Living with strangers: exploring motivations and stated preferences for considering co-housing and shared living in Bergen, Norway

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest among urban residents, policy makers, and researchers in co-housing as a socially, environmentally, and sustainable housing alternative. In Norway, however, co-housing is still a relatively unknown and niche housing option among the general population. This paper presents a qualitative research study of potential residents’ stated preferences and underlying motivation concerning co-housing and shared living in Norway. We conducted ten semi-structured interviews with potential residents for a co-housing pilot project in the city of Bergen, Norway. We analyzed the data using thematic analysis and categorized different motivational reasons and preferences. The mix of age groups in the sample contributed to understanding differences and similarities in motivation and preferences, as well as the likelihood of converting co-housing interest into action. We found that pragmatism and social motivation were the main drivers for co-housing. Although environmental concerns were ranked second, they were consistently prevalent among the participants. Esthetics – for example, a “wow factor” – were emphasized as important for co-housing building preferences.publishedVersio

Three Dimensions of the Relationship Between Gender Role Attitudes and Fertility Intentions

The relationship between gender role attitudes and fertility intentions is highly debated among social scientists. We emphasize the need for a multidimensional theoretical and empirical approach to extend the two-step behavioral gender revolution approach to a three-step attitudinal gender revolution approach distinguishing between gender roles in the public sphere, mothers’ role in the family, and fathers’ role in the family. Using the Generations and Gender Survey of eight European countries, we demonstrate the usefulness of such an approach. Gender equal attitudes related to the public sphere are more widespread than those concerning mothers’ or fathers’ roles in the family. Our results show that the association between gender role attitudes and fertility intentions varies—in terms of significance and magnitude—according to the dimension considered (gender roles in the public sphere, mothers’ and fathers’ role in the family), gender, parity, and country. We conclude that without a clear concept of and empirical distinction between the various elements of the gender role attitudes/fertility nexus, scientific investigations will continue to send conflicting messages

Insurance loss data for improved climate change adaptation. Conditions for data sharing and utilization

Climate change has led to an increased risk of damage to buildings and infrastructure. Norwegian municipalities have intensified their efforts to address climate change adaptation and the prevention of climate-related damage due to natural hazards. The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB) has developed a so-called ‘Knowledge Bank’, which is a Norwegian web-based data platform containing information about risk and vulnerability related to natural events. The Knowledge Bank serves to compile civil protection data and makes these available to municipalities, providing them with an improved overview and knowledge about undesirable events and natural disasters as a basis for cost-benefit analysis, risk, and vulnerability assessments. The platform also includes data related to natural and weather-related damage derived from insurance companies. Previous research related to insurance data and the Knowledge Bank carried out at the Klima 2050 Centre has addressed attitudes to data sharing among insurance companies, the value of insurance data, and the potential to use these data to predict events. It has also addressed the municipalities' initial perceptions and experiences. Expectations linked to a new system for sharing insurance loss data in the Knowledge Bank are high, but several issues still need to be resolved before the system can be fully exploited. There is need to improve the understanding of key factors related primarily to data sharing and quality, as well as the relevant regulatory frameworks. This will enable insurance data to become available via the Knowledge Bank so that they can be utilized by municipalities in a way that will benefit wider society. This report presents the results of a study that addresses the critical factors required for the establishment of a new system allowing insurance companies to share insurance loss data with municipalities, using the Knowledge Bank platform.publishedVersio

Koordinering i klinisk ledelse - besværlig, men uunnværlig. En komparativ casestudie av ledelsesstrukturen på to norske sykehus.

Tittel: Koordinering i klinisk ledelse - besværlig, men uunnværlig En komparativ casestudie av ledelsesstrukturen på to norske sykehus Bakgrunn: Kliniske ledere, klinikere som tar på seg lederroller, står i en utfordrende mellomposisjon i sykehusorganisasjonen. De må koordinere vertikalt mellom toppledelsen og pasientbehandlingen og horisontalt mellom fagprofesjoner som både er selvstendige og gjensidig avhengige av hverandre. Siden ledelse og organisering må ses i sammenheng, tar denne studien for seg hvordan ledelsesstrukturen påvirker koordineringen i klinisk ledelse. Studiens problemstilling er: Hvordan påvirker enhetlig todelt fagledelse koordineringen mellom kliniske ledere? Metode: Det ble utført en komparativ case studie på to norske sykehus med hver sin ledelsesstruktur. Sykehus A hadde enhetlig ledelse og sykehus B enhetlig todelt fagledelse. Datamaterialet ble innhentet ved hjelp av åtte semistrukturerte intervjuer av kliniske ledere på seksjons- og avdelingsnivå. Halvparten av informantene var leger og halvparten sykepleiere. Datamaterialet ble analysert i lys av tre perspektiver innen organisasjonsteorien; det instrumentelle perspektivet, kulturperspektivet og myteperspektivet. Funn: Studien finner en sammenheng mellom ledelsesstruktur og koordinering i klinisk ledelse, slik det instrumentelle perspektivet skulle tilsi. Kultur- og myteperspektivet supplerte studiens funn i mindre grad. På sykehus B fungerte horisontal koordinering godt takket være en omfattende tverrfaglig formell møtestruktur. Unntaket var horisontal koordinering innen økonomi, der delte budsjetter for hver fagsøyle opplevdes uhensiktsmessig. På sykehus A bar horisontal koordinering preg av å være begrenset til faglig koordinering og omfattet ikke driften i sin helhet. Et gap mellom seksjons- og avdelingsnivået i sykepleiesøylen gav vertikale koordineringssutfordringer for sykehus B. Dette skyldtes blant annet mange og store seksjoner som gav et stort kontrollspenn på avdelingsnivå. Konklusjon: Studien viser at enhetlig ledelse og enhetlig todelt fagledelse begge gir utfordringer for koordineringen i klinisk ledelse. Det gir imidlertid utslag på ulike måter. Mens sykehuset med enhetlig todelt fagledelse hadde størst utfordring med vertikal koordinering, hadde sykehuset med enhetlig ledelse størst utfordring med den horisontale

Bokvalitet på norske asylmottak

-Er bokvaliteten på norske asylmottak god nok, hvordan påvirker den asylsøkernes livskvalitet, hvilke organisatoriske grep kan gi forbedring? Gjennom casestudier av utvalgte asylmottak, befaringer og bilder gir denne rapporten eksempler på sammenhenger mellom fysiske omgivelser, asylsøkeres livskvalitet og forholdet til lokalsamfunnet. Studien viser også hvordan bolig og omgivelser kan brukes aktivt til å styrke asylsøkerne for integrering eller retur, samt sikre verdighet og funksjonsevne

Organisasjonsendring i Stabæk Fotball : en kvalitativ undersøkelse av Stabæk Fotballs strategiske valg for å overleve som toppklubb

Masteroppgave i idrettsvitenskap - Universitetet i Agder 2016The purpose of this master thesis has been to locate which strategic choices Stabæk Fotball have made from 2012-2015 in order to survive as a high level football club. The study has an organizational perspective, and the changing processes of the club are analyzed by using the Pettigrew´s (1987) contextualist approach. The problem I wanted to address: Which strategic choices have Stabæk Fotball made to survive as a high level football club? This master thesis is based on a qualitative case study method. The data has been collected mainly by depth interview with five persons, and looking at the accounting of the club´s business as an entirety. The five persons interviewed have been in center of the ongoing changes throughout the period, and have had positions within different boards and the leadership of the club. Stabæk was a club in serious financial problems. As a consequence, Stabæk has been forced to make a lot of choices about the club´s structure. The study shows that through better financial management, the club has been able to rise and get back on its feet. From a short term goal to survive, the finances have grown, and now the club can start thinking further ahead. The conclusion based on the findings I have made, shows a coherence between the financial and structural choices the club has made, and their visions, goals and values. Keywords: Organizational change, financial management, strategic choices, contextualist approach, vision, culture and football

Why Our Next President May Keep His or her Senate Seat: A Conjecture on the Constitution’s Incompatibility Clause

Heart diseases are common and significant contributors to worldwide mortality and morbidity. During recent years complement mediated inflammation has been shown to be an important player in a variety of heart diseases. Despite some negative results from clinical trials using complement inhibitors, emerging evidence points to an association between the complement system and heart diseases. Thus, complement seems to be important in coronary heart disease as well as in heart failure, where several studies underscore the prognostic importance of complement activation. Furthermore, patients with atrial fibrillation often share risk factors both with coronary heart disease and heart failure, and there is some evidence implicating complement activation in atrial fibrillation. Moreover, Chagas heart disease, a protozoal infection, is an important cause of heart failure in Latin America, and the complement system is crucial for the protozoa-host interaction. Thus, complement activation appears to be involved in the pathophysiology of a diverse range of cardiac conditions. Determination of the exact role of complement in the various heart diseases will hopefully help to identify patients that might benefit from therapeutic complement intervention

User evaluation of a national web portal for climate change adaptation – A qualitative case study of the Knowledge Bank

This paper describes the development and first user evaluation of a web portal (The Knowledge Bank) for collecting and presenting national data relevant to climate change adaptation in Norway, including insurance loss data for damages arising from natural hazards and weather events. The paper examines the major drivers for municipal decision-makers to use the Knowledge Bank, presenting the results of a qualitative case study with group interviews with 11 users representing both smaller and larger Norwegian municipalities, and an individual interview with one of the developers. The findings show that the drivers for using the Knowledge Bank depend on the level of user expectations, user trust in the tool and the data, expectations for a contribution to efficiency, expectations for increased cooperation between municipal departments and municipalities, and the ability to interact with the portal, especially the ability to transfer data to and from their own data systems. Increased uptake and use of the Knowledge Bank could be reinforced with networks of users sharing awareness of the portal, teaching other users, and promoting improvement. The study provides insights into the challenges and opportunities encountered in the development of the Knowledge Bank and gives examples of how the size of the municipality may shape the drivers for uptake. These insights may also apply to the development of other national web portals for climate change adaptation data, especially when trying to incorporate sharing of insurance loss data.publishedVersio