäcker, Feldflorareservate und Ökologische Landwirtschaft

Arable plants are becoming increasingly rare in today's cultural landscape and belong to the most endangered plant species in Luxemburg. Their main threat is the intensification of agriculture, where high usage of pesticides and fertilizer, better seed cleaning methods and the abandonment of marginal yield sites all negatively affect arable plant communities. Another factor is the loss of (potential) habitat due to the expansion of settlements and subsequent loss of agricultural lands. The dire situation calls for urgent action. Within the framework of the bachelor thesis of the first author, a concept for the protection of arable plants in Luxembourg was developed. The following article describes and discusses the four most promising applied approaches to arable plant conservation identified in the course of this work, namely organic farming, two types of “conservation fields” (“Schutzacker” and “Feldflorareservat”) and pesticide-free field margins

Chinese innovation system stakeholders’ perception of the importance and use of IP: Lessons from a field trip

Innovation has an increasing role in the economic progress of China. With Chinese patent applications surpassing those of Western countries, we aim to understand what is the actual perception and understanding of the value and importance of intellectual property (IP)on the ground in China. This paper reports insights from a field trip across 3key innovation clusters in China (Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai). We conduct an ethnographic studyusing20semi-structuredinterviews with academics and researchers, representatives from enterprises and economic service firms as well as university leaders and policy makers. The results reveal a high level of IP awareness in China. Whether academics, governmental representatives, entrepreneurs or venture capital executives, all interviews reveal a strong understanding and visibility of the importance of IP. Governmental rules for subsidizing patent applications seems to be changing in China in order to move from quantity to quality. While at least the leading universities have established technology transfer offices (TTOs), there still a need for improve service offerings given that these are still offered by IP law firms. Moreover, leading universities offer occasional IP guest lectures and they are in the process of installing IP. In addition, investors seem to understand the importance of IP when making investment decisions. We identify a positive speed of which Chinese innovation system actors are becoming increasingly IP savvy. At the same time, China’s large market size makes it less attractive to consider international IP strategies in early stages of a business. After succeeding in China, companies tend to prefer expanding into other Asian markets first, before venturing into Europe or the US

Naturschutzleistungen des Ökologischen Landbaus: Wiederansiedlung seltener und gefährdeter Ackerwildpflanzen naturräumlicher Herkünfte auf Ökobetrieben

Die Intensivierung der Landwirtschaft hat zum Rückgang vieler Ackerwildpflanzen geführt. Der Ökologische Landbau bietet günstige Voraussetzungen für ihren Schutz. Wie entsprechende Populationen etabliert werden können, untersuchte ein Verbundprojekt der Bayerischen Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft, der Technischen Universität München und der Universität Kassel. Die AG Freising untersuchte drei seltene winterannuelle Arten (Consolida regalis, Legousia speculumveneris, Lithospermum arvense) in mehrfaktoriellen Feldversuchen, in Praxisaus-saaten auf Bio-Betrieben sowie in Gewächshausexperimenten. Messgrößen waren Individuendichte, Samenproduktion und Bodensamenvorrat der Zielarten, zudem wurde der Ertrag der Feldfrüchte bestimmt. Frühe Herbstsaaten und geringe Konkurrenz durch Kulturen brachten beste Erfolge. Zur erfolgreichen Ansiedlung der Ackerwildkräuter wird eine Aussaat in Blanksaat oder in reduziert gesäten Winterungen, wie Dinkel oder Roggen, bis spätestens Mitte Oktober empfohlen. Klee-Gras und Sommerungen wie Erbsen ermöglichten kaum bzw. kein Auflaufen der Zielarten, die jedoch teils im Bodensamenvorrat überdauern. Die AG Witzenhausen untersuchte die Wiederansiedlung von Ackerwildkräutern auf Praxis-betrieben. Dazu wurden artenreiche Spenderflächen identifiziert und autochthones Saatgut gefährdeter Arten entnommen. Samenmischungen wurden in Blühfenster und den benachbarten Getreidebestand ausgebracht. Zudem wurde die Übertragung von Oberboden arten-reicher Flächen getestet. Im Anlagejahr konnte sich bei beiden Verfahren ein Teil der eingebrachten Arten reproduzieren. Dies gelang bei Konkurrenz mit Getreide tendenziell schlechter. In den Folgejahren konnten bei Anbau von Getreide wiederum einige Arten nachgewiesen werden; die meisten Samen gelangten bei Bodenbearbeitung in tiefere Bodenschichten und reicherten die Samenbank an. Praxisempfehlungen zur Wiederansiedlung von Ackerwildkräutern auf ökologisch bewirtschafteten Äckern wurden als Broschüre veröffentlicht

Advancing climate change adaptation technologies: Exploring patenting motives and barriers of low- and middle-income inventors

Climate change adaptation technologies (CCAT) are critically needed in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), which tend to be most affected by climate change. Inventors from LMIC (i.e. LMIC inventors) tend to possess valuable local knowledge for developing CCAT inventions. While previous research shows that IP rights regimes, such as patent systems, tend to be weak in LMIC, little is known about the motives for LMIC inventors that still apply for patents and the barriers they face. In this study, we focus particularly on LMIC inventors that develop CCAT inventions, investigating their patenting motives, benefits, and barriers. We identified CCAT inventions that originated from LMIC using the Y02A CPC patent classification. From an astonishingly small sample of 71 patents, we interviewed thirteen inventors using a semi-structured interview approach. From an inductive coding approach, six propositions emerged that we discussed subsequently with policy experts, such as from the United Nations Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) and WIPO Green. Despite the fact that patent regimes in LMIC tend to be weak, our findings indicate the important role of patents for LMIC inventors to attract investments and facilitate technology diffusion. However, weak national patent systems and corruption in LMIC tend to limit the protection of inventions, which appears to be a barrier for inventors. The results also indicate that national and international organisations should consider better supporting LMIC inventors by providing more IP education and more effective technology matchmaking models. Findings also imply that the need for CCAT inventions represents an innovation opportunity for LMIC, with potential substantial economic benefits

The Role of Management in the Firm-Level Relationship between Green Innovation and Environmental and Financial Performance

This study investigates the relationship between green innovation (measured by Y02 patent data), environmental performance (measured by GHG emissions), and financial performance (measured by Tobin's Q) in European companies for the years 2017 to 2021. Additionally, the study explores the moderating role of companies' top-level management characteristics, particularly board gender diversity in the aforementioned relationships. The findings reveal that green innovation is associated with a reduction in GHG emissions and an increase in Tobin's Q, indicating improved environmental and financial performance. Board gender diversity strengthens the negative relationship between green innovation and GHG emissions but does not exhibit a significant effect on the relationship between green innovation and Tobin's Q. The results contribute to the literature by offering insights into the impact of green innovation in European companies, highlighting the relevance of board gender diversity, and utilizing Y02 patent classification for identifying and measuring green innovation

The Forward Physics Facility at the High-Luminosity LHC

High energy collisions at the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produce a large number of particles along the beam collision axis, outside of the acceptance of existing LHC experiments. The proposed Forward Physics Facility (FPF), to be located several hundred meters from the ATLAS interaction point and shielded by concrete and rock, will host a suite of experiments to probe standard model (SM) processes and search for physics beyond the standard model (BSM). In this report, we review the status of the civil engineering plans and the experiments to explore the diverse physics signals that can be uniquely probed in the forward region. FPF experiments will be sensitive to a broad range of BSM physics through searches for new particle scattering or decay signatures and deviations from SM expectations in high statistics analyses with TeV neutrinos in this low-background environment. High statistics neutrino detection will also provide valuable data for fundamental topics in perturbative and non-perturbative QCD and in weak interactions. Experiments at the FPF will enable synergies between forward particle production at the LHC and astroparticle physics to be exploited. We report here on these physics topics, on infrastructure, detector, and simulation studies, and on future directions to realize the FPF's physics potential

The Forward Physics Facility at the High-Luminosity LHC

International audienceHigh energy collisions at the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produce a large number of particles along the beam collision axis, outside of the acceptance of existing LHC experiments. The proposed Forward Physics Facility (FPF), to be located several hundred meters from the ATLAS interaction point and shielded by concrete and rock, will host a suite of experiments to probe Standard Model (SM) processes and search for physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). In this report, we review the status of the civil engineering plans and the experiments to explore the diverse physics signals that can be uniquely probed in the forward region. FPF experiments will be sensitive to a broad range of BSM physics through searches for new particle scattering or decay signatures and deviations from SM expectations in high statistics analyses with TeV neutrinos in this low-background environment. High statistics neutrino detection will also provide valuable data for fundamental topics in perturbative and non-perturbative QCD and in weak interactions. Experiments at the FPF will enable synergies between forward particle production at the LHC and astroparticle physics to be exploited. We report here on these physics topics, on infrastructure, detector, and simulation studies, and on future directions to realize the FPF's physics potential

The International Linear Collider: Report to Snowmass 2021

International audienceThe International Linear Collider (ILC) is on the table now as a new global energy-frontier accelerator laboratory taking data in the 2030s. The ILC addresses key questions for our current understanding of particle physics. It is based on a proven accelerator technology. Its experiments will challenge the Standard Model of particle physics and will provide a new window to look beyond it. This document brings the story of the ILC up to date, emphasizing its strong physics motivation, its readiness for construction, and the opportunity it presents to the US and the global particle physics community