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The first Transplant Games took place in 1978 in Portsmouth, England. Since then, numerous Olympic-style sporting 'Games' have been established, each aiming to increase public awareness of organ donation, demonstrate the benefits of transplantation, and encourage patient fitness. Despite this, there is limited research exploring the psycho-social and health impacts of the Games. Drawing on qualitative research conducted at the 2022 British Transplant Games and the 2022 European Transplant and Dialysis Games, this paper explores the Games through a therapeutic landscapes framework, a concept that examines the ways in which environments contribute to health and wellbeing. Building upon work that acknowledges the relational and contingent nature of health-in-place, I argue that the Games are a therapeutic landscape of social relations for transplant recipients in three ways: providing a landscape of belonging , a landscape of hope , and a landscape of motivation. Through this therapeutic landscapes perspective, the Transplant Games are presented as a peer-to-peer clinic – a care space where individuals are more actively involved in their health on a reciprocal level than in the traditional hospital clinic. In turn, this paper emphasises the crucial role of affective peer support in producing health-promoting environments. This research seeks to make a practical contribution to the wider transplant community by promoting the Games as an environment which may positively contribute to both physical and mental wellbeing. • The Transplant Games function as a therapeutic landscape for organ recipients. • They provide a peer-to-peer clinic where participants are active in their health. • The Games provide a landscape of belonging, acceptance, understanding and family. • In showing you can still lead a healthy life, the Games become a landscape of hope. • As a landscape of motivation, the Games improve both physical and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract School leaders around the world are increasingly required to orchestrate their school's strategic planning in order to both meet external accountability requirements and create fostering learning environments for all students. To meet these objectives in the complex school ecosystem, leaders need to make decisions based on holistic collection and analysis of diverse educational data, coming from different school actors (such as students, teachers, infrastructure, curricula, legislations etc.). However, this task can be very cumbersome, especially since contemporary 'School Analytics' methods aiming to support decision making have mainly accommodated the aspect of collecting and visualizing data or utilized variance-based analyses, but have yet to explicitly address the aspect of deriving insights to inform strategic school planning. In this context, the contribution of this work is to present and evaluate a novel School Analytics approach that employs fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) as the means to bridge the qualitative-quantitative divide in learning technology research methods and provide leaders with actionable insights on how to create school conditions for fostering students' outcomes, focusing on digital skills as a case study. By employing fsQCA on data from almost 3000 schools across Europe, the paper outlines eight distinct configurations of school factors, which describe how school leaders can potentially generate nurturing environments for enhancing students' digital skills. Finally, the quantitative results from a layered evaluation protocol argue for the promising potential of the fsQCA method as a tool to unravel the complex knot of processing school-wide educational data and generating insights to inform school leaders' decision making. Highlights • Existing School Analytics methods offer limited actionable decision support to leaders. • FsQCA can be used to process various school data and offer actionable insights. • FsQCA outlined 8 configurations of school factors nurturing to students' digital skills. • The fsQCA configurations can act as blueprints towards holistic school improvement. • FsQCA can bridge the qualitative-quantitative divide in learning technology research methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the perceptions of some of the key stakeholders related with the European automotive manufacturers, automotive related industries – oil, tyres, electric batteries and information technology industries – and academia, about the technological contributions to lower greenhouse gas emissions of individual passenger vehicles. A qualitative approach, based on semi-structured interviews, was used in order to identify and explore possible relationships, causes, effects and dynamic processes. Technological and behavioural aspects were identified as crucial for the decrease of fossil fuels consumption and hence reducing carbon dioxide emissions. It was concluded that there is a strong focus on lowering the greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions in the automotive sector and related industries concerning innovation process; furthermore there is a need for major stakeholders, including policy makers, to look at sustainable mobility using a more holistic and inclusive approach to achieve an effective delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper reports on in-depth research, using a grounded theory approach, to examine the ways in which very old people perceive healthy ageing in the context of living alone at home within urban settings in five European countries. This qualitative study was part of a cross-national project entitled ENABLE-AGE which examined the relationship between home and healthy ageing. Interviews explored the notion of healthy ageing, the meaning and importance of home, conceptualisations of independence and autonomy and links between healthy ageing and home. Data analysis identified five ways in which older people constructed healthy ageing: home and keeping active; managing lifestyles, health and illness; balancing social life; and balancing material and financial circumstances. Older people reflected on their everyday lives at home in terms of being engaged in purposeful, meaningful action and evaluated healthy ageing in relation to the symbolic and practical affordances of the home, contextualised within constructions of their national context. The research suggests that older people perceive healthy ageing as an active achievement, created through individual, personal effort and supported through social ties despite the health, financial and social decline associated with growing older. The physicality and spatiality of home provided the context for establishing and evaluating the notion of healthy ageing, whilst the experienced relationship between home, life history and identity created a meaningful space within which healthy ageing was negotiated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper investigates notable examples of sustainable lifestyles in relation to food systems. It explores the surprisingly neglected case of widely practised and environmentally sustainable food self-provisioning in post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe. Our argument is rooted in qualitative and quantitative data gathered over a seven-year period (2005–2011). The research considers the extent of and motivations for these practices in Poland and Czechia. The very high rates compared to Western Europe and North America have generally been explained in terms of an ‘urban peasantry’ meeting essential needs. After reviewing and rejecting those accounts we present evidence for these as socially and environmentally beneficial practices, and explore how the motivations derive from a range of feelings about food, quality, capability and family and/or friendship. Rather than relate these practices to temporal signals of quality and sustainability in food ('slow' and 'fast'), or presenting them as 'alternative food networks' we suggest that they represent 'quiet sustainability'. This novel concept summarises widespread practices that result in beneficial environmental or social outcomes and that do not relate directly or indirectly to market transactions, but are not represented by their practitioners as relating directly to environmental or sustainability goals. These practices represent exuberant, appealing and socially inclusive, but also unforced, forms of sustainability. This case further demonstrates the severe limitations of decision makers' focus on economics and behaviour change, and their neglect of other dimensions of social life and change in developing environmental policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines dark tourism consumption motivations. Using a qualitative and interpretative mixed-method approach, this study traces the dark tourism motivations related to “blackpackers” and fans of the musical performance art known as black metal. Steeped in anti-Christian motifs and themes, with a history of past violence, black metal is a long-existing and still burgeoning art form that is growing in popularity throughout Europe and the United States. Through examination that involved participant observation, nethnography and content analysis, simulation, coupled with the emotional contagion were found to be key motivating aspects of this dark tourism related to black metal. Additionally, it was found, that similar to media tourists, many black metal fans seek tourism activity to reconcile comparisons between imaged landscapes and topographical reality. In addition to discussing specific aspects of the blackpacking phenomenon, larger theoretical implications related to the greater realm of dark tourism motivations are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: For decades, soil geography has been mainly a qualitative and descriptive discipline. There are now technologies and mathematical tools available that allow formalizing soil geography in more quantitative terms. In this paper, the distribution and diversity of the soils of Europe are analyzed using GIS tools and pedodiversity algorithms. Soil data were taken from the European Soil Database (V2.0) and computed within the spatial framework of the Biogeographical Regions of Europe (BGRE) as defined by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) on the basis of climate and vegetation. The results obtained show the soil assemblages, including dominant soils and endemic and non-endemic soil minorities, and their respective soil diversity for each BGRE. Most BGRE have dominant soils that mainly reflect the influence of the climatic conditions prevailing in each regional context. Although the definition of the BGRE lacks relevant information on geology, relief and paleogeographic evolution, soil assemblages of most biogeographical regions are idiosyncratic and characterize quite well the European soilscapes. Northern BGRE (i.e. Arctic and Boreal) have low pedotaxa diversity in contrast to the other BGRE. The mountain biome has the highest pedorichness at European as well as at global level. The Atlantic and Mediterranean regions and, to some extent, the Alpine region are mutually related. Most continental soilscapes constitute a mix of typical steppe and forest soils. The Black Sea region, the smallest one of all, has no idiosyncratic soil type, suggesting that it could be considered as an important biodiversity hotspot rather than a genuine biogeographical region. These results are relevant as baseline information for a full inventory of pedodiversity and as an important part of the European natural heritage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper integrates findings from specialized literature and expert opinion evaluation to increase the understanding of present and future drivers for electric drive vehicle (EDV) market uptake on a wide spatial scale as a basis for subsequent multi-criteria evaluations applied to different market deployment scenarios. Two types of analyses were integrated to achieve the goal of the identification of drivers, which indicate the lead markets for EDV adoption. First a list of criteria and factors was developed based on a literature survey. Secondly, this factor set was then verified and assessed by a panel of experts representing key stakeholders with different scientific and technical background at the European level. The factors were broadly grouped under five different criteria: “demography”, “environment”, “economy”, “energy” and “transport”. The expert survey included a valuation of each of the factors providing quantitative, qualitative and importance weighting values for each of the factors for the years 2020 and 2030 and the validity of factors roster and the level of expert congruence. The results of the study indicate that the experts have confidence in battery electric vehicles (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) to reach a sustained market deployment by 2030 and a spatially increasing market distribution from 2020 to 2030 as revealed by the sale projections provided by them. The experts seem to consider PHEVs as more robust vis-à-vis the investigated factors than BEVs. The screened factor set includes well-to-wheel emissions, privileged access to dedicated lanes, parking and city centers, the technology learning rate and population density for both vehicle types. Fuel cost savings received congruent feedback for electric drive vehicles. The list which was derived can assist in informed political decisions as to at which scale and area a policy intervention might be appropriate in order to support lead markets for BEVs and PHEVs in Europe. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Scenario projects increasingly combine quantitative models with qualitative, participatory products in order to make scenarios more coherent, relevant, credible and creative. A major advantage of adding participatory, qualitative scenarios is their ability to produce creative, innovative, non-linear products. Integrating participatory results with quantitative models, however, can lower their credibility of both products when they are not consistent. The low level of structure in most participatory output limits possibilities for linking them to quantitative models. More structure could be introduced, but this might hamper the creativity of the workshop results: outcomes (process) and outputs (storylines). This paper tests a new method to analyse the creativity of scenario storylines in order to analyse the effects of structuring tools on the creativity of workshop results. Both the perceptions of participants and the resulting storylines of nine case studies across Europe are used in the analysis. Results show that the use of structuring tools can have a negative effect on the creativity of the workshop, but the influence seems to vary between the different tools. The study shows the benefit of using indicators for the scenario quality criteria. More research is needed to develop indicators for other scenario quality criteria, to improve those developed here and to study the impact of structuring tools with a larger data set. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The purpose was to capture the experiences of cultural, personal and professional development during International Clinical Placement (ICP) among nursing students from three European countries. The paper presents findings based on the analysis of 23 reflections written by students immediately after returning from their ICP. The design builds on a qualitative study using a phenomenological approach and meaning condensation inspired by Kirsti Malterud. The analysis revealed four themes: Communication and barriers to be overcome, Culture as a serious business, Personal and professional achievements and Challenges and the importance of preceptorship. The ICP impacted on the participants' personal as well as professional way of understanding themselves as students and future nurses. A profound difference was seen between the achieved learning outcomes of participants completing an ICP in a high- or low–income country, respectively. Language barriers, the local culture and different nursing cultures were often challenging and pushed participants out of their comfort zone. All participants developed their cultural understanding in accordance with the Papadopoulos, Tilki and Taylor Model for Developing Cultural Competence. Findings indicate that educational institutions should establish well-planned exchange opportunities that adopt a two-way reciprocal (Erasmus) exchange programmes and be aware of the value of an appointed preceptor in the host country. • Professional understanding of themselves as nursing students and future nurses. • The participants were pushed out of their comfort zone. • All participants advanced on their way to become a culturally competent. • This study suggests recommendations two-way reciprocal Erasmus exchange programmes. • Appointment of a preceptor was highly valuable for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Forensic DNA phenotyping raises a range of regulatory, ethical and social issues. • We interviewed thirty civil society stakeholders across nine EU countries to explore their perspectives with relation this. • Views varied about how to balance various risks and benefits in terms of if, when and/or how the technology should be used. • It was not a zero-sum game where risks to some goods detract from others. Each risk/benefit needed balancing against another. Forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) is an umbrella term for practices seeking to infer likely phenotypic characteristics based on crime scene DNA. Specifically, it is intended to help criminal investigators find an unknown suspected perpetrator by providing information about what the suspected perpetrator may look like based on the analysis of DNA left at the crime scene. While many purport the usefulness of FDP in this regard, its probabilistic nature, as well as its ability to disclose information about an individual that may be considered private raises a range of ethical and social concerns. This paper reports findings from interviews with thirty civil society stakeholders across nine European countries. Our findings reflect the wide variation of views in Europe regarding if, when and/or how the technology should be used in the criminal justice system, and we illustrate this by presenting the different ways in which our participants strike a balance between the potential usefulness of the technology, and the various ethical and social considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, longer life expectancy, the consequent greater number of patients with often concurrent diseases, and the need of healthcare institutions to reduce the costs of services, have engendered changes in all European healthcare systems. On one side, healthcare systems increasingly rely on the self-management skills of patients, who undertake a growing amount of 'sickness work' from which they are relieved only in the case of severe illness. On the other, the inability of public healthcare systems to satisfy the increased demand for care has led to the growth of private healthcare organizations as well as cooperatives of health professionals who offer their services privately. The care of citizens, therefore, is increasingly distributed across networks of actors with very different objectives, logics of action and professional backgrounds (public and private healthcare organizations, community medical services, voluntary organizations). Despite the attention devoted by social studies of medicine to the work done by citizens in supporting the work of clinicians and nurses, the work performed in connection to the management of care networks have been only marginally investigated. Drawing on a qualitative research carried out in the Province of Trento (Italy) and focused on the different ways in which elderly people with chronic conditions manage their conditions outside the healthcare and welfare institutions, in this paper we are interested in deepening the understanding of the invisible work citizens perform in connection to the management of care services and professionals. That is, the work needed in order to activate, mend and coordinate complex networks of care. • Patients and relatives everyday manage complex networks of services. • They activate, mend and coordinate networks of healthcare and welfare services. • This invisible work is 'homemade', involving actors with no professional skills. • Caregivers follow short-term goals, shifting between social and health care. • Organizational facilities intended to help citizens appear sometimes of scant utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]