Facilitation of Employability for Maternity and Parental Leavers in Europe: A Scoping Review

This report presents the findings of an European project concerning facilitation of employability for parental leavers in European countries. The conclusions and recommendations in this report build on comparisons of relevant European policy documents, country nates from five European countries (France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway and Slovakia) and a search in relevant databases. Taken together, these data form an approximate scoping review - to map a wide range of literature. Both the concepts of maternal and parental leave are used in the present report. Research related to leave in connection with young children use the term maternity leave until the last decades where more frequent parental leave is used. We are aware that a distinction between parental and maternity leave does not apply in same countries. A main finding is that parental leave and employability is a complex and context sensitive area. This relates to the fact that parental leave must be seen in connection with both individual, organisational, cultural, historical and political (legislative) issues on both national and European level. In this study, the focus has been mainly descriptive on the political (legislative) level, while a more interpretative analysis is made on how to develop tools and educational programs concerning development of employability skills relevant for parental leavers and employers. Analysis of the situation regarding parental leavers' employment in the partner countries shows that maternal employment in France, Slovakia and Hungary is rather low. Although, in Hungary there are networks which provide special counselling for women and support them when it comes to their (re)integration into the labour market. In Western Europe, such as the Netherlands and Norway, the situation is more favourable, employers are more flexible and part-time job is a frequent option offered. However, the up-to-date level of skills of parental leavers coming back to work may be a challenge in these countries too. The duration and generosity of paid parental leave seems to affect when (after what time) parents return to work. The period of leave cannot be too short, nor too long. The optimal length of the leave varies greatly depending on national conditions and cultural frameworks. In any case, it should not be so long that the parental leavers become uninteresting for the labour market and lose working competence (Kalb, 2018; Whitehouse, Romaniuk, Lucas & Nicholson, 2013).This project has been funded with support from the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission

Postglacial species arrival and diversity buildup of northern ecosystems took millennia

What drives ecosystem buildup, diversity, and stability? We assess species arrival and ecosystem changes across 16 millennia by combining regional-scale plant sedimentary ancient DNA from Fennoscandia with near-complete DNA and trait databases. We show that postglacial arrival time varies within and between plant growth forms. Further, arrival times were mainly predicted by adaptation to temperature, disturbance, and light. Major break points in ecological trait diversity were seen between 13.9 and 10.8 calibrated thousand years before the present (cal ka BP), as well as break point in functional diversity at 12.0 cal ka BP, shifting from a state of ecosystem buildup to a state where most habitat types and biotic ecosystem components were in place. Trait and functional diversity stabilized around 8 cal ka BP, after which both remained stable, although changes in climate took place and species inflow continued. Our ecosystem reconstruction indicates a millennial-scale time phase of formation to reach stable and resilient levels of diversity and functioning.publishedVersio

Final health and environmental risk assessment of genetically modified LLcotton25. Scientific opinion on glufosinate-tolerant, genetically modified LLcotton25 from Bayer CropScience for food and feed uses, import and processing under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 (Application EFSA/GMO/NL/2005/13). Opinion of the Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety

publishedVersio

Final health and environmental risk assessment of genetically modified cotton GHB614. Scientific opinion on glyphosate-tolerant, genetically modified cotton GHB614 from Bayer CropScience for food and feed uses, import and processing under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 (Application EFSA/GMO/NL/2008/51). Opinion of the Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety

publishedVersio

Final health and environmental risk assessment of genetically modified cotton 281-24-236 x 3006-210-23 (MXB-13). Scientific opinion on insect-resistant and glufosinate-tolerant, genetically modified MXB-13 from Dow AgroSciences for food and feed uses, import and processing under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 (Application EFSA/GMO/NL/2005/16). Opinion of the Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety

publishedVersio

Facilitation of Employability for Maternity and Parental Leavers in Europe: A Scoping Review

This report presents the findings of an European project concerning facilitation of employability for parental leavers in European countries. The conclusions and recommendations in this report build on comparisons of relevant European policy documents, country nates from five European countries (France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway and Slovakia) and a search in relevant databases. Taken together, these data form an approximate scoping review - to map a wide range of literature. Both the concepts of maternal and parental leave are used in the present report. Research related to leave in connection with young children use the term maternity leave until the last decades where more frequent parental leave is used. We are aware that a distinction between parental and maternity leave does not apply in same countries. A main finding is that parental leave and employability is a complex and context sensitive area. This relates to the fact that parental leave must be seen in connection with both individual, organisational, cultural, historical and political (legislative) issues on both national and European level. In this study, the focus has been mainly descriptive on the political (legislative) level, while a more interpretative analysis is made on how to develop tools and educational programs concerning development of employability skills relevant for parental leavers and employers. Analysis of the situation regarding parental leavers' employment in the partner countries shows that maternal employment in France, Slovakia and Hungary is rather low. Although, in Hungary there are networks which provide special counselling for women and support them when it comes to their (re)integration into the labour market. In Western Europe, such as the Netherlands and Norway, the situation is more favourable, employers are more flexible and part-time job is a frequent option offered. However, the up-to-date level of skills of parental leavers coming back to work may be a challenge in these countries too. The duration and generosity of paid parental leave seems to affect when (after what time) parents return to work. The period of leave cannot be too short, nor too long. The optimal length of the leave varies greatly depending on national conditions and cultural frameworks. In any case, it should not be so long that the parental leavers become uninteresting for the labour market and lose working competence (Kalb, 2018; Whitehouse, Romaniuk, Lucas & Nicholson, 2013)

Data from: Last Glacial Maximum environmental conditions at Andøya, northern Norway; evidence for a northern ice-edge ecological “hotspot”

And&oslash;ya on the NW coast of Norway is a key site for understanding the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in northern Europe. Controversy has arisen concerning the local conditions, especially about the timing and extent of local glacial cover, maximum July temperatures and whether pine and/or spruce could have grown there. We reviewed all existing data and add newly analysed ancient sedimentary DNA, pollen, macrofossils, geochemistry and stable isotopes from three lake sediment cores from &Oslash;vre &AElig;r&aring;svatnet. A total of 23 new dates and age-depth modelling suggests the lake has been ice-free since GI2 (&amp;lt;22.8 k cal. BP) and possibly GS3 (&amp;lt;27.4 k cal. BP). Pinus and Picea sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) was found in all three cores but at such low frequencies that it could not be distinguished from background contamination. LGM samples have an exceptionally high organic matter content, with isotopic values indicating that carbon and nitrogen derives from a marine source. Along with finds of bones of the little auk (Alle alle), this indicates that the lake received guano from an adjacent bird colony. DNA, pollen and macrofossil assemblages were dominated by Poaceae, Brassicaceae and Papaver, but scattered occurrence of species currently restricted to the Low Arctic Tundra Zone (July temperature of 8-9&deg;C) such as Apiaceae (DNA, 8-9&deg;C), and Alchemilla alpina (macrofossil, 8-9&deg;C) were also recorded. The review showed 94 recorded vascular plant taxa, of which 38% have a northern limit in Shrub Tundra or more southern vegetation zones. This unusual assemblage likely stems from a combination of proximity to ice-free water in summer, geographical isolation linked with stochastic long- distance dispersal events, and the presence of bird-fertilized habitats. The environmental reconstruction based on all records from the area does not preclude local growth of tree species, as the local climate combined with high nutrient input may have led to periodically suitable environmental &lsquo;hotspot&rsquo; conditions.,DNA metabarcoding of ancient lake sediments collected from And&oslash;ya, Norway. The chloroplast trnL (UAA) intron, or p6-loop, was amplified for the sediment extracts.,This dataset includes two raw Illumina NextSeq 500 libraries (paired-end sequenced) and the associated OBITools PCR-tag lookup tables required for demultiplexing.,</span

Last Glacial Maximum environmental conditions at Andoya, northern Norway; evidence for a northern ice-edge ecological "hotspot"

Andøya on the NW coast of Norway is a key site for understanding the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in northern Europe. Controversy has arisen concerning the local conditions, especially about the timing and extent of local glacial cover, maximum July temperatures and whether pine and/or spruce could have grown there. We reviewed all existing data and add newly analysed ancient sedimentary DNA (sedaDNA), pollen, macrofossils, geochemistry and stable isotopes from three lake sediment cores from Øvre Æråsvatnet. A total of 23 new dates and age-depth modelling suggests the lake has been ice-free since GI2 (&lt;23.4 cal ka BP) and possibly GS3 (&lt;26.7 cal ka BP). Pinus and Picea sedaDNA was found in all three cores but at such low frequencies that it could not be distinguished from background contamination. LGM samples have an exceptionally high organic matter content, with isotopic values indicating that carbon and nitrogen derive from a marine source. Along with finds of bones of the little auk (Alle alle), this indicates that the lake received guano from an adjacent bird colony. SedaDNA, pollen and macrofossil assemblages were dominated by Poaceae, Brassicaceae and Papaver, but scattered occurrence of species currently restricted to the Low Arctic Tundra Zone (July temperature of 8–9 °C) such as Apiaceae (sedaDNA, 8–9 °C), and Alchemilla alpina (macrofossil, 8–9 °C) were also recorded. The review of &gt;14.7 cal ka BP data recorded 94 vascular plant taxa, of which 38% have a northern limit in Shrub Tundra or more southern vegetation zones. This unusual assemblage likely stems from a combination of proximity to ice-free water in summer, geographical isolation linked with stochastic long-distance dispersal events, and the presence of bird-fertilized habitats. The environmental reconstruction based on all records from the area does not preclude local growth of tree species, as the local climate combined with high nutrient input may have led to periodically suitable environmental ‘hotspot’ conditions

Postglacial species arrival and diversity buildup of northern ecosystems took millennia

What drives ecosystem buildup, diversity, and stability? We assess species arrival and ecosystem changes across 16 millennia by combining regional-scale plant sedimentary ancient DNA from Fennoscandia with near-complete DNA and trait databases. We show that postglacial arrival time varies within and between plant growth forms. Further, arrival times were mainly predicted by adaptation to temperature, disturbance, and light. Major break points in ecological trait diversity were seen between 13.9 and 10.8 calibrated thousand years before the present (cal ka BP), as well as break point in functional diversity at 12.0 cal ka BP, shifting from a state of ecosystem buildup to a state where most habitat types and biotic ecosystem components were in place. Trait and functional diversity stabilized around 8 cal ka BP, after which both remained stable, although changes in climate took place and species inflow continued. Our ecosystem reconstruction indicates a millennial-scale time phase of formation to reach stable and resilient levels of diversity and functioning