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The United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) has completed its second round of negotiations on a new international legally binding instrument to ‘end plastic pollution’. This paper examines the results of the second session of negotiations, which took place May 29–June 2, 2023, and analyses the trends, barriers, and themes shaping the emerging legally binding instrument. T

Microbial necromass is increasingly recognized as an important fast-cycling component of the long-term carbon present in soils. To better understand how fungi and bacteria individually contribute to the decomposition of fungal necromass, three particle sizes (>500, 250–500, and <250 μm) of Hyaloscypha bicolor necromass were incubated in laboratory microcosms inoculated with individual strains of t

Aim: Anthropogenic-driven biodiversity loss can impact ecosystem stability. However, most studies have only evaluated the diversity–stability relationship at the local scale and we do not fully understand which factors stabilize animal populations and communities across scales. Here, we investigate the role of species dispersal ability, climate, spatial distance and different facets of biodiversit

When the ecovillage of Toarp was established in the peri-urban landscape of Malmö, Sweden, it was designed with inspiration from the historical regional landscape and its settlement forms. In the launching of the area the past was mirrored as more sustainable than the present. As demonstrated, the historical references in the planned and produced Toarp landscape are however made selectively and ra

This article responds to the general neglect of legal culture in the study of climate mobilities. It presents a case study of climate mobilities in an unplanned settlement in Maputo, Mozambique, exploring how legal culture influenced residents’ decision-making processes as they navigated climate-related risks in their daily lives. We demonstrate that legal culture can facilitate climate mobilities

The field of child welfare could be considered one of the most complex social systems to work within. Whether punishing for errors or satisficing calls for accountability with firing employees and pointing to individuals as the root causes of bad outcomes, the current practice in child welfare is to utilize backward looking accountability. It is argued here that child welfare agencies would benefi

The aim of this study was to see how a group home for mentally ill people was portrayed in a local newspaper debate about building a new home for mentally ill people in residential area. The research material found in the daily newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad was both articles and debates. We selected the articles and debates (posts) that could answer our questions. We used text analysis and were i

“Ripples in the water” is a qualitative research of eight family members´ experiences of the service they received from the psychiatric departments in the University Hospital in Iceland when one of the family became mentally ill. The eight participants in the research came from families, who had the total of six mentally ill patients. I conducted a total of six interviews with these participants,

Actors at various scales approach their relation to water differently in the context of environmental and climate crises. Multilateral agencies conceptualize water as a quantifiable element that can be managed efficiently. For them, climate change and water scarcity hinder economic growth and widen drinking water access gaps. Consequently, financial and technical resources focus on promoting water

The notion of the 'flesh' plays an important part in Jerome’s theology at large, and this is no less true of his anti-Pelagian polemics. In opposition to what he presents as the Pelagian idea of apatheia, Jerome claims that due to our existence in the flesh, we cannot hope to be free from sin during our earthly lives. A central accusation against Pelagianism which Jerome expresses in this connecti

The importance of genetic diversity has been recognised by the Convention on Biological Diversity but attempts at monitoring or improving the genetic diversity of populations have been minimal. Here, we investigate changes over time in the genetic diversity of a wild insect species, Maniola jurtina (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) and present a large-scale investigation into contemporary spatial genetic

Despite the importance of fungi to forest carbon (C) cycling and increasing calls to include microbial interactions in ecosystem models, how shifting fungal guild abundances impact soil C stocks remains poorly quantified, particularly in mineral soils where most C is stored. Additionally, a greater understanding of how fungal interguild interactions affect belowground litter decomposition is neede

Most pollinator policy initiatives are focused on habitat restoration and increasing the availability of floral resources, yet the choice of plant species is not always compatible with farming system cultivation and management needs. In this paper, we developed a framework for selecting plants to specifically meet stakeholder needs. We trialled 19 plant species and collected observational data on

Climate warming is driving changes in species distribution, but habitat characteristics can interact with warming temperatures to affect populations in unexpected ways. We investigated wintering waterbird responses to climate warming depending on habitat characteristics, with a focus on the northern boundary of their non-breeding distributions where winter climatic conditions are more extreme. At

The INTERSPEC project, funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant, is focused on introducing a novel analytical methodology for studying single-cell scale fungal metabolism to clarify how fungal decomposition rates are affected by changing environmental (biotic and abiotic) conditions.

Soil health in Europe has reached a critical point: it is estimated that 60-70% of European soils are unhealthy. Changes in land use, its intensity and the quality of management have significant impacts on soil health and soil related ecosystem services. A systems analysis of soil health dynamics requires an understanding of the drivers inducing changes in land use and management. The DPSIR framew

Butterflies and moths have often been suggested as suitable indicators for monitoring environmental effects on biodiversity, land use changes and management practices, and many butterfly monitoring schemes are established and run in Europe. In these monitoring programmes, the field counts are only carried out when certain, standard weather conditions considered favourable for butterflies are met.