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The White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue, published in 2008 by the Council of Europe, is one of the first European level attempts to provide a common guideline for diversity politics in Europe. It introduces the idea of ‘intercultural dialogue’ as a new focus and a method of governing diversity. Our paper aims to investigate the explicit and implicit meanings included in the idea of ‘intercultural dialogue’ and how the idea is rhetorically operationalized as a policy in the White Paper. The investigation is conducted with a lexical and semantic analysis of the text in the White Paper and a discourse analysis of its rhetoric, in order to explore how the ‘intercultural dialogue’ as a policy relies on a mixture of ideas borrowed from different political discourses. The investigation revealed how the concept of intercultural dialogue and other related concepts, such as culture and diversity, embrace power hierarchies. The meanings of these concepts are produced from a hegemonic point of view which grants the ‘intercultural dialogue’ with the power positions of a dialoguer and a dialoguee . The policy rhetoric in the White Paper emphasizes social cohesion in Europe. Its policy discourse does not recognize the societal, cultural, historical, religious, or linguistic differences between European societies, but offers unified – and profoundly Western European – views for the governance of diversity. Formulating a common and generic diversity policy for Europe as a whole inevitably simplifies the idea of diversity in Europe and produces new hierarchies between the subjects and objects of these policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the economic benefits of internal migration are widely documented, the social costs of internal migration have received comparatively less attention. In addition, most studies focus on the impact of the last-recorded migration, ignoring the cumulative impact of successive migrations. Grounded in the life-course trajectory approach to migration and the convoy model of social networks, this paper addresses this gap by applying sequence and cluster analysis to retrospective data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) in 26 European countries to establish internal migration trajectories based on the timing, frequency, and direction of migration between NUTS-2 regions. The results reveal that differences in social networks between lifetime stayers, childhood migrants and one-time adult migrants are minimal. A more complex picture emerges for repeat migrants who account for half migrants and are split between return migrants, serial onward migrants, and circular migrants. Regression results show that repeat migrants – whether onward, return, or circular – display social networks less focused on family and more geographically dispersed, which results in a lower frequency of contact than lifetime stayers. However, repeat migrants report the same level of overall satisfaction with their social networks as lifetime stayers, which suggests that they start with different expectations than stayers or simply adjust their expectations in response to the social costs and benefits of migration. • Migrating once over the life course has a limited effect on an individual's social networks compared to lifetime stayers. • The impact of past migrations on social networks diminishes over time, particularly if migrations occurred early in life. • Repeat migrants have more geographically dispersed and less family-focused social networks compared to lifetime stayers. • Circular migrants report the most dispersed network and the lowest frequency of contact among repeat migrants. • Integration of the convoy model from social networks literature with the life-course trajectory approach from migration literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a configurational analysis that creates a new theoretical elaboration of populist parties in Europe in terms of policy choices. The forms of populism that we can see in contemporary Europe are new, relevant and do not have a theoretical representation in the literature. This paper also provides a clearer understanding of the characteristics of populist and anti-establishment parties in Europe, which can provide valuable insights into likely responses to reformed policy environments. To do so, the paper analyses policy positions connected to the populist literature for 242 parties in Europe in 2014 and 2019 using the Chapell Hill Expert Survey and the PopuList Survey data. Groups of parties with similarly held positions in 2014 and 2019 are identified using cluster analysis to investigate whether differences in positions are defined predominately according to a national, east–west, right–left faction or other criteria. The result highlights that rather than across a classical right–left divide connotation, Europe can be divided into four clusters: right-wing populists, a moderate pro-Europe left, a pro-Europe pro-liberalism centre and an intersectional left based on identity politics. Overall, the moderate left and the centrist liberalism centre are the most common parties across Europe, and the other two factions seem to be born as a reaction to these two. However, the other two factions are growing over the years, especially the populist right-wing in Central and Eastern Europe. This brings to light serious policy implications for the future of the European Union and for considering populism simply as a discursive matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the existence of convergence in non-monetary working conditions in Europe resorting to widely used definitions of this phenomenon and composite indexes of job quality. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis relies on composite indexes, widely used in previous literature, for 207 regions in six different areas of job quality drawing on the microdata of the European Working Conditions Survey from 1995 to 2015. This study assesses the occurrence of convergence both in terms of dispersion of job quality outcomes (sigma-convergence) and, especially, regarding the existence of a catch-up process (beta-convergence). Findings: This study finds evidence of both types of convergences in all the domains, with the exception of skills and discretion and prospects dimensions according to the sigma-convergence approach. The results do not suggest substantial differences between the 15 European Union countries before the 2004 enlargement and the new Member States and are robust to a wide range of changes in the sample and different econometric specifications. Originality/value: Tot he best of the authors' knowledge, this paper represents the first rigorous and systematic attempt of addressing the existence of convergence in non-monetary working conditions, applying formal and widely accepted definitions of this phenomenon. It contributes to our knowledge on this topic providing strong evidence of convergence in job quality. Those results can be of interest for scholars in Economics and other Social Sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops the concept of spatial imaginations as the constructions of places as meaningful entities that establish identities of self and other through particular narratives and associated practices. It argues that traditionally, International Relations has ignored question of space despite their obvious centrality to the discipline. This has changed with the "spatial turn", which has its precursors in critical scholarship, especially drawing on sociology and political geography. The paper traces these contributions to the conceptual development of space in its material and discursive dimensions. It proposes that spatial imaginations are central to relations between "Turkey" and "Europe", establishing both as meaningful yet contested entities. In the works collated in the special issue of which this paper serves as an introduction, we may thus see facets of three core claim of the spatial turn: that space matters, that space needs to be made, and that spaces need to be formed. Against the prevailing attempts to fix the meaning of the spaces of "Turkey" and "Europe", I end with a plea to provide room for the articulation of a multiplicity of spatial imaginations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policymakers imposed constraints on public life to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, fiscal, monetary and macroprudential policies implemented a large range of expansionary measures to limit the economic consequences of the pandemic and stimulate recovery. In this paper, we assess the response of the equity market as a high-frequency indicator of economic activity to containment and stabilization policies for 29 European economies. We construct indicators of containment and stabilization policies and estimate a range of panel VAR models. The main results are threefold. First, we find that stock markets are highly responsive to containment and stabilization policies. We show that domestic fiscal policy, macroprudential policy as well as monetary policy support the recovery as reflected in the stock market. Second, expansionary fiscal policy conducted at the European level reduces rather raises stock prices. Third, we estimate the model over subsamples and show that the counter-intuitive stock market response to EU policies is driven by the responses in medium- and high-debt countries. These countries' stock markets are also particularly susceptible to monetary policy announcements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid growth of the population in the last 70 years has been constantly accompanied by increasing migration flows. From 1950 to 2020, the population of Europe grew from about 547 million to 741 million, while the Muslim share in this population quadrupled from10.7million to 42.7million people. Such an exponential growth of the Muslim population could pose political challenges for Europe, especially for the countries of Western Europe, which are often the final destination for migrants from various parts of the world, primarily from North Africa and the Middle East. This paper aims to analyse trends in migration and the rate of natural increase in order to roughly estimate whether Europe’s demographic outlook will undergo a major change in the next 50 years. It also attempts to determine what kind of political challenges might arise as a result. Using the method of quantitative content analysis, it is estimated that the Christian population will decrease by about 25 million due to the ageing of the population and declining birth rates, while the Muslim population will increase by about 200 million due to migration and the rate of natural increase. The conclusion is that there are indications that migrations will change not only the demographic outlook, but also the European political and security identity in the worst case. However, in the case of government controlled migration-induced changes, they will lead mostly to minor changes in the emigration policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Investigaciones Políticas y Sociológicas (RIPS) is the property of Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Servicio de Publicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Some fossil seed cones from the European Neogene identified to the genus Cathaya and published as a fossil‐species, Cathaya vanderburghii, are shown not to belong to Cathaya. In this paper, fossil C. vanderburghii is transferred to Nothotsuga and recombined as Nothotsuga vanderburghii comb. nov. An amended diagnosis and detailed description of N. vanderburghii are given. The fossil cones are characterised by ovoid to conical shape, rhombic to suborbicular and auriculate scales, and slightly exserted ligulate‐spathulate bracts with dentate margin and acute apex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociologija/Sociology: Journal of Sociology, Social Psychology & Social Anthropology is the property of MOD International and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper deals with the basic ideas originating from the members of a committee appointed by the government of the Republic of Serbia to put together a proposal for a new state holiday at the beginning of the new millennium when political changes took place in Serbia. One of these ideas was that the holiday should be acceptable to a united Europe. This paper presents part of the research into the reception of Sretenje - Statehood Day: what we have shown to Europe and the world by celebrating Statehood Day, based on a representative sample of respondents from 2004, 2007, then 2008-2011 and finally 2018-2020. The paper contains an analysis of the ways in which the citizens of Serbia were congratulated on the occasion of Statehood Day by Google from 2012 to 2020, as well as the reception of Google Doodle greetings in public discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Western world, the “Stonewall Inn riots” of 1969 represent a turning point in the history of LGBT (urban) rights claiming. They gave a contribution to a morphological transformation of the Western cities, where there has been a gradual “homo-colonization” of different metropolitan districts, through the creation of the so-called LGBT neighborhood. Adopting a territorial perspective, the paper aims to examine the levels of inclusion of sexual minorities in Europe and if they can imagine expansive possibilities for a life beyond the “gayborhood.” Examining the relationship among the level of social acceptance of gender and sexual minorities, their civil rights and the formation of LGBT communities in cities and the social functions they perform in Europe, the sociological analysis offers a classification of all European countries into 4 classes. The work concludes with some critical reflections through which the authors consider the implications of their findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Weather disasters are a growing burden in Europe, because of increasing losses and costs of precautionary measures. • Socio-economic, climatic and environmental changes drive the growing risk. • The insurance industry can play a major role in the partnership for reduction of risk of weather extremes Over the last decades, the damage caused by weather events has increased dramatically and ubiquitously. In Europe, weather catastrophes constitute a growing burden on national economies and insurance companies, not least because of the costs of precautionary measures. For a long time, the insurance sector has flagged that weather disasters are on the rise, both in terms of the number of occurrences and material damage caused. The main reasons for this are: increase in the number and area of settlements in exposed areas, the accumulation of ever more valuable and vulnerable assets in these areas, as well as the climate and environmental changes that have already taken place. This paper examines observed changes in risk of various categories of weather disasters in Europe, backed by statistical analyses of relevant, updated information originating from a valuable and quite unique source, Munich Re's NatCatSERVICE database, that is of considerable interest and value to the scientific community and beyond (e.g. in the reinsurance and insurance industries). The paper also calls for partnership in the reduction of risk of weather extremes and discusses the role of the insurance industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization is a global trend which is taking place at the costs of agricultural, forest, and other natural or semi-natural areas. As a result of urbanization, transitioning zones in urban peripheries located between urban and rural areas have a mixed character from a spatial, ecological, socio-demographic, and economic point of view. Different land use mixes and interests exist there in parallel and cause tensions and conflicts. In our research, we aimed at investigating the specific characteristics of conflicts in urban peripheries across Europe, showing striking examples and discussing possible recommendations for policy and planning addressing those conflicts. A structured literature review of 94 papers was conducted. The findings reflected a huge diversity in locations, contexts, and methods. Conflicts in urban peripheries in Europe is an interdisciplinary topic that is handled by social as well as natural sciences. We have identified four main conflict categories in urban peripheries: (a) land-use conflicts that relate to diverging interest in land use, (b) socio-economic conflicts that related to social aspects emerging between governance actors and different economic interests, (c) ethnic conflicts that related to race, religion, and custom, and (d) human-wildlife conflicts. The majority of papers were found in the category of land-use conflicts in urban peripheries. The main conflict topics in urban peripheries were related to socio-economic imbalances, house construction, and ethnic differences. Several types of governance actors and conflict topics could be assigned to each conflict category showing the variety in this context. A general recommendation to mitigate conflicts in urban peripheries could be a combination of various top-down and bottom-up policy and planning approaches, consulted and implemented by the governance actors who have been sensitized for the different viewpoints. • A structured literature review of 94 papers was conducted. • The conflict categories in urban peripheries were land-use, socio-economic, ethnic, and human-wildlife conflicts. • The majority of papers were found for land-use conflicts in urban peripheries. • Main conflict topics were related to socio-economic imbalances, house construction, and ethnic differences. • A combination of legal and participatory planning instruments are often important for conflict mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Lietuvos Archeologija is the property of Lithuanian Institute of History and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

»Familienstrukturen und Fertilität, Westeuropa 1870-1960«. This paper investigates the associations between fertility decline in Western Europe since the nineteenth century and the most elementary institution through which relationships between kin are defined: the family. Fertility levels in Western Europe declined strongly since the mid-nineteenth century but also show marked regional variations, comparable to developments in sub-Saharan Africa in the world today. Recent explanations of fertility decline point at the role of social relationships with kin and non-kin in the diffusion of family limitation. Based on the classification of family systems by Emmanuel Todd, theoretical connections between family systems and the level and speed of fertility change are made. Non-authoritarian family systems are expected to be more open towards change since non-kin are more likely to enter the social network. Authoritarian family systems on the other hand are expected to maintain higher levels of fertility due to the dense kinship networks. The findings in this paper show no clear association between family systems and reproductive outcomes during the course of the demographic transition. Fertility outcomes are more strongly associated with past fertility levels and the level of fertility in neighbouring regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Government policy shall address the strategic nature of local resource use decisions. • Local resource users face linked coordination, prisoner's dilemma, and zero-sum/externality situations. • Governments shape the behavior of local resource users via bundles of policy instruments. • Policy instruments contribute to local collective action via a handful of mechanisms. This paper presents a diagnostic approach to the role and capacity of governments to facilitate local collective action and alleviate environmental problems. The paper adds to a nascent scholarship aiming to conciliate theories on "governance by government" and "governance by self-organization". We adopt two premises for that purpose: (1) policy instruments shall be tailored to the strategic nature of local resource management decisions; and (2) such nature is not static and can be modified via governmental policies. We first build on the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to characterize the decision-making situations that local resource users face and the local rules that shape said situations. Then, based on common pool resource (CPR) and policy instrument choice theory, we identify four mechanisms through which different policy instruments can facilitate local collective action (change in payoffs and their perception, reduction of transaction costs, reduction of uncertainty, and normative consonance). This analytical approach is then applied to four illustrative cases of water management in Germany, France, Greece and Spain. As shown, local resource users are embedded in not one but many overlapping decision-making situations. In this context, the promotion of collective action is rarely accomplished via a single policy instrument or mechanism but via bundles of them. Also, the paper illustrates the importance of understanding how governmental policies modify the structure of rules and incentives that affect local resource users, potentially facilitating local collective action and the solution of environmental problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This paper evaluates geopolitical framing of migrants via European media sources. • Migrants were subject to 3 temporal representations linked to European geopolitics. • Escalation of depictions reveal prejudices that contradict alleged EU principles. Abstract This paper explores the geopolitical framing of migrants in Europe through an analysis of the discourse and imagery shared by both the mainstream and social media. Employing a critical discourse analysis of a corpus of material collated between January 2015 and December 2016, we suggest that migrants have been subject to three temporal representations that are linked to a European geopolitical vision of the world. While they were initially described as humans migrating into Europe, some parts of the media quickly equated the arrival of migrants with natural disasters, and then, finally, as geopolitical threats to security. This intensification of representations of migrants as the 'Other' and eventually as non-human threatening entities, reveals European geopolitical conceptualizations of belonging and sovereignty that are often at odds with the principles and values to which the European Union subscribes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the complex process of generational renewal (GR) in agriculture is essential for supporting the continuation of farming. This paper demonstrates how multiple factors, simultaneously and through their mutual interactions, influence GR and related individual decision-making processes. Results originated from 155 in-depth interviews performed on 85 farms in eleven European regions, and were triangulated with the literature. Our analysis, combining inductive and deductive approaches, revealed three conceptual phases (successor identity formation, farm succession process, and farm development) and fourteen factors important to understand GR. We elaborate how these factors interact, hence exert their impact on (one of) the phases in a complex and variable way. Implications highlight potential pitfalls and opportunities for attracting people into agriculture. Although policy-makers should be aware of their limited ability to affect GR by targeting the first phase, we propose some ideas that would complement current existing measures acting on the third phase. • Attracting people to farming demands profound understanding of generational renewal. • We study decisions relating to generational renewal on 85 farms in 11 EU regions. • Fourteen factors can impact three phases of the farm generational renewal process. • Current policy might miss its goals because of targeting the wrong phase. • Future policy must better address relevant (interplay of) impact factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Family Research (JFR) is the property of University of Bamberg Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mountain areas have been the testbed for sustainable development models focused on balancing their vulnerability and the value of their natural, cultural, and social resources. In these areas, the continuous adaptative interaction between bio-geophysical and socio-cultural processes assembles Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) characterized by a great diversity of ecosystems and land uses, which provide substantial support for the livelihoods of mountain communities and essential ecosystem services for uplands and lowlands. In this paper, we take value chains to be the operative units of analysis to examine human-natural systems interactions in mountain areas. Value chains mobilize resources and connect actors beyond territorial boundaries and economic sectors to generate economic, environmental, and social values. Strategies for local development of these areas should direct attention to value generation activities and require a systemic, integrated and assets-based approach which explores the potential synergies emerging from the coordination of the diversity of local specificities and considers the opportunities and threats emerging from external sub-systems. This paper proposes a novel comparative framework to characterize value chains contribution to resilient and sustainable development of SESs in mountain areas. This framework is meant for researchers and policy analysts to identify the role value chains might accomplish for a better balance between natural resource conservation and sustainable socio-economic development in European (remote) rural areas. Two mountain food value chains are used to illustrate the framework and test its efficacy. The cases depict two value chain configurations which result in different social, economic and environmental outcomes for the sustainable development of the SES. • Mountain areas provide essential public good and services to rural communities. • Strategies for mountain areas require integrated and assets-based approaches. • The coordination of local specificities and external factors must inspire mountain policies. • Value chains mobilize resources to generate socio-economic and environmental values. • Value chains can balance resources conservation and socio-economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From its origin in the nineteenth century, through the entire twentieth, ethnology was present in most continental European countries as the national science of ethnological research on the given population and territory, past and present. Countries that held colonies, however, grounded their anthropological studies entirely differently, namely, in the research of 'primitive societies'. A process of merging Anglo-American anthropology and European ethnology began after the Second World War through theoretical innovations, such as Claude Levi-Strauss' structuralism, which integrated anthropology as a scientific discipline. This was also the beginning of the integration of Europe, that is, the creation of the European Economic Community. Science has traditionally regarded Europe as a 'mental representation' or the product of a complex political-ideological or cultural conceptualization. In anthropology as elsewhere, Europe was chiefly seen either through a regional comparative approach or through various kinds of analysis of interior or transcontinental spheres of political, economic, demographic, and cultural influences. This paper will take a closer look on the recent studies of Europe, and more specifically, of European Union, through the lens of anthropology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the sensitivity of the most relevant European financial institutions' returns to changes in selected risk factors between October 2003 and December 2018. In concrete, this research estimates, using the quantile regression approach, extensions of the Fama and French five-factor model (2015), adding nominal interest rates, the Carhart (1997) risk factor for momentum and momentum reversal and the Pastor and Stambaugh (2003) traded liquidity factor. To consider the economic cycle, a robustness check splits the whole sample period into three sub-sample periods (pre-crisis, crisis and post-crisis). As expected, this extension of the Fama and French model has the highest explanatory power in the highest and the lowest quantiles, showing a U-shaped pattern. In addition, our proposed model reaches a better explanation of the changes in European companies' returns in extreme stages of the economy. Therefore, in general, the sensitivity of stock returns of the largest European financial institutions to movements in risk factors tends to be more marked in bullish and bearish scenarios, that is, in extreme market conditions. These results are partially replicated for a number of selected small and mid-cap European banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variable proportion of finds from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic of 'Old Europe' has come from places outside settlements, cemeteries, production sites, ritual sites, or caves. Such finds tend to be described as 'chance/isolated/single/stray' finds or, when in groups, as 'hoards'. The frequent, modernist cause invoked for these finds is that they were either 'hidden' in times of mortal danger, represented a 'gift to the gods', or simply 'lost'. One reason for these explanatory shortcomings is the over-attention to the types of objects deposited in the landscape and the frequent lack of attention to the often-distinctive place of deposition. We believe that we have misnamed, overlooked, or not accurately characterised an entire class of sites, which we term 'landscape deposition sites', whose defining feature was the transformation of a place by the deposition of a significant object or group of objects to create a qualitatively different place. The creation of such landscape deposit sites varied in time and space throughout Old Europe, but all sites were affected by this new dimension of the extended cultural domain. In this article, we consider the interpretations of metal deposition in North-west Europe and the light they shed on an earlier and geographically different region. The primary aim of this paper is an exploration of the variable relationships between landscape deposit sites and the coeval finds made in special deposits in settlements and cemeteries in the 5th and 4th millennia bc, which will lead to proposed new interpretations of landscape deposition sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the union formation of the children of immigrants, the so-called second generation, focusses primarily on marriage and cohabitation. Even though dating relationships are often the first romantic relations and lay the foundation for more committed relationships, very little is known about dating among second-generation young adults. This is unfortunate because dating across different origin groups may point to changing or shifting group boundaries, that may only later be reflected in interethnic marriages. In this paper we aim to fill this gap in the literature by exploring the dating behavior of Turkish second-generation young adults in five European countries (the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, France) using the comparative TIES survey data. Our results show that it is common for the Turkish second generation to date a partner with a non-Turkish background. And, moreover, that it is important to distinguish between different types of intra-ethnic partnerships. Although only few parents are reported not to approve of the relationship of their child, a substantial part of the second generation seems reluctant to inform their parents about their dating life. With regard to the role of parents, it seems that their influence on the origin of dating partners is limited. In order to enhance our understanding of the meaning of (intergroup-) dating, its determinants and outcomes, future data may focus more on meeting places and the role of peers in a longitudinal way. We argue that dating is an important indicator for intergroup relations that deserves further attention in increasingly diverse societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is part one of two of a report aiming at recommending future directions for the European surface technology industry to remain relevant and competitive. This first part analyses the present status of the competitiveness of the European surface finishing industry, and its relationship to the manufacturing sector, as a base for suggesting actions. Surface finishing is not a stand-alone industry, but an integrated part of manufacturing of most products and thereby an integrated part of the manufacturing chain and follows the rest of the manufacturing if offshored. The drivers for offshoring are changing, and automation of manufacturing makes offshoring less profitable. The European surface finishing sector is characterised by an annual turnover of about US$ 114 Bn, 900,000 employees, and an annual growth rate of 3.6%. Surface finishing accounts for about 5% of all manufacturing of products. About 1/3 of the surface finishing is estimated to be done by sub-contractors and 2/3 in-house. There is a large diversity in technology used and firm size throughout Europe. The average size of European subcontractors is between 11 and 12 employees with the majority being very small with less than 10 employees, which is a challenge for the future development that demands adoption of new technology, legislation, and cooperative structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the issue of the transatlantic gap in research excellence between Europe and USA by examining the performance of individual universities. It introduces a notion of leadership in research excellence by combining a subjective definition of excellence with an objective one. It applies this definition to a novel dataset disaggregated for 251 Subject Categories, covering the 2007–2010 period, based on Scopus data. The paper shows that European universities are able to show excellence only in a few disciplinary areas each, while US universities are able to excel across the board. It explains this difference in terms of institutional differences in recruitment process and governance of universities. It discusses the European model of distributed excellence in terms of the recent rise of input competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural land use has a large impact on landscape diversity and the types and quality of the services landscapes provide to society. This editorial introduces four papers in a themed section of Land Use Policy which examines different themes related to agriculture and landscape interaction. The papers present new findings from research undertaken within the scope of the VOLANTE research project ( Kristensen et al., 2013 ). The main objective of the research was to increase our knowledge about landowners’ decision-making processes and drivers of land use change in rural Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archeologické Rozhledy is the property of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Archaeology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ekonomski Vjesnik is the property of Ekonomski Vjesnik and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Over time, digital tools have benefited from an increasingly intense use, being recognized for their beneficial potential in many areas of activity. Among many other domains in which technological instruments have been integrated in order to improve the processes carried out, we can mention the educational environment. Multiple policies have been adopted at European level in order to support the use of digital tools as a complementary activity to traditional learning. The transition from traditional education to education supported by ICT tools has been and continues to be one of the main interest areas in each European country. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a new learning normality in which distance learning has been the only option to ensure the continuity of teaching and learning processes. We naturally wonder if we have been fully prepared for such a situation given that the digitization of educational processes is an ongoing process in Europe. The aim of this paper is to identify and summarize the main obstacles regarding the distance learning processes in Europe, in a situation where there was no other possibility. In the absence of a good understanding of these issues, it is impossible to manage a similar situation in the future. The results obtained from the analysis highlight real challenges related to disadvantaged socio-economic environments, such as rural areas. Also, aspects associated with the pedagogical side, digital skills of participants in educational processes, enabling conditions and others were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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• A new spatial typology of climate change risk for European cities and regions. • Response to IPCC call to understand climate change risks at sub-national levels. • Uneven climate change risk across the 33 countries covered by the typology. • Differences in risk profiles facing urban, rural and peri -urban areas. • Evidence of spatial clustering in climate change risk across typology classes. This paper aims to contribute to the analysis of climate change risk through the development of a new spatially-explicit typology of climate risk for European cities and regions. In doing so, it offers a direct response to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) call to advance awareness of climate change risks at sub-national levels through the integration of hazard, exposure and vulnerability domains into a composite risk classification that covers the whole of Europe. K-means clustering was applied to 49 variables at NUTS3 level where the final classification resulted in an upper-tier of eight 'classes', which were subsequently partitioned to derive a lower-tier of 31 'sub-classes'. A three-stage analysis of the eight-fold class configuration was then undertaken focusing on the distribution of climate risk classes, raising significant issues to inform climate change adaptation planning policy, practice and research. The analysis revealed an uneven distribution of climate change risk across the 33 countries covered by the typology, reinforcing the IPCC message that adapting and building resilience to climate change risk is not a 'one-size-fits-all' exercise. In the second stage, the analysis focused on determining whether there was a difference in the climate change risk facing different settlement types in Europe. The analysis revealed the extent of variation in the climate change risk characteristics of Europe's urban and rural areas, revealing the potential for peri -urban areas to fall between climate change risk agendas or priorities when compared to urban–rural contexts. The final component of our analysis considered the extent to which climate change risk classes exhibit patterns of spatial clustering. Here we found that climate change risk exhibits evidence of spatial clustering but the extent of the clustering varies between different classes as the relationship between contiguous NUTS3 regions changes. This finding has notable implications for transboundary adaptation planning where discontinuities in political buy-in, competition, resourcing and awareness of risk could serve to undermine the coherence and adequacy of policy responses at a time when greater cooperation and alignment is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collective Self-Organized (CSO) Housing (referring to both renovation of existing stock and construction of new dwellings, with the definitive influence of the residents) has become the center of attention of public authorities and private businesses alike, the main reason being that it is often considered a good solution to open up new market segments in the post-crisis housing market for all stakeholders involved. Many of these CSO Housing projects seem to strengthen the commitment of residents to their own built environment. They furthermore contribute to the development of precisely the kind of housing that meets the requirements of the involved clients. This way, the emerging tendency of collective participation of end users in their future built environment contributes to a more accepted, sustainable, green and social environment for many residents to live. The applicability of CSO Housing solutions is strongly dependent on many factors. First and foremost, new CSO Housing constructions and CSO Housing retrofitting differ substantially everywhere, occupying a different market segment and having a different market potential. Similarly, the institutional and legislative background of different European Member states, as well as the residential values and economic possibilities, the availability of land and its price, up to the attitude of public authorities strongly influence the market potential of CSO Housing development. Based on a set of key determinants the following paper plans to map out and show the market potential of different CSO Housing projects in some European countries. The paper furthermore identifies opportunities for new business to be developed, and strategies for market players to come up with new and smart CSO Housing solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For several decades the leading wind energy nations were European, while China and India were mainly the recipients of technology transfer. This paper aims to explore the role technology transfer/cooperation from Europe played in shaping firm-level wind energy technologies in China and India and to discuss whether the recent technology cooperation between the Chinese, Indian, and European wind firms challenges the classical North–South technology cooperation paradigm. The research finds that firm-level technology transfer/cooperation shaped the leading wind energy technologies in China and to a lesser extent in India. The paper also finds that several trends towards South–North technology cooperation have been observed between China, India and Europe, such as South–North flows of capital, drivers for market access, and R&D leadership, while the origins of innovation (e.g. patents) seem to remain predominantly in the global North. The paper concludes that the technology cooperation between China, India, and Europe has become more multi-faceted and increasingly Southern-led. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Second-use entails energy savings but also delays availability of secondary raw materials. • Different perspectives should be used to assess the effects of second-use of batteries. • A dynamic and parametrized MFA model describes the value-chain of batteries in Europe. • Flows of batteries/energy storage capacity/materials are assessed for various scenarios. • More robust data as model input are needed to proper manage the whole battery system. Although not yet developed in Europe, second-use of traction batteries enables an extension of their lifetime and potentially improves life cycle environmental performance. Li-ion batteries (LIBs) offer the most promising chemistry for traction batteries in electric vehicles (xEVs) and for second-use. Due to the novelty of the topic and the expected increase of e-mobility in the next decades, more efforts to understand the potential consequences of second-use of batteries from different perspectives are needed. This paper develops a dynamic, parameterised Material Flow Analysis (MFA) model to estimate stocks and flows of LIBs after their removal from xEVs along the specific processes of the european value-chain. Direct reuse, second-use and recycling are included in the model and parameters make it customisable and updatable. Focusing on full and plug-in electric vehicles, LIBs and energy storage capacity flows are estimated. Stocks and flows of two embedded materials relevant for Europe were also assessed (cobalt and lithium). Results showed that second-use corresponds to a better exploitation of LIBs' storage capacity. Meanwhile, Co and Li in-use stocks are locked in LIBs and their recovery is delayed by second-use; depending on the slower/faster development of second-use, the amount of Co available for recycling in 2030 ranges between 9% and 15% of Co demand and between 7 and 16% for Li. Uncertainty of inputs is addressed through sensitivity analysis. A variety of actors can use this MFA model to enhance knowledge of second-use of batteries in Europe and to support the effective management of LIBs along their value-chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biocultural diversity is an evolving perspective for studying the interrelatedness between people and their natural environment, not only in ecoregional hotspots and cultural landscapes, but also in urban green spaces. Developed in the 1990s in order to denote the diversity of life in all its manifestations―biological, cultural and linguistic―co-evolving within complex socio-ecological systems such as cities, biocultural diversity was identified in the GREEN SURGE project as a response to recent challenges cities face. Most important challenges are the loss of nature and degradation of ecosystems in and around cities as well as an alienation of urban residents from and loss of interaction with nature. The notion of biocultural diversity is dynamic in nature and takes local values and practices of relating to biodiversity of different cultural groups as a starting point for sustainable living with biodiversity. The issue is not only how to preserve or restore biocultural practices and values, but also how to modify, adapt and create biocultural diversity in ways that resonate with urban transformations. As future societies will largely diverge from today's societies, the cultural perspective on living with (urban) nature needs careful reconsideration. Biocultural diversity is not conceived as a definite concept providing prescriptions of what to see and study, but as a reflexive and sensitising concept that can be used to assess the different values and knowledge of people that reflect how they live with biodiversity. This short communication paper introduces a conceptual framework for studying the multi-dimensional features of biocultural diversity in cities along the three key dimensions of materialized, lived and stewardship, being departure points from which biocultural diversity can be studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper starts from the observation that development projects that create various forms of environmental injustice in Europe are an integral part of the process of biospheric expulsions, that is of pushing out groups from adequate land, water or air, as described by Saskia Sassen (2014). Apart from the environmental, socio-economic and health-impacts of ecologically destructive projects, there is an added dimension of concern that has been less obvious in the past, but tends to become increasingly pronounced in a warming world. Is it possible that accumulating environmental inequalities and forms of injustice can create new and "unnatural" vulnerabilities to the projected climate change impacts? The fi rst question that we tackle is whether environmental justice confl icts in Europe tend to take place disproportionately in climate hotspot areas, which are geographic spaces with above-average social sensitivity, potential vulnerability, potential social impact, potential environmental impacts or response capacity (ESPON, 2011). The second question concerns the distribution of diff erent characteristics of projects and of their associated confl icts in climate hotspot vs. non-hotspot areas. The fi nal goal is to establish, at a preliminary level, the emergence of a climate edge in Europe, a spatial confi guration in which vulnerability to climate change impacts is shaped by processes of biospheric expulsion, as postulated at a general level by Sassen. For the analysis, the most current data on environmental justice confl icts (444) from the Environmental Justice Atlas and ESPON climate impact projections, mapped on the Climate Adapt platform, are used. The expected result is to provide a preliminary description of the postulated climate edge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]