Towards (re)generative agriculture

The challenges of adapting farming in response to climate change, degraded soils, depleted natural resources and an increasing population have created new agricultural concepts with focus on an environmentally long-term sustainable way of producing food. One possible solution presented is regenerative agriculture, an alternative form of food production that focus on building and re-forming resilient ecological systems supported by ecosystem processes. Regenerative agriculture works with various agricultural practices and management techniques and focus on the entire ecosystems to be able to establish a selfsustained well functional system. Techniques and practises used within the concept also contributes to building carbon in the soil, which leads to less impact on the climate. - However, the concept lacks a formalized definition and critical voices have been raised regarding its presumed positive impact on soil health, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration. This study thus aims to investigates farmers and gardeners currently practise regenerative agriculture on Gotland, Sweden’s largest island, to enabling future studies. A mixed method was used to enabling both collection of data in terms of management practises and techniques through a questionnaire and investigating thoughts and ideas about the concept with semi-structured interviews. The results illustrated regenerative agriculture as a flexible concept both in terms of practises and techniques used on the farm and gardens and as well the ideas and thoughts expressed

The 2015 Greek Referendum. EPIN Commentary No. 24, 3 July 2015

The Greek government called a snap referendum on the proposals advanced by the EU partners and creditor, i.e. the draft Agreement submitted by the EU/IMF to the Eurogroup of 25 June 2015. There has been a major controversy among Greek constitutional lawyers about whether this referendum meets constitutional requirements. No doubt, the constitutional validity of this referendum could be challenged on pure normative terms (nature of the question, time limit); yet this shock call for a referendum appeared as the only political solution for the Greek government facing the dilemma of whether to take the plunge of having five-months of negotiations transformed into a negative-sum game

Animal welfare for dogs and cats : a survey on dog and cat owners’ view on the Swedish animal welfare legislation

In Swedish households there are approximately 1 443 000 cats and 881 000 dogs. About 20% of the households have at least one cat and about 15% have at least one dog. The owners of these pets are obliged to comply with the animal welfare legislation regarding cats and dogs. The County Administrative Boards (länsstyrelserna) are responsible for ensuring that the legal requirements are met. However, inspections are not carried out on a regular basis. Unless a County Administrative Board receives a complaint from the general public about an owner potentially not complying with the legislation, and considers that report to justify an inspection, a cat or dog owner will not be subject to one. It is every cat and dog owners’ individual responsibility to meet the legal requirements and, according to these, have the competence needed to properly care for their pet. Despite this fact, the owners’ lack of knowledge, or ability to care for their cat or dog, is usually the reason for why they fail to comply with the legislation. This study investigated Swedish cat and dog owners’ view on the animal welfare legislation for pet cats and dogs with the aim to understand the owners’ knowledge, experience and opinions about the legislation and the effect this can have on their pets. The method used was a survey shared on the social media platform “Facebook” which resulted in responses from 115 cat and/or dog owners. The results showed that many owners had heard about the animal welfare act with its supporting regulations and had some knowledge about how to find them but also that they lacked knowledge about what they included. It was found that only few had searched in the regulations and that it was common to turn to Google or equivalent when seeking information about the legislation. The findings show that the level of knowledge could lead to negative consequences for cats and dogs. To ensure good animal protection and welfare we could benefit from making the regulations easily accessible and educating cat and dog owners on the legislation. Further research is needed to fully understand cat and dog owners’ perception on the animal welfare legislation and how to improve the owners’ level of knowledge

Local Structure and Dynamics of Next Generation Electrolytes - linking microscopic and macroscopic properties

The electrolyte is a crucial part of a battery in terms of performance, longevity and safety. However, the state-of-the-art electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries are based on organic solvents and Li-salts (typically at 1M concentration) which are volatile and degrade at higher temperatures. In addition, these electrolytes are not suitable for next generation battery concepts where the use of metallic lithium at the anode side is a prerequisite. Thus, there is currently a strong effort to find new electrolyte concepts to both improve safety of current battery technology and pave way for next generation batteries. In the search for new electrolytes, highly concentrated electrolytes and ionic liquids have been proposed as alternatives through properties such as high thermal stability, lower reactivity with cell components and increased electrochemical stability window.A common feature for highly concentrated electrolytes and ionic liquids is an ordering on mesoscopic length scales, normally not found in simple liquids, resulting from the correlation between the ions. This nanostructure can be expected to influence the ion transport and a key to developing these new electrolyte concepts is to understand the structure and dynamics on mesoscopic length scales and how this links to macroscopic transport. In this thesis, the microscopic properties of ionic liquids and diluted ionic liquids are investigated together with highly concentrated electrolytes based on an organic solvent. To achieve this goal X-ray and neutron scattering are invaluable tools as they allow for measurements at the time and length scale of typical molecular motions and interactions. Complementary techniques such as conductivity and viscosity measurements, differential scanning calorimetry, and Raman spectroscopy have been used in order to link between the macroscopic and microscopic properties and between local structure and dynamics

Status of three great crested newt Triturus cristatus populations after translocation

The great crested newt Triturus cristatus has a high legal protection in Europe through the Bern Convention and Habitats Directive, which often come into conflict with human development. Translocation of populations are increasingly being used as a “solution” to this conflict, but the implications for the populations’ status are not known. With the aim of investigating these effects, three translocated populations in Stockholm, Sweden were studied using a capture-mark-recapture method. The results show that both population size and body condition of the great crested newt can be affected by translocation. The results indicate a 90 % local population decrease for one of the populations, while the other two studied populations seem unaffected. The difference is probably due to the removal of drift fence for the population that had declined, while the drift fence remained for the other two populations. For the population that decreased, body condition increased after translocation, but was still lower compared to the other two populations. This study shows that translocation of great crested newt populations can negatively impact their status, possibly due to a strong “homing-behavior” when the drift fence around the receptor site has been removed. This homing-behavior likely persist for more than one and a half years after translocation. Further studies are needed to investigate factors that affect salamanders’ long-term population changes and body condition after translocation, including long-term effects of drift fence around the receptor site

Realist Legitimacy

This thesis is an investigation of realist theories of political legitimacy, with a particular focus on two realist accounts of legitimacy – those of Amanda Greene (2019) and Bernard Williams (2005). Many theorists have taken the view that realist accounts of legitimacy clearly provide an insufficient normative standard of legitimacy. This thesis provides a challenge to such critics by offering a partial defence of (some kinds of) realist accounts of legitimacy as providing a viable normative standard of legitimacy. The thesis argues, first, that realist theories of legitimacy have more impressive normative implications than might be thought, and second, that there are good reasons to reject forms of critique of realist legitimacy based on ‘external’ moral standards. This latter argument is based on an understanding of realist legitimacy as offering an ‘internalist’ standard for the moral evaluation of states’ rule

The female perspective on a situation of uncertainty

Climate change impacts are becoming more severe globally, with estimations of a continued negative trend in the future. This interacts with increasing natural disasters as well as non-climatic stressors, such as pandemics or social stressors, creating a multi-exposure to stressors especially harmful for rural populations and small-scale farmers who depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. Men and women are impacted differently by stressors and face different opportunities to respond, which relates to gendered social roles. The multi-exposure to stressors, and interaction of them, may also have accumulated effects. Therefore, this thesis examines how women experience and navigate exposure to multiple enivronmental and other stressors over time, and what the accumulated effect of continued exposure to it is on women during their life trajectories. Nepal is a country that has experienced multiple different overlapping stressors in recent years, such as climate change, the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, high levels of food insecurity, significant out-migration and the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, it provides an opportunity for examining how multiple stressors intersect long-term within a household and how it impacts women’s daily lives. Through a case study, the thesis builds on semi-structured interviews combined with other participatory rural appraisal methods. For a deeper understanding of how social structures and biophysical factors shape how women in rural Nepal experience and navigate multiple stressors over time, the analysis builds on the concept of vulnerability. Vulnerability refers to the susceptibility of being harmed by an event and is in this study conceptualized as contextual, gendered and with a cumulative effect. The empirical findings show that not all women experience a stressor in the same way, however, there is a common feeling of women being more impacted, feeling more concerned and facing a heavier burden than men. Stressors lead to increased time and labor for women in the responsibilities they have, such as domestic work, agricultural work and childcare. It also shows how women greatly worry about food, safety and health of the family when experiencing different types of stressors. These aspects all relate to social structures and gender roles, affecting women’s daily lives, experienced impacts and responses. The gender roles also mean they lack voice and decision-making power. Multi-exposure to stressors is found to lead to an increased emotional stress for women. Through highlighting life histories, the study shows how vulnerability is personally experienced and that interaction between multiple stressors over time shapes women’s long-term prospects for lives they value. While women are found to be restricted in their gender roles, there are also demonstrated ways in which women come together and organize themselves. This indicates that changes may be happening and that gender does not only mean differentiated vulnerability. Shared gender can also be a source of strength and solidarity in times of stress

In the Zone - An analysis of the essential legal requirements for the creation of a Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone in the Middle East

Med start år 1967 har folkrätten fått en rad tillskott av multilaterala överenskommelser genom uppkomsten av en ny typ av traktat. Dessa traktat har skapats för att stifta så kallade kärnvapenfria zoner och är i grunden folkrättsligt bindande överenskommelser som etablerar komplett nedrustning av kärnvapen inom ett geografiskt avgränsat område. Det internationella samfundet har under flera decennier diskuterat etableringen av en sådan zon i Mellanöstern, dock utan föranleda några konkreta åtgärder. I ljuset av den senare tidens instabilitet i regionen och risken för spridning av kärnvapen, har zonen återigen blivit föremål för diskussion, denna gång med ambitionen att utöka dess räckvidd till att omfatta inte bara kärnvapen utan alla massförstörelsevapen samt dess vapenbärare, det vill säga nukleära, biologiska och kemiska vapen samt missiler eller andra medel för levererandet av vapnet till sitt mål. Initiativet för en massförstörelsevapenfri zon utgör en ny idé och har många utmaningar framför sig. Denna uppsats använder sig av en rättspolitisk metod för att utforska de grundläggande förutsättningarna för inrättandet av en framgångsrik massförstörelsevapenfri zon i Mellanöstern. Detta mål uppfylls genom att undersöka svagheter i såväl de existerande nedrustningskonventionerna (som reglerar nukleära, biologiska och kemiska vapen), som de redan existerande traktaten som inrättar kärnvapenfria zoner. Uppsatsen belyser flera framtida problem, bland annat bristen på en verifierbar och folkrättsligt bindande traktatregim för vapenbärare, sannolikheten för framtida normkonflikter om den blivande zonen följer prejudikaten satta av tidigare kärnvapenfria zoner, den känsliga frågan om avlägsnandet av den israeliska kärnvapenarsenalen från zonen och dess efterföljande förstörelse samt hur man kan kompensera för svagheter i verifikationsåtgärder vad gäller efterlevnad av traktatförpliktelser för biologiska vapen. Avslutningsvis mynnar uppsatsen ut i en samling rekommendationer som besvarar frågeställningen genom en lista med föreslagna traktatbestämmelser. Dessa inkluderar bland annat inrättandet av en regional organisation för stöd i frågor som rör verifikations- och förtroendeskapande åtgärder, begränsandet av den geografiska avgränsningen i havsområden till att enbart omfatta respektive stats territorialhav samt inkluderandet av rätten att efterfråga och skyldigheten att acceptera utmaningsinspektioner (challenge inspections) för att förstärka verifikationen av traktatefterlevnad för alla typer av massförstörelsevapen.Since 1967, public international law has had many treaty additions through so-called nuclear weapon free zones, treaties that have been created through legally binding agreements to pursue complete nuclear disarmament within a geographically defined area. The international community has for decades discussed the establishment of such a zone in the Middle East, but without prompting any concrete action. In the light of recent instabilities and the enhanced risk of regional nuclear weapon proliferation, the zone has come up for discussion once again, this time with the ambition of an extended scope in order to establish “an effectively verifiable Middle East Zone Free of Weapons of Mass Destruction, nuclear, chemical and biological, and their delivery systems”. This initiative for a weapons of mass destruction free zone is a complete novelty, and stands to face many challenges. This thesis explores, with a legal policy perspective, the essential requirements for the establishment of a successful weapons of mass destruction free zone in the Middle East, by looking at weaknesses in existing disarmament treaties (regulating nuclear, biological and chemical weapons) as well as the previous treaties establishing nuclear weapon free zones. The thesis sheds light on several future problems such as: the lack of a verifiable and legally binding treaty regime for delivery vehicles, i.e. missiles and other means of delivering the weapon to its intended target, the likelihood of normative conflicts developing if the future zone follows the precedents set by earlier nuclear weapon free zones, the delicate issue of removing the existing Israeli nuclear arsenal from the zone and its subsequent destruction, and how to compensate for weaknesses in verification of compliance regarding biological weapons. Concluding by a set of recommendations, the thesis answers the research question by offering a list of proposed treaty provisions. These include, inter alia, establishing a supporting regional organisation for matters of verification and confidence building, limiting the geographical scope of marine areas to the territorial seas in order not to repeat the mistakes of earlier nuclear weapon free zones, and adding the right to and obligation of challenge inspections to enhance verification of compliance regarding all three types of weapons of mass destruction

Personality, Movement, andInfection in a Wild Population of Bank Voles (Myodes glareolus)

Personality affects many life decisions and potentially has major consequences on ecological and evolutionary processes. Personality-dependent local movement affects interactions between individuals, resource acquisition, and the risk of encountering predators and pathogens. Thus, differences in behavioral types can have larger consequences on fitness. Here, I investigated personality-dependent local movement, Puumala (PUUV) infection, and overwintering survival of a wild population of bank voles (Myodes glarolus). Voles were captured and tagged in a field site in Northeastern Sweden. I evaluated personality using standardized tests in field, collected mouth swab samples for PUUV analysis, and recorded local movement using an automated technology for logging PIT-tagged voles. Anxiety- and stress-tolerant voles visit the human dwellings more than the forest and thus exhibit a habitat preference. Moreover, the stress and anxiety-tolerant voles occupying the human dwelling to a larger degree were temporally closer to each other posing a potential risk for encountering pathogens. However, no PUUV was detected, indicating that infection risk was low and that neither of the habitats act as an infection hub or refugia during the study period. Furthermore, overwintering survival showed tendencies of being positively affected by anxiety- and stress-tolerance. However, the mechanisms behind this remain undetermined. Consequently, this pilot study provides evidence for personality-dependent local movements and provides a compelling argument for further long-term studies of the interaction between personality-dependent movement and ecological factors as well as their effect on survival