Capacity building at community forestry level for synergistic implementation of NDCs’ adaptation and mitigation commitments

Conservation, restoration and management of forest resources are critical for addressing climate change. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are a vehicle for targeted climate actions, including those related to forest management, by countries towards contributing global efforts agreed under the Paris Agreement. Operationalizing climate action stipulated in NDCs requires adequate preparedness and capacity, especially at the local level. This paper suggests a comprehensive framework of capacity building targeting at the community forestry level based on the findings of capacity needs assessments carried out in Nepal. The framework outlines a method to develop capacity among forest communities so they can carry out integrated assessments of the outcomes related to sustainable forest management, mitigation, adaptation and the quality of governance. Further, it outlines the capacity needed for integrated planning and implementation to consolidate the assessment process and make progress in an adaptive manner. By filling the capacity gaps at the community forestry level in a comprehensive manner, countries can narrow the existing divide between local-level climate actions and upper-level (national and international level) policy priorities, which is the major barrier for translating climate commitments into action.

A Qualitative Exploratory Study to Elucidate The Impact of Integration on Pre-Clinical Disciplines Compared to Disciplines-Based Curriculum

Introduction: While most of the institution in our country follow the Flexnerian model of medical education, only a handful of medical colleges have embraced the integrated medical curriculum. Literature on impact of integration on the preclinical disciplines is sparse. This study aims to elucidate the impact of integration on the preclinical disciplines, their content, teaching, learning, and assessment. Methods: This qualitative exploratory study was conducted at the University College of Medicine and Dentistry from July to September 2020. Twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with the faculty members from pre-clinical disciplines (Physiology, Anatomy, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Pathology, Forensic Medicine & Community Medicine). The data was recorded, transcribed, coded and thematic analysis was done by using Atlas Ti version 7. Results: The thematic analysis of the transcripts resulted in twenty subthemes, from which five themes emerged. The study revealed that the faculty of preclinical disciplines perceived that departmental identity has been compromised since the switch to integrated medical curriculum. But, the relationships, both intradepartmental and interdepartmental of preclinical disciplines have improved significantly. Moreover, the number and depth of topics has also been affected. But the students learning approach was of major concern for the respondents. The student’s performance in the assessments was affected due to their learning approaches. Even though the number of assessments were deemed adequate, the depth of assessments had been negatively affected as a result of integrated assessments. Conclusion: Integrated curriculum has profound impact on pre-clinical disciplines. Any institution that wishes to introduce a modular integrated curriculum should take into account the findings reported in this study. Keywords: preclinical disciplines, organ system-based curriculum, impact of integration, faculty perspective, exploratory study

Exploring the interactions between vulnerability, resilience and adaptation to extreme temperatures

Proposed ways of improving adaptation to climate change have most often been supported by narrowly framed and separate analysis. This article investigates how different levels of vulnerability and resilience interplay with adaptation to extreme temperatures, what is the nature of these relationships and whether lower vulnerability and higher resilience contribute to increased adaptation. This article explores the governance implications of a project that, unlike other, brings together vulnerability, resilience and adaptation assessments. The project has made significant advances in addressing the current deficit integrated assessments for shaping governance propositions. Such propositions argue that the diverse levels of vulnerability and resilience convey important bases for (1) targeting at-risk older individuals; (2) developing vulnerability reduction actions; (3) resilience building actions; and (4) understanding ‘success cases’ and learn from them for developing appropriate policy measures. Taken together, these propositions offer a social, psychological and health framework not simply for governing extreme temperatures but for governing responses to climate change at large.

Entrepreneurial competencies and intentions among students of technical universities

The study investigates the entrepreneurial competencies and intentions of students. Their formation is a requirement of modern times. The question arises whether students of modern technical universities get entrepreneurial competencies and whether they transform these competencies into their entrepreneurial intentions. More than 3.6 thousand students from six technical universities from Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Bulgaria, and Lithuania were surveyed. Methods of summarizing and grouping data, analysis of the structure of the population and distributions of its elements, evaluation of relationships were used to analyze the results of the survey. It was found that studying at technical universities is not an obstacle to the existence of entrepreneurial intentions among students. The respondents positively assessed their ability to recognize market opportunities for new business (the sum of the shares of positive answers exceeded the sum of the shares of negative answers by 12.4%). A positive generalized assessment was determined when assessing the ability to persuade others to invest in their business, while negative – their ability to write a formal business plan. It is proved that students who highly value their entrepreneurial abilities are much more likely to show the intention to start their own business (р < 0.001). Students’ focus on starting their own business is partly explained by the fact that they connect employment in corporations with a low guarantee of job retention. High positive integrated assessments received the following advantages of own entrepreneurship: prestige (0.302), chance to be realized (0.362), and the ability to create jobs (0.597). Acknowledgment The authors wish to thank Denislava Yordanova (Sofia University, Bulgaria), Tatjana Nikitina (Riga Technical University, Latvia), and Daiva Jurevičienė (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania) for helping to collect data at respective countries.

Estimating Pesticide Inputs and Yield Outputs of Conventional and Organic Agricultural Systems in Europe under Climate Change

Simulating organic agriculture is a considerable challenge. One reason is that few models are capable of simulating crop-pest interactions and the yield losses they cause. Here, a recently developed process-based crop-pest model (Pest-EPIC) was used to simulate conventional and organic agriculture in the European Union for the years 1995–2100. Yields and pesticide application rates were calibrated against FAOSTAT and Eurostat data. Results indicate that current pesticide application rates may be sufficient to control pests and diseases even at the end of the century. The range of simulated yield differences under organic and conventional agriculture under current conditions (e.g., wheat 21–55% (mean 34%) lower yields; potatoes 20–99% (mean 56%) lower yields) closely matched recorded values. Under climate change, the gap between yields under conventional and organic management will remain constant for some crops (e.g., at 3 t/ha for potatoes), but others—susceptible to a larger number of pests and diseases—may experience a widening of the yield gap (e.g., increase of yield difference from 0.8 to 1.6 t/ha for wheat). The presented results-dataset may in future be a valuable resource for integrated assessments of agricultural land use and policy planning, but the inherent uncertainty is still very high.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) – What are They and What are the Barriers and Enablers to Their Use?

This rapid review examines literature around Nature-based Solutions (NbS), what are NbS, the pros and cons of NbS, design and implementation issues (including governance, indigenous knowledge), finance and the enabling environment. The breadth of NbS and the evidence base means that this rapid review only provides a snapshot of the information available, and therefore does not consider all types of NbS, nor all sectors that they have been used in. Considering this limited scope, this report highlights many issues, some of which are that Covid-19 has highlighted the importance of NbS, Pros of NbS include the low cost compared to infrastructure alternatives; the flexibility in addressing multiple climate challenges; potential co-benefits such as better water quality, improved health, cultural benefits, biodiversity conservation. The literature also notes the cons of NbS including slow adaptation or co-benefits, very context specific making effectiveness difficult to measure and many of the benefits are non-monetary and hard to measure. The literature consulted suggest a number of knowledge gaps in the evidence base for NbS effectiveness including lack of: robust and impartial assessments of current NbS experiences; site specific knowledge of field deployment of NbS; timescales over which benefits are seen and experienced; cost-effectiveness of interventions compared to or in conjunction with alternative solutions; and integrated assessments considering broader social and ecological outcomes

How to assess technological developments in basic research?

In an era of ever faster and more momentous technological development, both technology assessment and transdisciplinary interventions are in danger of structurally lagging behind the speed of innovation. This paper proposes a new tiered approach to technology assessment at low Technology Readiness Levels that enables a both rapid and concerted interdisciplinary science response to this Great Acceleration. Covering sustainability, ethics, and consumer issues, this approach encourages and enables the innovators themselves to conduct assessments embedded in the innovation process as early as possible. Suitable tools for early engagement that help facilitate development-integrated assessments are introduced and described. The design and use of these instruments in the field of basic research is illustrated using the Cluster of Excellence livMatS as an example.

Exploring the interactions between vulnerability, resilience and adaptation to extreme temperatures

Proposed ways of improving adaptation to climate change have most often been supported by narrowly framed and separate analysis. This article investigates how different levels of vulnerability and resilience interplay with adaptation to extreme temperatures, what is the nature of these relationships and whether lower vulnerability and higher resilience contribute to increased adaptation. This article explores the governance implications of a project that, unlike other brings together vulnerability, resilience and adaptation assessments. The project has made significant advances in addressing the current deficit integrated assessments for shaping governance propositions. Such propositions argue that the diverse levels of vulnerability and resilience convey important bases for (1) targeting at-risk older individuals; (2) developing vulnerability reduction actions; (3) resilience building actions; and (4) understanding ‘success cases’ and learn from them for developing appropriate policy measures. Taken together, these propositions offer a social, psychological and health framework not simply for governing extreme temperatures but for governing responses to climate change at large.