Europe’s Path Towards the Socio-Ecological Transition

Beset by an unprecedented combination of challenges including globalisation, demographic shifts, high unemployment and climate change, Europe is in dire need of a new kind of growth and development strategy. The authors of this Forum make compelling arguments for a socioecological transition, in which traditional measures of progress like GDP growth are downplayed in favour of factors such as social inclusion, environmental welfare, high levels of employment and the well-being of European citizens. This Forum explores some of the issues that must be resolved in order to fully achieve the socio-ecological transition, including the necessary decoupling of non-renewable energy use from GDP growth, the reduction of income and wealth inequalities, and the encouragement of innovation that is not based on fossil fuel technology. The Forum presents an optimistic path forward for the continent, with practical policy solutions that do not ignore the many obstacles facing a successful transition.     

Common stories of reintroduction: A discourse analysis of documents supporting animal reintroductions to Scotland

Political decisions on environmental issues are increasingly required to be ‘knowledge based’, which has led to a wealth of (scientific) expert documents that aim to inform decision-making. However, the roles of rhetoric and argumentation in those documents have received relatively little scientific attention. We studied 111 expert documents in support of reintroductions to Scotland and identified the elements that constituted the discourses of white-tailed eagle, beaver and lynx. Similar building blocks (so-called storylines) were found in all three debates. The pro-reintroduction discourse as a whole bore resemblance with other contemporary environmental management discourses: In what could be termed ‘win-win logic’, positive storylines were combined to point at the necessity of a management intervention, in our case a reintroduction. Yet, additional mechanisms were also at work which suggests that downplaying negatives can be as important as dwelling on positives. Crucially, we found that the Scottish pro-reintroduction discourse might have become increasingly ‘reflexive’ in terms of its rhetoric and argumentation. The latter development may have major implications for political decision-making. A more critical use of rhetoric and argumentation in expert documentation is needed to achieve environmental political decision-making that is open to any possible outcome of deliberation (including non-reintroduction).     

ENDOGENOUS PUNISHMENTS IN AGENCY WITH VERIFIABLE EX POST INFORMATION*

The article studies an adverse selection model in which a contractible, imperfect signal on the agent's type is revealed ex post. The agent is wealth constrained, which implies that the maximum penalty depends on the contracted transaction (e.g., the volume of trade). First, we show that the qualitative effects of the signal can be unambiguously tied to the nature of the problem (e.g., whether the agent is in a “buyer” or a “seller” position). Second, the distortions caused by informational asymmetries may become more severe although more information is now available. Finally, the signal can actually serve to increase the agent's informational rents.     

So motivieren Sie Hypertoniker

Kooperation statt Konfrontation – Nichts ist schwieriger, als langj?hrige Gewohnheiten aufzugeben. Auch aus diesem Grund f?llt es Hochdruckpatienten schwer, notwendige Lebensstil?nderungen umzusetzen. Wenn Pflegende auf Kooperation statt auf Konfrontation setzen, k?nnen sie Patienten auf ihrem Weg beratend unterstützen.     

Konflikte lösen

Pflegekr?fte streben eigentlich nach Harmonie - Stress, Arbeitsverdichtung, schwerkranke Patienten und Umstrukturierungen führen zu einer gespannten Atmosph?re, in der Konflikte zwar schnell entstehen, in der jedoch kaum Zeit bleibt, sie zu l?sen. Zudem sind in Krankenh?usern die Hierarchien st?rker ausgepr?gt als anderswo. Doch der Rückhalt im Team wird dringend gebraucht, um die Arbeitssituation überhaupt auszuhalten. Was also tun?     

Household production of sorghum beer in Benin: technological and socio‐economic aspects

This study evaluated the sorghum brewing microenterprises in Benin with emphasis on the beer quality, the social significance of the product as well as the income generated. Tchoukoutou, the Benin opaque sorghum beer, has important social functions as it fosters the cooperative spirit and remains an ancestral beverage widely used for traditional ceremonies. The manufacturing process consists of malting (soaking, germination and sun drying), brewing (mashing, boiling, filtration) and fermentation. The beer is sour with a pH of 3.2 and contains a relatively high but variable level of solids and crude protein. Most of the consumers appreciate an opaque, sour and pink‐coloured beer. The consumers related many of the beer properties to health effects. Participants can link the perceived qualities of the beer to the grain’s functional properties, and this leads to the classification of the farmers’ sorghum as varieties of top, medium and low quality for brewing. The profits from tchoukoutou production range from 2365 to 17 212 fcfa per month (1 euro = 656 fcfa) for the producers, depending on beer yield and quantity of raw grain transformed. The generated income is used for household needs and part of it is invested in children’s education.     

Die Patientenverfügung

Zusammenfasung  Eine Entscheidung über Leben und Tod braucht Dialoge — Patientenverfügungen sollen die Selbstbestimmung der Patienten sichern. Aber wie sollen ?rzte, Pflegende und Angeh?rige damit umgehen? Eine Pflegewissenschaftlerin, ein Jurist und ein Gesundheitswissenschaftler diskutierten auf dem Berliner Kongress Pflege 2008 dieses vielschichtige Problem.     

Mach mal Pause!

Zusammenfassung  Die Auszeit richtig nutzen — über die H?lfte der Pflegekr?fte in der ambulanten und station?ren Pflege klagt darüber, dass sie vorgesehene Pausen nicht nehmen k?nnen, so ein Ergebnis des DAK-BGW Gesundheitsreports 2006. Dabei tragen Pausen wesentlich zur Erhaltung der Leistungskraft bei. Aber wie schafft man es, die Auszeiten einzuhalten?     

LABOUR DEMAND IN GERMANY BY INDUSTRIAL SECTOR,OCCUPATIONAL FIELD AND QUALIFICATION UNTIL 2025 – MODEL CALCULATIONS USING THE IAB/INFORGE MODEL

By means of a trend extrapolation of microcensus structures (undertaken by the German Federal Statistical Office) for the time period 1996–2007, the projections for labour demand by industrial sector which the IAB already has at its disposal can be transferred to demand by occupational field and subsequently by qualification level until 2025. The findings which have been claimed for some time now are upheld: production-related occupations will lose in significance, while further increases in employment particularly in occupations in the service sector are to be expected. Accordingly, the demand for personnel with a degree from a university or a university of applied sciences will go on rising, while the labour market opportunities for unskilled workers will continue to fall. However, vocational training or its academic counterparts still remain the dominant form of training in Germany. A continuing employment trend is to be expected here.