North Sea Commuting: A Source of Dependence or Development for the Districts? 1987

The project's aim was to find size of adaption young North Sea commuters are exposed to, and which factors that causes this. A questionnaire among 51 marriage partners to offshore workers was carried out. The projects tried to find the size of such reduction and development processes, and to find the factors that demands different adaption of the household when wear and tear process are bigger than the advantages of North Sea commuting

Flexibility of Scope, Type and Temporality in Mustang, Nepal. Opportunities for Adaptation in a Farming System Facing Climatic and Market Uncertainty

Climate change is projected to increase the seasonality in river flows in the great river systems of Himalaya and impose challenges to regional food production. Since climate change increases the uncertainty in local weather patterns, people’s ability to maintain local agricultural production will probably depend on how flexible the local farming systems are to adjust to unpredictable changes. The objective of this paper is to investigate the flexibility of one such farming system which is located in Mustang, Nepal, Himalaya. Defining flexibility as “uncommitted potentialities for change” following Gregory Bateson, the paper identifies opportunities for change in the farming system, as well as factors that constrain flexibility. Further developing the concept of flexibility, it is suggested that flexibility may be analyzed in terms of scope, type and temporal flexibility. Although there are several underexploited resources in the studied farming system, the present situation is not regarded as one of irrational and suboptimal exploitation of resources. Instead, unexploited resources imply opportunities for change, which provide the system with flexibility to rapidly adjust agricultural production to varying and uncertain conditions of production

Flexibility of Scope, Type and Temporality in Mustang, Nepal. Opportunities for Adaptation in a Farming System Facing Climatic and Market Uncertainty

Climate change is projected to increase the seasonality in river flows in the great river systems of Himalaya and impose challenges to regional food production. Since climate change increases the uncertainty in local weather patterns, people’s ability to maintain local agricultural production will probably depend on how flexible the local farming systems are to adjust to unpredictable changes. The objective of this paper is to investigate the flexibility of one such farming system which is located in Mustang, Nepal, Himalaya. Defining flexibility as “uncommitted potentialities for change” following Gregory Bateson, the paper identifies opportunities for change in the farming system, as well as factors that constrain flexibility. Further developing the concept of flexibility, it is suggested that flexibility may be analyzed in terms of scope, type and temporal flexibility. Although there are several underexploited resources in the studied farming system, the present situation is not regarded as one of irrational and suboptimal exploitation of resources. Instead, unexploited resources imply opportunities for change, which provide the system with flexibility to rapidly adjust agricultural production to varying and uncertain conditions of production

The Norwegian trekking association: conditions for its continued existence with new tourism patterns.

The Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT) promotes outdoor activities all over Norway. It marks trails and operates 550 cabins, maintained by extensive voluntary efforts, throughout the country. Based on a case study of one area in Norway in which DNT operates, we discuss the prerequisites for the DNT system to be sustained and the challenges it faces with new tourism patterns. Two main conditions are paramount for the DNT system to develop. First, a large overlap between the core values of DNT and its guests is required. Second, the transfer of norms and conduct inherent in the system is conditioned by social encounters in real time and places, bodily experiences, and facilitated by face-to-face communication between fellow trekkers. Guests who are unfamiliar with the DNT system’s core values and code of conduct may threaten the system; increased attention to promoting the core values in informational material and mentors who guide newcomers may counteract these threats

Sharing among neighbours in a Norwegian suburb

Sharing goods and services has been promoted as fostering more sustainable consumption. In this paper, we explore sharing in a middle-class neighbourhood in a Norwegian city. We ask what influences and frames neighbours’ current sharing practices, contending that Polanyi’s notions of exchange systems, specifically reciprocity and redistribution, yield valuable insights for our study. We show that reciprocal and redistributive sharing may reinforce each other by increasing the frequency of sharing and the variety of items shared. Furthermore, redistributive sharing systems may foster close relations and interpersonal trust, which are prerequisites for reciprocal sharing. Hence, if the goal is to increase the rate of sharing of goods and services in neighbourhoods like that studied here, two initiatives can be valid. First, items with the right affordances can be redistributed by existing institutions; second, reciprocity can be encouraged by organising more opportunities for resident interaction

ShareOn – midtveisrapport mai 2019

ShareOn prosjektet er et samarbeidprosjekt hvor både forskningsmiljøer, offentlige aktører, næringsaktører og idedrevne (ideelle) organisasjoner deltar. Prosjektet er rettet mot å belyse deling som strategi i omstillingen til lavutslippssamfunnet. Denne rapporten omtaler foreløpige funn i prosjektet. Prosjektet ferdigstilles våren 2020

What drives the vulnerability of pastoralists to global environmental change? A qualitative meta-analysis

The long-term viability of pastoralism has been a constant theme for discussions. The progress of knowledge on the sustainability of pastoralism under global environmental change has been notable in the last years. To better characterize this vulnerability, we have examined the existing scientific knowledge about the three dimensions of vulnerability, being exposure illustrated by the existing climate trends and non-climate transformations, sensitivity by the impacts of these on pastoral resources and pastoral land conversions, and adaptation by the adaptation strategies developed by the pastoral communities. A qualitative meta-analysis was conducted to explore patterns and trends across the literature. From this, six different pathways of vulnerability being followed by pastoral communities were identified: Encroachment, Re-greening, Customary, Polarization, Communal and No-alternative. The results point that the livelihood options of pastoralists are generally becoming narrower. Four major forces are identified as exerting determinant influence on the co-production of the vulnerability of pastoralism: (i) the double exposure to climate and non-climate transformations, (ii) the persistence of unfavorable development policies, (iii) the great vitality of adaptation, and (iv) the multifaceted role of markets. We point that it is crucial to distinguish between the component of vulnerability inherent in any economic activity devoted to the use of natural resources, which is the usual business of pastoralism, and the component of vulnerability linked to external forces that disturb the usual working of the pastoral production strategies