Adaptive pastoralists – Insights into local and regional patterns in livelihood adaptation choices among pastoralists in Kenya.

Pastoralist adaptation strategies have to address multiple, overlapping, and often inter-related processes of socioecological change. The present study addresses the need for inter-regional comparative studies that account for diferent geographic, climate, and socio-economic contexts in order to understand how pastoralists adapt to changes in livelihood conditions. The paper uses data from a unique survey study of pastoralist households in four neighbouring counties in dryland Kenya. Taking our point of departure from an empirically based classifcation of the livelihood strategies available to pastoralists in the Horn of Africa, the survey ofers novel insights into adaptation and fodder management strategies of pastoralist individuals and households. The results show that the use of migration as a strategy is more dependent on the ability to migrate than climate conditions. This is the case in localities where a substantial part of the land is subdivided, the population density is high, and where opportunities for migration are subsequently restricted. Diversifcation of livelihoods as a strategy is largely defned by opportunity. Intensifcation through active fodder management is mainly common in areas where there has been a proliferation of managed enclosures. Climate change will test the adaptive capacity of pastoralists in the studied region, and diversifcation and intensifcation strategies of both herd composition and livelihoods can be seen as strategies for increased climate resilience

Damned if you do, Damned if you don't – Reduced Climate Impact vs. Sustainable Forests in Sweden

The main objective of this paper is to analyze the potential goal conflict between two of Sweden’s environmental objectives: Sustainable Forests and Reduced Climate Impact – or, more precisely, the conflict between forest conservation and the supply of wood fuel. To accomplish this, we use a forest sector model that includes the suppliers and major users of roundwood. The econometric results, based on a data set that spans 40 years, show that all the own price elasticities have the expected signs. Among the three forestry products, the supply and (long-term) demand of forest fuel seems to be most sensitive to a price change. In a second step, the estimated model is used to simulate the effect of increased forest conservation -- the Sustainable Forest objective -- on the supply of wood fuel. If oil is used as a substitute, Swedish emissions of greenhouse gases will increase by almost 0.92 percent, which indicates a clear conflict with the Reduced Climate Impact objective.Goal conflict; Wood fuels; Forest sector model; Roundwood markets; Forest conservation

Outcomes and Determinants of Success of a Performance Payment Scheme for Carnivore Conservation

This paper presents a first empirical assessment of the outcomes and determinants of carnivore conservation success in Sweden’s pioneer performance payment scheme. Carnivores in northern Sweden depend on reindeer as prey which causes conflicts with reindeer herders. As compensation and conservation incentive, the government issues performance payments to reindeer herder villages based on the number of carnivore offspring certified on their land. The villages decide on the internal use and distribution of the payments. In the literature, it is generally assumed that benefit distribution rules are exogenously given. We extend the literature by developing a model to investigate such rules as endogenous decision. We hypothesize that conservation success is determined by natural geographical factors and each village’s capability to engage in collective action to manage the internal payments so that conserving rather than hunting carnivores becomes villagers’ optimal strategy. The hypotheses developed are tested with empirical village and household-level data from Sweden. The paper concludes that if limited hunting is legal, conservation success strongly depends on villages’ potential for collective action and their payment distribution rule. In cases without legal hunting, performance payments together with penalties on poaching provide sufficient incentives for herders to refrain from illicit hunting. Furthermore, the data reveals that villages’ group size has a direct negative effect on conservation outcomes as predicted by collective action theory. However, there is also an indirect effect which positively impacts conservation outcomes through the payment distribution rule. This result, at least in part, revises the general collective action hypothesis on purely negative effects of group size and highlights the importance of investigating factors driving groups’ internal benefit distribution rules.Conservation performance payments; wildlife conservation; collective action; empirical policy assessment; Sweden

a paradoxical situation in Swedish upper secondary school

The background to this study is the increasing differences in grades and throughput between males and females in Swedish upper secondary school. This study has therefore investigated the relationship between beliefs about study motivation and gender in Sweden in seven different study programs in upper secondary school. The beliefs about study motivation were measured through a questionnaire consisting of 38 items that were administered to 155 female and 107 male students in upper secondary school in one region in Sweden. The Mann-Whitney test was employed to investigate gender difference. Results indicate that overall males and females to 2/ 3 held similar beliefs about their motivation to study but to 1/3 differed at a significant level. Overall, the importance of schools, teachers, families and their own efforts is highly appreciated in the study. The difference is evident mainly in the value of the teacher's importance and role in the classroom, where males have higher estimate. However, females believe that the school is less safe, that the classrooms are less inviting and that there is less silence in the lessons compared to males. The study partly explains the seemingly paradoxical situation in students' different learning strategies and addresses didactic improvements to teachers. &nbsp

Comparing Conventional and New Policy Approaches for Carnivore Conservation – Theoretical Results and Application to Tiger Conservation

New policy approaches to facilitate the co-existence of wildlife and livestock are increasingly being sought-after as human sprawl increases and carnivore populations decrease. In this paper, models are developed to assess how alternative policy approaches can provide a livestock herder with incentives to sustain the socially optimal carnivore population. The wellestablished policy ex-post compensation is analyzed and compared to the innovative conservation performance payment approach. An empirical analysis of the model with data from tiger-livestock conflicts in India is presented.

Benefit Transfer for Environmental Improvements in Coastal Areas: General vs. Specific Models

In this study, we used choice experiment data to analyze the accuracy of benefit transfer (BT) between two case study areas in Sweden for attributes relevant to the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive and special consideration zones in marine areas. The accuracy and reliability of a BT based on a model including only easily available socioeconomic information is similar to the accuracy of a BT based on a model that gives the best statistical fit, but requires time-consuming data collection. Further, the former model has almost as good a fit as the latter. The BT error varies significantly across the attributes, regardless of which model is used. The results are inconclusive as to whether socioeconomic adjustments improve transfer or not.Choice experiments; Benefits transfer; Water Framework Directive

Increasing forest biomass supply in Northern Europe - Countrywide estimates and economic perspectives

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Comparing Conventional and New Policy Approaches for Carnivore Conservation: Theoretical Results and Application to Tiger Conservation

New policy approaches to facilitate the co-existence of wildlife and livestock are needed for situations where predation incidents greatly impact households' income and retaliatory killing threatens endangered carnivore species' survival. In this paper, models are developed to assess how two alternative policy approaches impact a herder's decisions on carnivore hunting and livestock protection. We find that while the well-established ex-post compensation policy induces suboptimal livestock protection it can generate sufficient incentives for the herder to refrain from hunting so that the carnivore population reaches its socially optimal level. Performance payments are proposed as alternative policy. They are found not to distort livestock protection incentives and can also help achieve a socially optimal carnivore population level. Which of the two scheme types gives rise to less cost is ambiguous. An empirical analysis of the model with data from tiger-livestock conflicts in India is presente

Pupil influence in Swedish compulsory schools, a way of 'learning' and 'living' democracy

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Understanding the dynamics of study motivation: An in-depth analysis of teachers' perceptions in primary schools

Research has shown students’ study motivation is complex and demanding. It also asserts that teachers’ perceptions and attitudes are decisive, complex, and demanding because they need to make many choices about planning and handling lessons and review their fundamental beliefs about study motivation. We aimed to describe teachers’ perceptions of students’ study motivation. We collected the data from nine focus-group interviews with 26 Swedish teachers in five primary schools. Through reflexive thematic analysis, the following six themes of perceptions emerged: emotions, teachers, teaching, learning environment, family and friends, and health and well-being. Although many teachers assumed students have more intrinsic than extrinsic motivation, they described more extrinsic motivation factors. Changing factors of importance for study motivation are primarily background factors, things needed to feel and function in everyday life, such as good health, friends, and functioning relationships. The study’s results make an important contribution to understanding teachers as a starting point for understanding their didactic choices and how these choices can affect students, as well as how teaching could be changed to correspond more closely to students’ needs and conditions