Evaluating social sustainability of bioeconomy value chains through integrated use of local and global methods

International audienceA bioeconomy is an economic system, which replaces fossil resources with renewable biological resources. As strategies are implemented, new bio-based value chains are created and others expand to replace fossil fuel based supply chains. Understanding the sustainability impacts of this development requires tools for assessing the impacts. The environmental impacts of bioeconomies have been studied through life cycle assessment, but the social impacts are poorly understood. Commonly applied social sustainability methods are local in scope and lack a life cycle perspective. The aim of this paper was to compare the priority setting in global and local approaches to social sustainability assessment and to explore possibilities for integrating them. A multi-region input-output model was used to estimate the social life cycle impacts of Finnish wood products. The main social issues were found in health and safety and gender inequality, with a large part of the impacts occurring outside the forest sector and outside Finnish boundaries. In contrast, local stakeholders views on social sustainability focused mostly on local conditions, employment and co-operation between companies. Ways to combine the contrasting results were explored and a framework for integrating the local and global approaches was outlined

Conjunctural causation in comparative case-oriented research

Comparative methodology, Causal complexity, Theory development, Political science, Social mechanisms, Decision-making, European Union,

One fungus, one name: defining the genus Fusarium in a scientifically robust way that preserves longstanding use

In this letter, we advocate recognizing the genus Fusarium as the sole name for a group that includes virtually all Fusarium species of importance in plant pathology, mycotoxicology, medicine, and basic research. This phylogenetically guided circumscription will free scientists from any obligation to use other genus names, including teleomorphs, for species nested within this clade, and preserve the application of the name Fusarium in the way it has been used for almost a century. Due to recent changes in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, this is an urgent matter that requires community attention. The alternative is to break the longstanding concept of Fusarium into nine or more genera, and remove important taxa such as those in the F. solani species complex from the genus, a move we believe is unnecessary. Here we present taxonomic and nomenclatural proposals that will preserve established research connections and facilitate communication within and between research communities, and at the same time support strong scientific principles and good taxonomic practice

The effects of pre-enrolment emotions and peer group interaction on students’ satisfaction

Higher education institutions are increasingly involved in measuring students' satisfaction and communicating messages to prospective, current, and previous students. A review of the literature suggests that institutions have traditionally focused on cognitive rather than affective measures, and have communicated messages in a media environment that could be dominated by the institution. This paper seeks to contribute by investigating the role of peer-to-peer social network media in evoking emotions about attending university prior to enrolment and subsequent satisfaction with it. A two-stage study involving 519 prospective students from a UK higher education institution were asked about their cognition and emotions one month prior to enrolment and again one month after. Hypotheses related their involvement in online peer-to-peer media to their perceived level of satisfaction, emotions evoked, and likelihood of recommending the institution. It was found that emotions were a better predictor of likelihood of recommendation than cognitive measures of satisfaction. Positive emotions evoked during the pre-enrolment phase led to positive emotions post-enrolment. There was an association between prospective students' level of involvement with online communities prior to enrolment and their level of evoked positive emotions

Euclid: Discovering pair-instability supernovae with the Deep Survey

Pair-instability supernovae are theorized supernovae that have not yet been observationally confirmed. They are predicted to exist in low-metallicity environments. Because overall metallicity becomes lower at higher redshifts, deep near-infrared transient surveys probing high-redshift supernovae are suitable to discover pair-instability supernovae. The Euclid satellite, which is planned to be launched in 2023, has a near-infrared wide-field instrument that is suitable for a high-redshift supernova survey. Although no dedicated supernova survey is currently planned during the Euclid's 6 year primary mission, the Euclid Deep Survey is planned to make regular observations of three Euclid Deep Fields (40 deg2 in total) spanning six years. While the observations of the Euclid Deep Fields are not frequent, we show that the predicted long duration of pair-instability supernovae would allow us to search for high-redshift pair-instability supernovae with the Euclid Deep Survey. Based on the current observational plan of the Euclid mission, we conduct survey simulations in order to estimate the expected numbers of pair-instability supernova discoveries. We find that up to several hundred pair-instability supernovae at z < ~ 3.5 can be discovered by the Euclid Deep Survey. We also show that pair-instability supernova candidates can be efficiently identified by their duration and color that can be determined with the current Euclid Deep Survey plan. We conclude that the Euclid mission can lead to the first confident discovery of pair-instability supernovae if their event rates are as high as those predicted by recent theoretical studies. We also update the expected numbers of superluminous supernova discoveries in the Euclid Deep Survey based on the latest observational plan