Pub Date : 2024-07-29eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.16634.2
Elissa Mollakuqe, Vesna Dimitrova
Background: This research delves into the critical aspects of identity management, access control, and authorization practices within the domains of public and private universities. Identity management involves the meticulous management and control of user identities, encompassing the establishment and maintenance of user profiles, role assignments, and access privileges. Access control is the practice of defining and enforcing policies that govern who can access an IT system or application and which resources they can interact with. Authorization, meanwhile, determines the specific actions and privileges granted to users based on their roles and permissions.
Methods: To understand the variances in identity management and access control approaches, we conducted a comparative analysis between public and private universities. Our investigation scrutinized the user populations with access to university systems, the enforcement of access limitations, authentication methods, and password policies. Additionally, we examined the nuances of authorization processes, levels of authorization, access approval authorities, user status and role changes, unique user account management, account deletion procedures, user authentication methods, password complexity and expiration policies, password storage methods, and session termination policies.
Results: This study revealed that both public and private universities prioritize these security measures, with a common categorization of these processes. Nevertheless, there exist disparities, such as the inclusion of contractors and vendors in the user population at private universities, the manual deletion of user accounts in private institutions, and variations in password policies and storage methods. Private universities tend to enforce stricter password policies, employ more secure password storage methods, and implement automatic session termination features.
Conclusions: This research provides valuable insights into the practices and approaches adopted by public and private universities to safeguard their digital environments. The findings serve as a valuable resource for enhancing identity management, access control, and authorization protocols, enabling institutions to fortify their cybersecurity defenses in an ever-evolving threat landscape.
研究背景本研究深入探讨了公立和私立大学领域内身份管理、访问控制和授权实践的关键方面。身份管理涉及对用户身份的细致管理和控制,包括建立和维护用户档案、角色分配和访问权限。访问控制是定义和执行政策的实践,这些政策管理谁可以访问 IT 系统或应用程序,以及他们可以与哪些资源交互。而授权则是根据用户的角色和权限,确定授予用户的具体操作和权限:为了了解身份管理和访问控制方法的差异,我们对公立大学和私立大学进行了比较分析。我们仔细研究了可访问大学系统的用户群、访问限制的执行情况、身份验证方法和密码政策。此外,我们还研究了授权流程的细微差别、授权级别、访问审批权限、用户状态和角色变更、唯一用户账户管理、账户删除程序、用户认证方法、密码复杂性和过期政策、密码存储方法以及会话终止政策:这项研究表明,公立大学和私立大学都优先考虑这些安全措施,并对这些程序进行了共同的分类。然而,也存在一些差异,如私立大学的用户群体中包括承包商和供应商,私立机构中用户账户的手动删除,以及密码政策和存储方法的不同。私立大学往往执行更严格的密码政策,采用更安全的密码存储方法,并实施自动会话终止功能:这项研究为了解公立和私立大学在保护其数字环境方面所采取的做法和方法提供了宝贵的见解。研究结果为加强身份管理、访问控制和授权协议提供了宝贵的资源,使各机构能够在不断变化的威胁环境中加强网络安全防御。
{"title":"Comparative analysis of identity management, access control, and authorization practices in public and private universities.","authors":"Elissa Mollakuqe, Vesna Dimitrova","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.16634.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.16634.2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This research delves into the critical aspects of identity management, access control, and authorization practices within the domains of public and private universities. Identity management involves the meticulous management and control of user identities, encompassing the establishment and maintenance of user profiles, role assignments, and access privileges. Access control is the practice of defining and enforcing policies that govern who can access an IT system or application and which resources they can interact with. Authorization, meanwhile, determines the specific actions and privileges granted to users based on their roles and permissions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>To understand the variances in identity management and access control approaches, we conducted a comparative analysis between public and private universities. Our investigation scrutinized the user populations with access to university systems, the enforcement of access limitations, authentication methods, and password policies. Additionally, we examined the nuances of authorization processes, levels of authorization, access approval authorities, user status and role changes, unique user account management, account deletion procedures, user authentication methods, password complexity and expiration policies, password storage methods, and session termination policies.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This study revealed that both public and private universities prioritize these security measures, with a common categorization of these processes. Nevertheless, there exist disparities, such as the inclusion of contractors and vendors in the user population at private universities, the manual deletion of user accounts in private institutions, and variations in password policies and storage methods. Private universities tend to enforce stricter password policies, employ more secure password storage methods, and implement automatic session termination features.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This research provides valuable insights into the practices and approaches adopted by public and private universities to safeguard their digital environments. The findings serve as a valuable resource for enhancing identity management, access control, and authorization protocols, enabling institutions to fortify their cybersecurity defenses in an ever-evolving threat landscape.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"4 ","pages":"23"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11294802/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141891184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-29eCollection Date: 2023-01-01DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.15605.2
Monica Correggia, Luciano Di Iorio, Alessia Benedicta Bastianoni, Mustafa Yucel, Angelina Cordone, Donato Giovannelli
This standard operating procedure (SOP) describes an ion chromatography (IC) procedure for the major cations and anions in hydrothermal fluids. Hydrothermal fluids are aqueous solutions with a wide range of temperature, salinity, pH and ion species that can be used by microbial metabolism as electron donors and electron acceptors. Due to the high variability of the environmental physical-chemical parameters in these samples, we have developed this protocol taking into account the special features of the matrices analyzed. An Eco IC Metrohm system equipped with a conductivity detector was used. Calibration curves are linear in the 0.1 to 10 mg/L concentration range for cations Ca 2+, Na +, K +, Mg 2+, NH 4+ and anions Cl -, Br -, NO 3-, NO 2-, SO 42- , PO 43-.
{"title":"Standard operating procedure for the analysis of major ions in hydrothermal fluids by ion chromatography.","authors":"Monica Correggia, Luciano Di Iorio, Alessia Benedicta Bastianoni, Mustafa Yucel, Angelina Cordone, Donato Giovannelli","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.15605.2","DOIUrl":"10.12688/openreseurope.15605.2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This standard operating procedure (SOP) describes an ion chromatography (IC) procedure for the major cations and anions in hydrothermal fluids. Hydrothermal fluids are aqueous solutions with a wide range of temperature, salinity, pH and ion species that can be used by microbial metabolism as electron donors and electron acceptors. Due to the high variability of the environmental physical-chemical parameters in these samples, we have developed this protocol taking into account the special features of the matrices analyzed. An Eco IC Metrohm system equipped with a conductivity detector was used. Calibration curves are linear in the 0.1 to 10 mg/L concentration range for cations Ca <sup>2+</sup>, Na <sup>+</sup>, K <sup>+</sup>, Mg <sup>2+</sup>, NH <sub>4</sub> <sup>+</sup> and anions Cl <sup>-</sup>, Br <sup>-</sup>, NO <sub>3</sub> <sup>-</sup>, NO <sub>2</sub> <sup>-</sup>, SO <sub>4</sub> <sup>2-</sup> , PO <sub>4</sub> <sup>3-</sup>.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"3 ","pages":"94"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11387938/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142302828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-29eCollection Date: 2023-01-01DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.16146.2
Carlo Matteo Di Dionisio, Johannes Bitzer, Marianne Greil-Soyka
Sexual health has been recognized as an essential component of the overall health and wellbeing. The current article aims, first, to review the current state of sexual health education in undergraduate medical curricula, identifying gaps, needs and challenges. The main part of this paper describes the development and content of an undergraduate sexual medicine curriculum based on a clear concept of the competencies students should learn regarding knowledge, skills and attitudes. The content is based on a biopsychosocial understanding of human sexuality elaborated by international experts from different European countries integrating basic knowledge in biology, psychology, sociocultural and political sciences, preventive medicine, and the various therapeutic approaches to help women, men and couples with sexual health problems on a primary care level. In order to enable students to learn the basic skills of sexual history taking and sexual basic counselling two educational videos were produced. The material presented is part of the European Collaboration in Science and Technology (COST) supported project European Sexual Medicine Network (ESMN). The material provided can serve universities to give the training as a 25-30 hours course equivalent to 1 ECTS.
{"title":"A model curriculum in sexual medicine for undergraduate education in Europe.","authors":"Carlo Matteo Di Dionisio, Johannes Bitzer, Marianne Greil-Soyka","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.16146.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.16146.2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sexual health has been recognized as an essential component of the overall health and wellbeing. The current article aims, first, to review the current state of sexual health education in undergraduate medical curricula, identifying gaps, needs and challenges. The main part of this paper describes the development and content of an undergraduate sexual medicine curriculum based on a clear concept of the competencies students should learn regarding knowledge, skills and attitudes. The content is based on a biopsychosocial understanding of human sexuality elaborated by international experts from different European countries integrating basic knowledge in biology, psychology, sociocultural and political sciences, preventive medicine, and the various therapeutic approaches to help women, men and couples with sexual health problems on a primary care level. In order to enable students to learn the basic skills of sexual history taking and sexual basic counselling two educational videos were produced. The material presented is part of the European Collaboration in Science and Technology (COST) supported project European Sexual Medicine Network (ESMN). The material provided can serve universities to give the training as a 25-30 hours course equivalent to 1 ECTS.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"3 ","pages":"153"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11420616/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142333959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-24DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.18023.1
Michael Raess, Omran Alhaddad, Johanna Bischof, John Dolan, Ayoub El Ghadraoui, Marco Galeotti, Ulla Lächele, Xavier Meyer, Oguz Ozkan, Ivan Rodero, Hannele Savela, John Shepherdson, Vanessa Spadetto, Valentina Tegas, Susanne Vainio, Alen Vodopijevec, Bonnie Wolff-Boenisch, Claudia Alan Amaro, Annika Thies
Research Infrastructures (RIs) are strategic assets facilitating innovation and knowledge advancement across all scientific disciplines. They provide researchers with advanced tools and resources that go beyond individual or institutional capacities and promote collaboration, community-building and the application of scientific standards. Remote and virtual access to RIs enables scientists to use these essential resources without the necessity of being physically present. The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions where a catalyst for the expansion and further development of remote and virtual access models, particularly in fields where physical access had been the predominant model. The eRImote project explores pathways for digital and remote RI access through targeted surveys, stakeholder workshops, expert groups discussions, and the analysis of specific use cases. This paper provides a definition of remote and virtual access and remote training and explores their implementation across various RIs, highlighting the implications for their operational processes and the dynamics of interaction between RIs and their user communities. It presents the identified advantages, obstacles, and best-practices, alongside strategies and recommendations to navigate and mitigate challenges effectively. Key issues and recommendations are summed up separately for remote access, virtual access, and remote training, complemented by general recommendations for facilitating remote and virtual access to RIs. These relate to budgeting and funding, the balancing of RI access models, the need for regulatory frameworks for sample shipments, collaboration among RIs, impact assessment of remote and virtual access on user interactions, operational efficiency and the environment footprint of RIs, and the adaption of data sharing policies. Stakeholders are broadly invited to give their feedback on the paper’s findings and conclusions, which will be integrated into improved versions of this paper.
研究基础设施(RI)是促进所有科学学科创新和知识进步的战略资产。它们为研究人员提供超越个人或机构能力的先进工具和资源,促进合作、社区建设和科学标准的应用。通过远程和虚拟访问 RI,科学家无需亲临现场即可使用这些重要资源。COVID-19 大流行病的限制推动了远程和虚拟访问模式的扩展和进一步发展,特别是在以实体访问为主要模式的领域。eRImote 项目通过有针对性的调查、利益相关者研讨会、专家小组讨论和对具体使用案例的分析,探索数字和远程 RI 访问的途径。本文提供了远程和虚拟访问以及远程培训的定义,并探讨了它们在各种区域机构中的实施情况,强调了对其操作流程的影响以及区域机构与其用户社区之间的互动动态。本文介绍了已确定的优势、障碍和最佳做法,以及有效驾驭和减轻挑战的战略和建议。报告分别总结了远程访问、虚拟访问和远程培训的关键问题和建议,并提出了促进远程和虚拟访问区域机构的一般性建议。这些问题涉及预算和资金、区域机构访问模式的平衡、样本运输监管框架的必要性、区域机构之间的合作、远程和虚拟访问对用户互动的影响评估、区域机构的运行效率和环境足迹,以及数据共享政策的调整。我们广泛邀请利益相关者对本文的研究结果和结论提出反馈意见,并将其纳入本文的改进版本中。
{"title":"Facilitating remote and virtual access provision by European research infrastructures – requirements, issues, and recommendations","authors":"Michael Raess, Omran Alhaddad, Johanna Bischof, John Dolan, Ayoub El Ghadraoui, Marco Galeotti, Ulla Lächele, Xavier Meyer, Oguz Ozkan, Ivan Rodero, Hannele Savela, John Shepherdson, Vanessa Spadetto, Valentina Tegas, Susanne Vainio, Alen Vodopijevec, Bonnie Wolff-Boenisch, Claudia Alan Amaro, Annika Thies","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.18023.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.18023.1","url":null,"abstract":"Research Infrastructures (RIs) are strategic assets facilitating innovation and knowledge advancement across all scientific disciplines. They provide researchers with advanced tools and resources that go beyond individual or institutional capacities and promote collaboration, community-building and the application of scientific standards. Remote and virtual access to RIs enables scientists to use these essential resources without the necessity of being physically present. The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions where a catalyst for the expansion and further development of remote and virtual access models, particularly in fields where physical access had been the predominant model. The eRImote project explores pathways for digital and remote RI access through targeted surveys, stakeholder workshops, expert groups discussions, and the analysis of specific use cases. This paper provides a definition of remote and virtual access and remote training and explores their implementation across various RIs, highlighting the implications for their operational processes and the dynamics of interaction between RIs and their user communities. It presents the identified advantages, obstacles, and best-practices, alongside strategies and recommendations to navigate and mitigate challenges effectively. Key issues and recommendations are summed up separately for remote access, virtual access, and remote training, complemented by general recommendations for facilitating remote and virtual access to RIs. These relate to budgeting and funding, the balancing of RI access models, the need for regulatory frameworks for sample shipments, collaboration among RIs, impact assessment of remote and virtual access on user interactions, operational efficiency and the environment footprint of RIs, and the adaption of data sharing policies. Stakeholders are broadly invited to give their feedback on the paper’s findings and conclusions, which will be integrated into improved versions of this paper.","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"16 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141808938","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-24DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.15699.2
Monica Correggia, Luciano Di iorio, A. Bastianoni, Mustafa Yücel, A. Cordone, D. Giovannelli
This standard operating procedure (SOP) validates an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) procedure for the determination of trace elements in hydrothermal fluids. Hydrothermal fluids are aqueous solutions with a wide range of temperature, salinity, pH and trace elements that can be used by a set of microbial proteins containing redox-sensitive transition metals as their catalytic core. Due to the high variability of these samples, we have developed this protocol taking into account the special features of the matrices analyzed. An ICP-MS 7900 Agilent system was used. Calibration curves are linear in the 0.01 to 100 μg/L concentration range.
{"title":"Standard Operating Procedure for the determination of trace elements in hydrothermal fluids by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)","authors":"Monica Correggia, Luciano Di iorio, A. Bastianoni, Mustafa Yücel, A. Cordone, D. Giovannelli","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.15699.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.15699.2","url":null,"abstract":"This standard operating procedure (SOP) validates an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) procedure for the determination of trace elements in hydrothermal fluids. Hydrothermal fluids are aqueous solutions with a wide range of temperature, salinity, pH and trace elements that can be used by a set of microbial proteins containing redox-sensitive transition metals as their catalytic core. Due to the high variability of these samples, we have developed this protocol taking into account the special features of the matrices analyzed. An ICP-MS 7900 Agilent system was used. Calibration curves are linear in the 0.01 to 100 μg/L concentration range.","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"67 19","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141806802","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-24eCollection Date: 2023-01-01DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.16663.3
Kostas Stavrianakis, Jacob Nielsen, Zoe Morrison
The development and implementation of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies plays an increasingly important part in European Union (EU) countries' decarbonisation policies and strategies. Several studies have shown the important role social acceptance plays in determining the outcomes of CCUS projects and how social acceptance is shaped by the national and local contexts. Yet most studies on CCUS and social acceptance have focused on a few northern European countries despite the increasing numbers of CCUS projects across the European Union. This study seeks to help address this gap by conducting a case study on how local dynamics shaped people's acceptance and awareness of CCUS in two separate Greek communities. Based on semi-structured interviews with community members near a CCUS pilot plant, and a focus group with community members from a potential storage site, this single case study explores the factors and dynamics that shaped the participants' perceptions of CCUS technologies. Our findings indicate that, despite the low level of awareness of CCUS technologies, participants could draw on their situated knowledge to identify potential drawbacks with their application. We identified scepticism regarding the adoption of new technologies and the organisations involved based on past experiences, and a notable lack of provision of technology and location-specific information as well as public engagement by the project consortium. Our recommendations for future projects and community engagement include the early involvement of the public in project development, location-based transparent information, appropriate channels to facilitate knowledge exchange, and educational initiatives to build communities' capability to influence projects.
{"title":"Public perception and acceptance of CCUS: preliminary findings of a qualitative case study in Greece.","authors":"Kostas Stavrianakis, Jacob Nielsen, Zoe Morrison","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.16663.3","DOIUrl":"10.12688/openreseurope.16663.3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The development and implementation of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies plays an increasingly important part in European Union (EU) countries' decarbonisation policies and strategies. Several studies have shown the important role social acceptance plays in determining the outcomes of CCUS projects and how social acceptance is shaped by the national and local contexts. Yet most studies on CCUS and social acceptance have focused on a few northern European countries despite the increasing numbers of CCUS projects across the European Union. This study seeks to help address this gap by conducting a case study on how local dynamics shaped people's acceptance and awareness of CCUS in two separate Greek communities. Based on semi-structured interviews with community members near a CCUS pilot plant, and a focus group with community members from a potential storage site, this single case study explores the factors and dynamics that shaped the participants' perceptions of CCUS technologies. Our findings indicate that, despite the low level of awareness of CCUS technologies, participants could draw on their situated knowledge to identify potential drawbacks with their application. We identified scepticism regarding the adoption of new technologies and the organisations involved based on past experiences, and a notable lack of provision of technology and location-specific information as well as public engagement by the project consortium. Our recommendations for future projects and community engagement include the early involvement of the public in project development, location-based transparent information, appropriate channels to facilitate knowledge exchange, and educational initiatives to build communities' capability to influence projects.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"3 ","pages":"205"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11273079/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141790182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-18DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.17982.1
Luke J. Schafer, Aida Anthouli, Alessandra Schmidt, Anita Beblek, Annika Fruehbeisser, Beatrice Walthall, Carla Mingolla, Catalina Rogozan, D. Petruzzella, Dirk Wascher, Francesca Volpe, Giordano Ruggeri, Gustavo Arciniegas, J. Vicente-Vicente, Katerina Riviou, Katerina Valta, Lena Marijke Wenzel, Lorenzo Labellarte, M. Crivits, M. Świąder, M. Lysák, Marta Sylla, Poppy Eyre, Raluca Barbu, Stefano Corsi, C. B. Henriksen
Our current global food system is facing extraordinary challenges in both size and severity, including a rise in unsustainable consumption behaviours, continued environmental degradation, growing food insecurity, and widening social inequalities. A food system transformation is now both critically important and overwhelmingly complex, requiring nothing less than a complete overhaul of the entire value chain. Everyone is needed: SMEs with technological solutions, NGOs with social innovations, researchers with novel methodologies, governments with food policy advancements, professionals with varying expertise, and last but not least, empowered and informed citizens with the ability and resources for better decision-making. Living Labs offer a holistic, place-based approach needed to facilitate multi-actor inputs on various levels, specifically Food System Living Labs (FSLLs) like the ones established as part of the FoodSHIFT 2030 Project. Nine front-runner Food System Living Labs were operationalised alongside a novel framework merging high-level interdisciplinary initiatives with a diverse set of innovative approaches towards food system transition. The FoodSHIFT Approach concept was praised by external evaluators for its ground-breaking framework, and the nearly completed project has been listed as a best practice. However, positive applications alone will not ensure a societal-wide food system transformation, and the following text offers a critical reflection coupled with experience-based solutions to further improve the FoodSHIFT Approach.
{"title":"Transforming European food Systems with multi-actor networks and living labs through the FoodSHIFT Approach","authors":"Luke J. Schafer, Aida Anthouli, Alessandra Schmidt, Anita Beblek, Annika Fruehbeisser, Beatrice Walthall, Carla Mingolla, Catalina Rogozan, D. Petruzzella, Dirk Wascher, Francesca Volpe, Giordano Ruggeri, Gustavo Arciniegas, J. Vicente-Vicente, Katerina Riviou, Katerina Valta, Lena Marijke Wenzel, Lorenzo Labellarte, M. Crivits, M. Świąder, M. Lysák, Marta Sylla, Poppy Eyre, Raluca Barbu, Stefano Corsi, C. B. Henriksen","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.17982.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.17982.1","url":null,"abstract":"Our current global food system is facing extraordinary challenges in both size and severity, including a rise in unsustainable consumption behaviours, continued environmental degradation, growing food insecurity, and widening social inequalities. A food system transformation is now both critically important and overwhelmingly complex, requiring nothing less than a complete overhaul of the entire value chain. Everyone is needed: SMEs with technological solutions, NGOs with social innovations, researchers with novel methodologies, governments with food policy advancements, professionals with varying expertise, and last but not least, empowered and informed citizens with the ability and resources for better decision-making. Living Labs offer a holistic, place-based approach needed to facilitate multi-actor inputs on various levels, specifically Food System Living Labs (FSLLs) like the ones established as part of the FoodSHIFT 2030 Project. Nine front-runner Food System Living Labs were operationalised alongside a novel framework merging high-level interdisciplinary initiatives with a diverse set of innovative approaches towards food system transition. The FoodSHIFT Approach concept was praised by external evaluators for its ground-breaking framework, and the nearly completed project has been listed as a best practice. However, positive applications alone will not ensure a societal-wide food system transformation, and the following text offers a critical reflection coupled with experience-based solutions to further improve the FoodSHIFT Approach.","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":" 47","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141826690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-16DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.17805.1
Agnes Mirembe, Ronah Nakiirya, Monica K. Kansiime
Background As the world's consciousness of the threats posed by the current state of climate change and its related consequences on food security increase, several nations, including Uganda, have modified their long-term plans for the shift to low-carbon economies and provision of affordable off-grid renewable energy (RE) sources especially in rural areas. Methods Through a citizen science initiative, this study examined the adoption of off-grid renewable energy in agricultural production in rural Uganda, with a focus on solar, charcoal briquettes, and biogas technologies. The study employed a cross-sectional study design and combined qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. Data were collected through structured interviews with 1,068 households and 20 key informants. An in-depth review of case studies of RE use in agriculture was also done. Results All respondents embraced at least one RE technology, predominantly solar (92% of respondents), highlighting its widespread adoption. Women exhibited higher adoption rates, particularly in solar and charcoal briquettes usage. The diverse applications of RE in agriculture were evident ranging from solar-powered irrigation, drying of produce, brooding, to biogas digesters for fertilizer production. Benefits associated with RE implementation were multifaceted, including time savings, enhanced health and safety, income generation, and environmental sustainability. Despite these advantages, barriers such as high initial costs and limited awareness persist. Conclusions This study highlights the significant potential of off-grid renewable energy in agricultural production in rural Uganda. Widespread adoption and scale-up of RE technologies requires strong collaborations between government, non-government organisations and private actors to build community awareness, train community resource persons on operation and management, and provide financing for the acquisition of RE technologies.
{"title":"Demonstration of the potential use of off-grid renewable energy in agricultural production in rural Uganda","authors":"Agnes Mirembe, Ronah Nakiirya, Monica K. Kansiime","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.17805.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.17805.1","url":null,"abstract":"Background As the world's consciousness of the threats posed by the current state of climate change and its related consequences on food security increase, several nations, including Uganda, have modified their long-term plans for the shift to low-carbon economies and provision of affordable off-grid renewable energy (RE) sources especially in rural areas. Methods Through a citizen science initiative, this study examined the adoption of off-grid renewable energy in agricultural production in rural Uganda, with a focus on solar, charcoal briquettes, and biogas technologies. The study employed a cross-sectional study design and combined qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. Data were collected through structured interviews with 1,068 households and 20 key informants. An in-depth review of case studies of RE use in agriculture was also done. Results All respondents embraced at least one RE technology, predominantly solar (92% of respondents), highlighting its widespread adoption. Women exhibited higher adoption rates, particularly in solar and charcoal briquettes usage. The diverse applications of RE in agriculture were evident ranging from solar-powered irrigation, drying of produce, brooding, to biogas digesters for fertilizer production. Benefits associated with RE implementation were multifaceted, including time savings, enhanced health and safety, income generation, and environmental sustainability. Despite these advantages, barriers such as high initial costs and limited awareness persist. Conclusions This study highlights the significant potential of off-grid renewable energy in agricultural production in rural Uganda. Widespread adoption and scale-up of RE technologies requires strong collaborations between government, non-government organisations and private actors to build community awareness, train community resource persons on operation and management, and provide financing for the acquisition of RE technologies.","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"11 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141642271","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-16DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.17804.1
Federica Manzoli, Matteo Al Kalak, Maria Chiara Rioli
Qualitative-archival research is needed to support effective policies and the work of practitioners working in the field of migration. This Open Letter helps readers to understand how this happens in different contexts, as more than 150 stakeholders among researchers, policymakers, practitioners, migrant associations, governments, civil society/non-governmental organisations and migrants in seven countries around the Mediterranean contributed to discuss this topic, during the H2020 project ITHACA - Interconnected Histories and Archives for Migrant Agency. Three main key findings emerge. Qualitative-archival research is not just “preservation”: it shows the potential of providing dynamic and interlinked information, including legal frameworks, policy documents, historical context, and original narratives, capable of supporting policies in the long term. Besides this, it is a potential tool to foster the agency of migrants. Qualitative-archival research can be a powerful tool for social innovation, as conducting qualitative research, based on individual and collective narratives, is a necessary basis to non-emergency policies and to social work planning and evaluation. Research helps to explain the reasons behind the migration phenomena and to contextualise them where it is most needed, whether in political, educational, labour, health or reception settings. Space, time and people are the three main enablers. for better qualitative and archival research-policy relations: qualitative archival research offers contextual and comparative tools to investigate in-depth local features and to possibly extend them to the national and international levels.
需要开展定性-历史研究,以支持移民领域的有效政策和从业人员的工作。在 H2020 项目 "ITHACA--移民机构相互关联的历史和档案"(ITHACA--Interconnected Histories and Archives for Migrant Agency)期间,地中海周边七个国家的研究人员、政策制定者、从业人员、移民协会、政府、公民社会/非政府组织和移民中的 150 多名利益相关者参与了这一主题的讨论。得出了三大主要结论。定性档案研究不仅仅是 "保存":它显示出提供动态和相互关联信息的潜力,包括法律框架、政策文件、历史背景和原始叙事,能够长期支持政策。除此之外,它还是促进移民能动性的潜在工具。定性-历史研究可以成为社会创新的有力工具,因为基于个人和集体叙述的定性研究是非紧急政策以及社会工作规划和评估的必要基础。研究有助于解释移民现象背后的原因,并在最需要的地方,无论是在政治、教育、劳动、卫生还是接待环境中,对移民现象进行背景分析。空间、时间和人员是三个主要的促进因素。为了改善定性和档案研究与政策之间的关系:定性档案研究提供了背景和比较工具,以深入调查当地的特点,并有可能将其扩展到国家和国际层面。
{"title":"Qualitative-archival research on migration is not just preservation","authors":"Federica Manzoli, Matteo Al Kalak, Maria Chiara Rioli","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.17804.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.17804.1","url":null,"abstract":"Qualitative-archival research is needed to support effective policies and the work of practitioners working in the field of migration. This Open Letter helps readers to understand how this happens in different contexts, as more than 150 stakeholders among researchers, policymakers, practitioners, migrant associations, governments, civil society/non-governmental organisations and migrants in seven countries around the Mediterranean contributed to discuss this topic, during the H2020 project ITHACA - Interconnected Histories and Archives for Migrant Agency. Three main key findings emerge. Qualitative-archival research is not just “preservation”: it shows the potential of providing dynamic and interlinked information, including legal frameworks, policy documents, historical context, and original narratives, capable of supporting policies in the long term. Besides this, it is a potential tool to foster the agency of migrants. Qualitative-archival research can be a powerful tool for social innovation, as conducting qualitative research, based on individual and collective narratives, is a necessary basis to non-emergency policies and to social work planning and evaluation. Research helps to explain the reasons behind the migration phenomena and to contextualise them where it is most needed, whether in political, educational, labour, health or reception settings. Space, time and people are the three main enablers. for better qualitative and archival research-policy relations: qualitative archival research offers contextual and comparative tools to investigate in-depth local features and to possibly extend them to the national and international levels.","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"24 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141641430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-16eCollection Date: 2023-01-01DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.15961.1
Martin Hillebrand, Marko Mravlak, Peter Schwendner
The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) were set up at the peak of the European sovereign debt crisis to issue bonds and lend to countries under current funding stress. This study analyses investor demand in syndicated bond issuances of EFSF and ESM from 2014 to 2020 on an unprecedented granularity level using a dataset of individual orders with statistical inference. Particularly, we investigate orderbook dynamics for three main aspects: first, we determine the main factors segmenting investor demand. Second, we analyse price dynamics in the transactions and their relation to investor demand. Third, we investigate whether any indications of orderbook inflation might explain the increased volatility in orderbook volume. We identify issuance tranche and tenor as the main determinants of investor demand that are largely anticipated in the notional. Further, we note that ESM is doing economical pricing, where the new issue premium tends to be lower in a market context with larger demand. Lastly, we find a mixture of an increasing number and an increasing volume of orders as drivers of large order books. This confirms that there are no indications of orderbook inflation tendencies in the analysed time period.
{"title":"Investor demand in syndicated EFSF/ESM bond issuances.","authors":"Martin Hillebrand, Marko Mravlak, Peter Schwendner","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.15961.1","DOIUrl":"10.12688/openreseurope.15961.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) were set up at the peak of the European sovereign debt crisis to issue bonds and lend to countries under current funding stress. This study analyses investor demand in syndicated bond issuances of EFSF and ESM from 2014 to 2020 on an unprecedented granularity level using a dataset of individual orders with statistical inference. Particularly, we investigate orderbook dynamics for three main aspects: first, we determine the main factors segmenting investor demand. Second, we analyse price dynamics in the transactions and their relation to investor demand. Third, we investigate whether any indications of orderbook inflation might explain the increased volatility in orderbook volume. We identify issuance tranche and tenor as the main determinants of investor demand that are largely anticipated in the notional. Further, we note that ESM is doing economical pricing, where the new issue premium tends to be lower in a market context with larger demand. Lastly, we find a mixture of an increasing number and an increasing volume of orders as drivers of large order books. This confirms that there are no indications of orderbook inflation tendencies in the analysed time period.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"3 ","pages":"96"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10446073/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10117815","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}