European Resources Research Articles

Attentes en matière d’élevage des acteurs de la sélection animale, des filières de l’agroalimentaire et des associations

Le projet COSADD a été conduit de 2007 à 2009 pour identifier, tester des objectifs de sélection animale compatibles avec une perspective de développement durable, et cohérents avec les attentes des acteurs concernés. Au cours des années 2008 et 2009 nous avons réalisé des entretiens semi-directifs auprès d'une soixantaine d'acteurs de la sélection animale, des filières, de la distribution et des associations (de consommateurs, de protection des animaux ou de l'environnement). Les priorités et attentes des différents types d'acteurs ont été identifiées, à la fois dans une perspective générale, et en focalisant l'approche autour du développement durable. Les acteurs du secteur économique partagent un certain nombre de points de vue autour de la priorité à accorder aux enjeux économiques et de marchés, autour de la nécessité de produire des animaux faciles à élever, robustes et résilients. L'environnement et le bien-être animal sont considérés comme des demandes «extérieures», mais importantes. Des spécificités existent bien entendu par rapport à chaque espèce. Pour les acteurs des associations, la perspective est inversée. Les enjeux économiques sont compris, mais l'accent est mis sur les enjeux sociétaux. En définitive deux paradigmes ou modèles productifs apparaissent, avec la possibilité d'une agriculture duale combinant les deux modèles. L'un que l'on peut qualifier «d'écologiquement intensif» autour d'un élevage productif, tourné vers des marchés de masse et de hauts niveaux de consommation, avec le respect de normes strictes ; et un «alternatif et extensif» où l'on accepte une diminution de la consommation de viande pour promouvoir des signes de qualité et des systèmes extensifs.

Transboundary groundwater law in Europe: a look at an evolving multi-level regime

Transboundary groundwater resources in Europe are increasingly governed by a multi-level regime composed of national, supranational and international law. The article provides an overview of essential features of the 2000 Water Framework Directive and the 2006 Groundwater Directive of the European Union. It identifies their pivotal role not only regarding the domestic groundwater law of European Union member states, but also with respect to international law pertaining to transboundary groundwater resources in Europe.

Conservation of animal genetic resources in Europe: overview of the policies, activities, funding and expected benefits of conservation activities

This paper reviews the current situation of conservation activities in Europe. It includes an overview of the current situation of the relevant policy measures and related activities, the involvement of the public and private sector, and funding and estimated benefits of these actions. The review is based on the results of a survey conducted within the European National Coordinators for the management of animal genetic resources (AnGR), initiated by the GLOBALDIV project. The objective of this review is to bring to the attention of policy-makers and European Commission the conclusions and recommendations as a contribution to the formulation of future policies. The increasing awareness to the importance of AnGR biodiversity is reflected in the responses to this survey, particularly in the issues related to the cryoconservation activities in the different countries and the discussion on the expected benefits of the implementation of conservation programmes. The concept of biodiversity as a public good has already been accepted by European public and by policy-makers. The additional scope of protection of farm animal biodiversity, as an investment in the future food security, needs to be reflected in the future policies.

What is the value for money of medicines? A registry study

Economic evaluation is used to assess the value for money of medicines and inform pharmaceutical pricing/reimbursement decisions in many countries. This paper aims to report on estimates of the value for money of medicines in Europe. Estimated cost-utilities were derived from studies included in the Tufts Medical Center Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Registry between 2000 and 2007. For each study, the following variables were examined: publication year, target population, intervention type, country of patient sample, disease classification, prevention stage, funding source, study perspective, discounting, sensitivity analysis, incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR) and methodological quality. Six hundred and eight ICURs were reported in 231 cost-utility analyses. Around 17·1% of ratios related to medicines that were more effective and less expensive than the comparator; 76·5% related to medicines that improved outcomes, but increased costs; and 6·4% related to medicines that were less effective and more expensive than the comparator. The median ratio was 12,238 € per quality-adjusted life year (QALY). Using threshold values of 20,000 and 50,000 € per QALY, the probability that medicines provided value for money was 58% and 81%, respectively. Preventive medicines studied provided more value for money than curative medicines (P=0·002). Studies sponsored by industry generated more favourable results than studies sponsored from other sources (P<0·001). However, no association was observed between the funding source and the methodological quality of economic evaluations. The evidence base suggests that the majority of medicines provided value for money. Such information informs policy decisions relating to the allocation of scarce health care resources in Europe.

Groundwater dependent ecosystems. Part II. Ecosystem services and management in Europe under risk of climate change and land use intensification

Groundwater in sufficient amounts and of suitable quality is essential for potable water supplies, crop irrigation and healthy habitats for plant and animal biocenoses. The groundwater resource is currently under severe pressure from land use and pollution and there is evidence of dramatic changes in aquifer resources in Europe and elsewhere, despite numerous policy measures on sustainable use and protection of groundwater. Little is known about how such changes affect groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs), which include various aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems above ground and inside the aquifer. Future management must take this uncertainty into account. This paper focuses on multiple aspects of groundwater science, policy and sustainable management. Examples of current management methods and practices are presented for selected aquifers in Europe and an assessment is made of the effectiveness of existing policies such as the European Water Framework Directive and the Habitat Directive in practice and of how groundwaters and GDEs are managed in various conditions. The paper highlights a number of issues that should be considered in an integrated and holistic approach to future management of groundwater and its dependent ecosystems.

Nurse forecasting in Europe (RN4CAST): Rationale, design and methodology.

BackgroundCurrent human resources planning models in nursing are unreliable and ineffective as they consider volumes, but ignore effects on quality in patient care. The project RN4CAST aims innovative forecasting methods by addressing not only volumes, but quality of nursing staff as well as quality of patient care.Methods/DesignA multi-country, multilevel cross-sectional design is used to obtain important unmeasured factors in forecasting models including how features of hospital work environments impact on nurse recruitment, retention and patient outcomes. In each of the 12 participating European countries, at least 30 general acute hospitals were sampled. Data are gathered via four data sources (nurse, patient and organizational surveys and via routinely collected hospital discharge data). All staff nurses of a random selection of medical and surgical units (at least 2 per hospital) were surveyed. The nurse survey has the purpose to measure the experiences of nurses on their job (e.g. job satisfaction, burnout) as well as to allow the creation of aggregated hospital level measures of staffing and working conditions. The patient survey is organized in a sub-sample of countries and hospitals using a one-day census approach to measure the patient experiences with medical and nursing care. In addition to conducting a patient survey, hospital discharge abstract datasets will be used to calculate additional patient outcomes like in-hospital mortality and failure-to-rescue. Via the organizational survey, information about the organizational profile (e.g. bed size, types of technology available, teaching status) is collected to control the analyses for institutional differences.This information will be linked via common identifiers and the relationships between different aspects of the nursing work environment and patient and nurse outcomes will be studied by using multilevel regression type analyses. These results will be used to simulate the impact of changing different aspects of the nursing work environment on quality of care and satisfaction of the nursing workforce.DiscussionRN4CAST is one of the largest nurse workforce studies ever conducted in Europe, will add to accuracy of forecasting models and generate new approaches to more effective management of nursing resources in Europe.

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Implementation and calibration of the parameter-sparse Yield-SAFE model to predict production and land equivalent ratio in mixed tree and crop systems under two contrasting production situations in Europe

Silvoarable agroforestry, the integration of trees and arable crops on the same area, has the potential to offer production, ecological, and societal benefits. However, the uptake of such systems in Europe has been limited by a combination of unsupportive policies and uncertainty concerning their productivity, profitability, and environmental impact. Faced with a lack of experimental data, the parameter-sparse Yield-SAFE model offers one method for generating plausible yield data and improving understanding of production in mixed tree–crop systems under European conditions. The applicability of the model was examined by: (i) selecting two contrasting sites in France and the UK with measured agricultural, silvoarable and/or forestry data, (ii) implementing the model in a software package, and (iii) inputting data and parameters on the climate, soils, management regime, and tree and crop types. Following calibration, Yield-SAFE provided credible descriptions of measured arable and tree ( Populus spp.) yields in the monoculture and silvoarable systems at the two sites. An examination of the response of the model to changes in model parameters and environmental and management data showed that silvoarable crop yields were most sensitive to variations in tree parameters. Increased soil depths increased timber yields, and increasing stand density increased stand volume whilst decreasing individual tree volume. In all the simulations, the model predicted greater efficiency in use of land, i.e. greater land equivalent ratios, when trees and crops were combined rather than grown as sole crops. These results, supported by the sparse experimental data available, indicate that agroforestry provides a method of increasing food, timber and biomass production from limited land resources in Europe.

Overview and main achievements of the EURANOS project: European approach to nuclear and radiological emergency management and rehabilitation strategies

In June 2009, the 5-year multi-national project EURANOS, funded by the European Commission in its 6th Framework Programme, reached its end, achieving most of the objectives addressed in the work programme. Partners from 23 European countries integrating 17 national emergency management organisations with 33 research institutes, aimed to enhance the preparedness for Europe’s response to any radiation emergency and long term contamination. Three handbooks to assist national and local authorities in the management of contaminated food production systems, inhabited areas and contaminated drinking water resources in Europe were developed in conjunction with a wide range of European stakeholders. Further guidance was prepared to support the decision making team in the lifting of early phase countermeasures. A governance framework for the sustainable rehabilitation of long term contaminated territories was developed and tested in France and in Norway. Considerable progress was made in developing a consistent set of models for calculating the best estimate of the current radiological situation in both contaminated agricultural and inhabited areas. These models were integrated in both the ARGOS and the RODOS decision support systems. Decision aiding components were improved to support the selection of management options with the help of multi criteria decision analysis procedures. A mass consistent wind field model was implemented together with a particle model for complex terrain. The migration of RODOS (Real-time On-line Decision Support System) to the operating system LINUX was completed. RODOS was completely re-engineered, taking into account the users’ recommendations from the demonstration projects and feedback from its operational use. This new version will build the kernel for the operational RODOS release in 2010 and new research activities related to the future improvement of RODOS.

Sustainable use of water resources in Europe and the role of integrated modelling of phosphate fluxes

Sustainable management of European water resources is advanced by the implementation of the Water Framework Directive. To achieve its aims the directive requires the realisation of cost-efficient programmes of measures. In this context, also measures for reducing phosphate inputs have to be taken, which demands models as quantification tools for the status quo analysis as well as for scenario analyses. An area-differentiated model approach (MEPhos) for the systematic quantification of P-inputs from point and diffuse sources via eight different pathways is presented. Based on the modelling results, source areas of high P-emissions can be localised and management options proposed.

Laser scanning of fine scale pattern along a hydrological gradient in a peatland ecosystem

Lowland ombrotrophic (rain-fed) peatlands are a declining ecological resource in Europe. Peatlands display characteristic patterns in vegetation and surface topography, linked to ecological function, hydrology, biodiversity and carbon sequestration. Laser scanning provides a means of precisely measuring vegetation pattern in peatlands, and thus holds promise as a tool for monitoring peatland condition. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) was used for measurement of vegetation pattern along an eco-hydrological gradient at a UK peatland (Wedholme Flow, Cumbria) at fine grain sizes (<1 cm spatial resolution over 10 m spatial extent). Seven sites were investigated—each showed varying water table and ecological characteristics. TLS data were analysed using semi-variogram analysis which enabled the scale of spatial dependence in vegetation structures to be measured. In addition ecological, hydrological and positional surveys were conducted to elucidate interpretation of spatial patterns. Results show that TLS was able to rapidly measure vegetation patterns associated with eco-hydrological condition classes. Intact sites with hummock-hollow topography showed an isotropic pattern with a grain size or length-scale of 1 m or less (indicated by semi-variogram range). Degraded sites with high shrub cover showed increased sill variance values at larger range distances—typically around 3–4 m. The work presented shows the advantages of TLS methodologies for rapid measurement of 3-D vegetation canopy structure and surface microtopography, at fine spatial scales, in short vegetation. The paper considers how these approaches may be extended to monitoring peatland structure over larger spatial extents from airborne LiDAR systems.

Modelling soil quality changes in Europe. An impact assessment of land use change on soil quality in Europe

Soil is one of the most important and most complex natural resources, but current developments (urbanisation, erosion and climate change) increasingly threaten this valuable resource in Europe and worldwide. The main objective of this paper is to introduce how changes in soil quality were modelled in the SENSOR project through two indicators: soil carbon content and soil water erosion. Indicators were calculated using state variables and model variables that were mainly derived from the CLUE model which predicts land use change in response to policy scenarios. In the case of erosion, accuracy of the calculations was evaluated by comparing GIS data with the results of the PESERA project. The PESERA and SENSOR models predicted comparable soil loss for the first year in the NUTS-X regions of Europe that were analysed. The higher resolution national soil-loss prediction USLE map largely overestimated the amount of soil loss compared to the PESERA and the SENSOR models in the NUTS-X regions of Hungary. This discrepancy may result from technical or methodological differences such as the spatial reference framework (NUTS-X regions), spatial resolution or levels of data aggregation. The soil organic carbon loss predictions for the NUTS-X regions of Europe are displayed on maps and background data are given in tables. The greatest decreases in soil carbon content may be expected in some regions of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, south-eastern UK and eastern Germany. The greatest increases in soil carbon content may be expected in central and eastern parts of the UK, in Ireland, in northern and central Sweden and Estonia, in Greece, in central and southern Italy, in the island of Sardinia and in some regions of Spain. As erosion strongly reduces soil productivity these predictions have not only environmental but also socio-economic implications. The results presented in this paper could be used at EU level to locate regions where negative changes in soil quality can be expected.

Re-powering Scotland: Wind Farms and the ‘Energy or Environment?’ Debate

Energy issues are crucial for Scotland. This paper reviews the environmental, social and political questions surrounding energy and environment in general, and analyses the passionate arguments surrounding onshore wind farm developments in Scotland in particular. Scotland has the best onshore and offshore wind resources in Europe, with almost a quarter of the total resource, and onshore wind is now rapidly overtaking hydropower as the renewable technology with the greatest generating capacity. This development has proved highly controversial, with many schemes attracting vociferous public opposition. This review explores the main issues involved and shows that whilst some of the controversy centres on factual issues such as job creation, intermittency or bird mortality, a primary reason why consensus is so elusive is that conflicting values lie at the core of the debate. Issues such as landscape aesthetics, community (dis)empowerment and the relative importance of global and local factors are perceptual, unquantifiable and shaped by personal world views. Consequently, even if all the misinformation provided by those supporting or opposing wind farms was removed, profound disagreements would remain about the appropriate choices for securing Scotland's future power supply. The paper highlights the need to deepen our understanding of the social construction of public attitudes, to develop better criteria for strategic locational guidance and to investigate the potential of emerging development models such as community-scale wind power schemes.

The European Library — gateway to the resources of Europe's national libraries

The European Library aggregates the collections of 48 European national libraries into one single portal. Users will discover and access a wealth of materials and the service aims to promote the outstanding collections of these libraries to a global audience.

Valuing environmental goods and services derived from the forests

The purpose of this special issue of the Journal of Forest Economics is to illustrate the use and limitations of environmental valuation in decision making related to the management of forest resources in Europe. The contributions to this special issue are organized following the conclusions of a workshop on forest valuations in Europe in Nancy, France (September 26–27, 2006). The aim is to (1) establish guidance protocols for forest valuation studies, (2) organize the estimated values in a database and (3) use the database for meta-analysis and value transfer. As these guidance protocols are firmly established and followed, and the frequency and quality of these studies increase, their increased use in the decision-making process should help the forestry sector in finding its just place in the sustainable development strategy for Europe.

Health action process approach

Abstract. Health Psychology at the Freie Universität Berlin is devoted to research and teaching in the entire field of health psychology, including stress, coping, social support, self-efficacy, personality, quality of life, and health behavior change. In this article, we briefly describe one theory that represents our line of thinking (the Health Action Process Approach), followed by examples of longitudinal and experimental studies on health behavior change. A major finding is that interventions to improve physical activity, healthy nutrition, and dental hygiene are most effective when matched to three stages of change. Moreover, we address the field of health self-regulation across the life span: We are involved in the consortium Autonomy Despite Multimorbidity in Old Age (AMA), co-investigating the project Health Behaviors and Multiple Illnesses in Old Age (PREFER), and we are the home institution of the project Fostering Lifelong Autonomy and Resources in Europe: Behaviour and Successful Aging (FLARE-BSA).

Role of domestication in shaping Castanea sativa genetic variation in Europe

The genetic structure of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) across Europe was assessed using 73 inter-simple sequence repeat markers to screen 1,768 individuals from 68 stands distributed across 29 sites in five European countries (Italy, France, Spain, Greece, and UK). At each site, trees were sampled from three distinct management types (domestication levels): naturalized stands, managed coppice, and grafted fruit orchards. In more than a third of the orchards, nonlocal genetic material (grafted clones) were evident, showing (as predicted) large differences from the other two domestication levels for most of the within-population genetic diversity parameters estimated. Randomly generated linkage disequilibrium analysis revealed weak though significant differences in two-locus allelic correlations between naturalized stands and coppice, suggesting that long-term management techniques may influence the genetic makeup of the populations. Multivariate analysis revealed the existence of five distinct gene pools across the study area; three were located in Greece, one on the northwestern coast of the Iberian peninsula and a large gene pool covering the rest of the Mediterranean basin. The implications of the results are discussed in relation to developing conservation strategies for chestnut genetic resources in Europe.

Bioenergy expansion in the EU: Cost-effective climate change mitigation, employment creation and reduced dependency on imported fuels

Presently, the European Union (EU) is promoting bioenergy. The aim of this paper is to study the prospects for using domestic biomass resources in Europe and specifically to investigate whether different policy objectives underlying the promotion of bioenergy (cost-effective climate change mitigation, employment creation and reduced dependency on imported fuels) agree on which bioenergy options that should be used. We model bioenergy use from a cost-effectiveness perspective with a linear regionalized energy- and transport-system model and perform supplementary analysis. It is found that the different policy objectives do not agree on the order of priority among bioenergy options. Maximizing climate benefits cost-effectively is in conflict with maximizing employment creation. The former perspective proposes the use of lignocellulosic biomass in the stationary sector, while the latter requires biofuels for transport based on traditional agricultural crops. Further, from a security-of-supply perspective, the appeal of a given bioenergy option depends on how oil and gas import dependencies are weighed relative to each other. Consequently, there are tradeoffs that need to be addressed by policymakers promoting the use of bioenergy. Also, the importance of bioenergy in relation to employment creation and fuel import dependency reduction needs to be further addressed.

Modelling scenarios towards a sustainable use of natural resources in Europe

Issues related to the unsustainable use of natural resources are currently high on the policy agenda both in Europe and in other world regions. A large number of studies assessed past developments of material use and resource productivities. However, little effort has so far been devoted to forecasting future patterns of natural resource use and to provide ex-ante assessments of environmental and economic effects of different resource policies. This paper presents results from the international research project “MOSUS” (Modelling opportunities and limits for restructuring Europe towards sustainability), which was designed to fill some of these research gaps. In this project, a global economy–energy model system was extended by a worldwide database on material inputs, in order to run three scenarios for European development up to the year 2020: a baseline scenario without additional policy intervention and two so-called “sustainability scenarios”, simulating the implementation of six packages of policy measures geared towards decoupling economic activity from material and energy throughput. These measures included, amongst others, taxes on CO2 emissions and transport, measures to increase metal recycling rates, and a consulting programme to raise material productivity of industrial production. This paper presents the evaluation of the three scenarios with regard to the extraction of natural resources on the European and global level. In the baseline scenario, used domestic extraction within the EU remains roughly constant until 2020, while unused domestic extraction decreases (particularly overburden from mining activities). The stabilisation of domestic extraction, however, is accompanied by growing imports of material intensive products. This indicates that the material requirements of the European economy will increasingly be met through imports from other world regions, causing shifts of environmental pressures related to material extraction and processing away from Europe towards resource-rich countries. The implementation of the six sustainability policy measures applied in the sustainability scenarios results in a slight absolute reduction of domestic extraction in all European countries and significantly increased resource productivities. The results suggest that policy instruments aimed at raising eco-efficiency on the micro level can be conducive to economic growth. To limit rebound effects on the macro level, these instruments must, however, be accompanied by other policies influencing the prices of energy and materials. With regard to global resource use trends, the baseline scenario forecasts a significant growth of resource extraction, particularly in developing countries, reflecting the growing demand for natural resources of emerging economies such as China and India.

Platform chemical production from wheat-based biorefining strategy

Development of biorefineries has attracted increasing attention around the world in the past decade. It focuses on alleviating pressure on fossil resources and the environmental burden of current fossil based processes, as well as facilitating sustainable development of the chemical industry. Many chemicals that used to be produced via chemical processes can now potentially be generated biologically from renewable raw materials. At the Satake Centre for Grain Process Engineering, a novel cost-competitive wheat-based biorefining strategy leading to the production of generic microbial feedstocks has been successfully developed (Webb and Wang, 1997 and Webb et al., 2004). These feedstocks are now being evaluated for the production of platform chemicals, biodegradable polymers and biofuels by bacterial fermentation. In the study reported here, succinic acid has been used as a model product for this biorefining strategy to convert wheat flour into fine chemicals. Another advantage of bio-synthesis of succinic acid is the fixation of CO2, which can help towards tackling the global warming challenge. Wheat is one of the predominant renewable resources in Europe. We aim to exploit all components of the wheat grain, producing both value-added end-products and precursors for chemical synthesis. In our process, whole wheat flour firstly undergoes fungal fermentation by Aspergillus awamori. The broth filtrate that is rich in glucoamylase is then used to hydrolyse flour components to generate a glucose-rich stream (flour hydrolysate) while the solid residue is used for fungal autolysis to produce a nutrient-rich stream (fungal autolysate). The possibility of replacing a commercial semi-defined medium by a combination of flour hydrolysate and fungal autolysate was investigated sequentially. Batch fermentations were performed using a complex medium containing wheat flour hydrolysate instead of commercial glucose. This resulted in a similar yield (0.64 g succinic acid per g glucose) and final succinic acid concentration (27 g/L) compared to fermentations with a semi-defined medium. The use of fungal autolysate instead of yeast extract as nitrogen source led to a succinic acid production of 23.2 g/L with a yield of 0.54 g/g. Even fermentations using the wheat-derived flour hydrolysate and fungal autolysate alone resulted in a succinic acid concentration of almost 16 g/L and an overall yield of 0.19 g succinic acid per g wheat flour. When fermentations were carried out with wheat-derived feedstock and an addition of 50 g/L MgCO3, 36.9 g/L succinic acid was produced from 50 g/L initial glucose with a productivity of 1.54 g/L h. The results of these studies demonstrate that a wheat-based biorefinery employing coupled fungal fermentation with subsequent flour hydrolysis and fungal autolysis can produce a suitable feedstock for efficient production of succinic acid.