Transformation Of Europe Research Articles

To be or not to be manipulated by our bacteria?

The gut microbiota has become a central focus of research since its intricate connection with the brain was identified. Notably, the gut microbiota can influence mental health, opening new prospects for improving the management of psychiatric disorders. Understanding the bidirectional interactions between the brain, gut, and microbiome is crucial for evaluating the true impact of gut microbiota on mental health and its subsequent implications for psychiatry. Currently, the brain-gut-microbiome axis communicates through five interconnected pathways: the immune system, the vagus nerve, the enteric nervous system, the neuroendocrine system, and the circulatory system. The development of microbiota-based therapeutics signals significant changes in current clinical practices. Furthermore, microbiome-based therapeutics are expected to undergo substantial regulatory transformations in Europe in the coming years. This mini-review aims to explore these aspects to evaluate the potential of gut bacteria to shape mental health interventions.

Genomic population structure and diversity of the endangered Aphanius iberus: strategies for killifish conservation

AbstractThe evolutionary potential of a species directly impacts its ability to survive in fluctuating environments. A fundamental goal in wildlife conservation is enhancing this potential since anthropogenic pressures and rapid climate change are shifting environments at an alarming rate. One way to increase a species’ adaptive potential is through the delineation of management units based on population genomic analyses. Such units consist of evolutionarily significant gene pools requiring immediate conservation action. The delineation of priority units is fundamental for species on the brink of extinction, a predicament shared by numerous killifish species worldwide which face human-driven habitat transformations leading to the destruction of functioning ecosystems. The Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula has undergone one of the greatest human-driven habitat transformations in Europe since the turn of the 20th century as a result of agricultural exploitation and urbanization, imposing novel environmental pressures on various aquatic organisms including killifish species, such as the endangered and endemic Spanish toothcarp (Aphanius iberus Valenciennes, 1846). In the present study, we performed a SNP-based genetic analysis to delineate management units, or Operational Conservation Units (OCUs) for A. iberus, sampling a total of 176 individuals from 18 sample locations and analyzing their genetic structure, diversity, levels of gene flow, and degrees of genetic differentiation. Overall, the populations were highly structured with low genetic diversity values. Little to no gene flow was detected and FST values were high, indicating a large degree of genetic differentiation between populations, most likely attributable to habitat fragmentation. The results of our genetic analyses suggested the recommendation of nine OCUs for A. iberus, which should be implemented immediately into recovery programs to enhance the conservation management of this species. Using A. iberus as a study model, our research exemplifies how to delineate conservation priorities pertinent to killifish species with limited dispersal opportunity as a result of disruptions in population connectivity.

Recentering the Ming–Qing Transition: beyond the “Seventeenth Century Crisis,” “The Great Divergence,” and “New Qing History”

Abstract The Ming–Qing transition – the final dynastic change in Imperial China – followed the cyclical patterns of rise and fall that had characterized previous dynastic shifts throughout Chinese history. However, its occurrence in the mid-seventeenth century positions it within a broader context of significant transformations in Europe and the Americas. This transition’s most profound impact lay in the culmination of the long-term centralizing processes within Chinese civilization. In its aftermath, the imperial system continued, for a time, to grow stronger, while the economy experienced sustained prosperity driven by both agriculture and commerce. When viewed holistically, this period in Chinese history, while interconnected with European developments, followed a distinct trajectory. Recent scholarship, influenced by the framework of world history, has deepened our understanding of the Ming–Qing transition’s role in broader global changes. However, this approach has sometimes led to an overemphasis on international factors, potentially diminishing the transition’s significance as a particular phase in China’s long-term historical progression. Analyses that predominantly focus on ethnic Manchu–Han dynamics often fail to capture the full historical context. A more nuanced understanding emerges when we examine this period through the lens of the long-term centering process within Chinese civilization. Differences between Chinese and European civilizations extend far beyond comparisons of productive forces. Therefore, discourse around concepts like “convergence” or “divergence” can be misleading without clearly defined comparative frameworks and metrics.

Research on the Practical Path of Green Finance in the Low-carbon Transformation of Smart Cities: A Case Study of the Transformation and Development of European Smart Cities

This study aims to explore the practical path of green finance in promoting low-carbon transformation of smart cities by taking the transformation of smart cities in Europe as a case study. The successful experience of smart city transformation in Europe is deeply studied through case analysis, and the application of green finance and its impact mechanism on urban transformation are discussed. The study found that green finance plays an important role in the transformation of smart cities in Europe, which promotes the transformation of cities to lowcarbon and smart direction through the practice path of policy formulation, technological innovation and sustainable development planning. This study provides a reference for the low-carbon transformation of smart cities in other regions, and has certain theoretical and practical significance for promoting sustainable urban development.

Immigration and Its Impact on Europe's Societal Security: Examining the Rise of Far-Right Parties (2014-2024)

This study examines the relationship between immigration and the rise of far-right parties in Europe from 2014 to 2024, focusing on the implications for societal security. It explores how far-right parties have capitalized on immigration, framing it as a critical threat to national identity and social stability. Applying the Copenhagen School’s securitization theory, the research analyzes how these parties have redefined immigration as a national security issue, thereby legitimizing more stringent immigration policies and exclusionary practices. The findings indicate that far-right parties have effectively utilized public anxieties and uncertainties surrounding immigration to influence the political discourse across Europe. This shift has significant socio-political consequences, posing challenges to the European Union’s foundational principles of integration, democracy, and human rights. The study highlights concerns over democratic backsliding, the erosion of social policies, and threats to freedom of movement and human rights. Additionally, it examines the potential impacts on the EU’s cohesion policy, foreign policy, enlargement process, and environmental sustainability. The research underscores a major transformation in Europe’s political landscape with far-reaching implications for the stability of the European Union and its member states.

What’s in a landscape? Nature, memory, and tourism in Bitterfeld-Wolfen’s post-mining landscape, East Germany

This paper addresses the transformation of the region around the twin-town Bitterfeld-Wolfen in Eastern Germany from a highly polluted industrial hub into a lakeland idyll and destination for recreation and nature-based tourism. From the perspective of local residents of age, the significance of this transformation was fundamentally shaped by German reunification, in particular by the experience of stigmatisation related to high levels of pollution in Bitterfeld-Wolfen in the context of general bias that devalued East German subjectivities in the course of German reunification. As I detail through both historical and ethnographic research, I show how mine restoration and the clean-up of contaminated sites have subsequently acquired meaning beyond ecological recovery and the improvement of public health. Tied up with the uncertainties and ambivalences of the transformation of East Germany and its integration into a West German entity, I demonstrate how the (im)possibility of restoring a destroyed landscape became inseparable from the postulated need of fundamental recovery of an East German region and its inhabitants from, so-perceived, socialist ruination. Consequently, I argue, the clean-up of contaminated sites and the remediation of a large open-cast mine in (former) East Germany produced not only an idyllic post-mining landscape, but a post-socialist one. Furthermore, as an archive of local history, the restored landscape became a way for elderly people to re-appropriate their past through its transformation into a remarkable present. In tracing this contested history, this paper contributes to landscape-centred analyses of post-socialist transformations in Europe.

Mobilising Transnational Labour Law in Search of Transformation in Europe

Abstract This paper provides a critical map of trade unions’ strategic engagements with transnational legal mechanisms in Europe. Despite high profile defeats and challenges faced by workers and trade unions before supranational courts, they have continued to mobilise complaint and supervisory mechanisms at the transnational level. This raises questions about the reasons why and how law is mobilised in the industrial relations context and over the transformative potential of transnational labour law. Legal argumentation has been mobilised to defend and redetermine legislative rights to protect vulnerable workers and provide the conditions for democracy at work. The experience of legal mobilisation detailed in this paper encourages a sceptical and pragmatic approach to social transformation via legal mobilisation. It will set out the legal opportunities that shape the effectiveness of transnational labour law mobilisation, as well as the structural limitations and competing normative interests that delimit the interpretive trajectory, recognition, and enjoyment of collective labour rights in contemporary Europe.

Late Neolithic collective burial reveals admixture dynamics during the third millennium BCE and the shaping of the European genome.

The third millennium BCE was a pivotal period of profound cultural and genomic transformations in Europe associated with migrations from the Pontic-Caspian steppe, which shaped the ancestry patterns in the present-day European genome. We performed a high-resolution whole-genome analysis including haplotype phasing of seven individuals of a collective burial from ~2500 cal BCE and of a Bell Beaker individual from ~2300 cal BCE in the Paris Basin in France. The collective burial revealed the arrival in real time of steppe ancestry in France. We reconstructed the genome of an unsampled individual through its relatives' genomes, enabling us to shed light on the early-stage admixture patterns, dynamics, and propagation of steppe ancestry in Late Neolithic Europe. We identified two major Neolithic/steppe-related ancestry admixture pulses around 3000/2900 BCE and 2600 BCE. These pulses suggest different population expansion dynamics with striking links to the Corded Ware and Bell Beaker cultural complexes.

НЕФОРМАЛЬНА ЕКОЛОГІЧНА ОСВІТА ЯК ПРІОРИТЕТ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ ВСЕСВІТНЬОЇ ОРГАНІЗАЦІЇ СКАУТСЬКОГО РУХУ

The article characterizes the normative, organizational and content basis of non-formal education of youth as a priority of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). The target priorities, evolution and organizational principles of the international scout movement and the National Scout Organization of Ukraine as its component have been clarified. It is stated that during more than a hundred years of development history, the international scouting movement has gone from a small camp for teenage boys to a worldwide multi-million educational organization, the purpose of which is to promote the development of young people in achieving their physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual potential as individuals, responsible citizens and members of local, national and international communities. The definition of non-formal education in the documents of the first World Forum on Non-Formal Education, initiated by the 'Big Six' , is summarized as deeply diversified in terms of context, duration, provider, methods of provision and the result process carried out with the aim of acquiring life skills, values and principles, and as well as the development of attitudes based on an integrated system of values within planned, structured programs and processes of personal and social education of young people. The evolution of WOSM’s environmental activities within the implementation of the World Scout Environmental Program, the Scouts for SDG program and the Earth Tribe initiative was followed. The goals, criteria, actions and planned results of environmental activities in the European Scout Region have been identified. It is shown that this activity is an expediently organized system that includes an educational component aimed at the formation of environmental sustainability competences, an organizational component that involves establishing strategic partnerships with educational and resesrch institutions for the formation of environmental sustainability competences, and a practical component aimed at applying acquired competences in the transformation of Europe into an ecologically sustainable region. Key words: non-formal environmental education, World Organization of the Scout Movement, Scout Method, Ukraine, History.

Settlement ecology of Bronze Age Transylvania

The Bronze Age was a time of technological, socioeconomic, and political transformation in Europe. Since Bronze Age socioeconomic institutions were rooted in the landscape, they can be investigated using a settlement ecology approach to how people positioned themselves relative to the environment and each other. Transylvania is home to a rare combination of mineral resources, trade infrastructures, and productive agropastoral land, all of which were critical to Bronze Age societies. This study combines size-and rank-size analyses to suggest that there were several shifts in how people positioned themselves across settlements in Transylvania during the Bronze Age. This research contributes to a broader understanding of the factors that inform where people choose to settle down and the consequences those decisions have on the development of social, economic, and political institutions.

On the Timing of Marriage and Childbearing: Family Formation Pathways Among Immigrants in Switzerland.

This paper examines childbearing in and outside of marriage as a manifestation of the Second Demographic Transition among immigrant populations in Switzerland. Based on full-population register data, we simultaneously analyse fertility and partnership changes at different stages of the migration process. Results from a multistate event history model show that most of the differences in family formation patterns between migrant groups and natives are in the sequencing of marriage and first birth among childless unmarried women. Out of wedlock family trajectories prove to be a common experience for European migrants, but a sustainable family pathway only among natives, as well as among immigrants from France, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Among married women, it is the risk of a third birth that marks the differences between groups; first and second birth rates are relatively similar across migrant groups. Distinguishing between the transition patterns of newly arrived immigrants and settled immigrants (characterised by various residence durations) support the disruption hypothesis among EU migrants and the interrelated life events hypothesis among non-EU groups. Family size and the partnership context of fertility highlight which family regime prevails in different population subgroups and the role that immigrants play in the Second Demographic Transition and family transformation in Europe.

Report of Aircraft Manufacturers and Green Transformation in Europe

Report of Aircraft Manufacturers and Green Transformation in Europe

Geçiş Döneminde Devamlılık ve Değişim: Modern İran Edebiyatında İrfan Örneği

The concept of Sattlezeit was coined by Koselleck to identify a period of change and transformation in Europe beginning from the middle of eighteenth century in which the meaning of old concepts was changing to fit the conditions of a modern world and to account for the new relationship humans were developing with nature, history, and time.1 Koselleck focuses his analysis on concepts used in political discourse, specifically what he calls “basic concepts” without which communication in the realm of politics is not possible. Because they index newly emerged complex social and political realities, these concepts are highly complex, ambiguous, and contested.

Transnational governance of digital transformation: financing innovation in Europe’s periphery

ABSTRACT Policymakers in Europe have embraced the notion that they can and should drive economic growth by promoting digital technology. Efforts to do so, known as ‘digital transformation’, involve reallocating labour and capital to more efficient uses, especially those that produce technological innovation. Recent research has shed light on the politics of updating institutions for education and skills training, but we know little about the politics of reallocating capital in the current episode of economic upgrading, despite the specific and sizable costs of producing technological innovation. What strategies are policymakers implementing to finance technological innovation, especially in Europe’s periphery, where states lack fiscal resources? Focusing on the case of Portugal, this article illustrates the centrality of development financial institutions to financing technological innovation, identifying a distinct type of digital transformation in Europe’s periphery, where the state plays a marginal role in governing key aspects of economic upgrading. Instead, private finance allocates capital, and international organisations like the European Commission design policies to govern capital allocation. This article develops a framework for analysing the politics of digital transformation in Europe’s periphery that centres transnational actors and institutions, rather than the state, in directing the path of technological and structural change.

Multilevel governance of energy transitions in Europe: Addressing wicked problems of coordination, justice, and power in energy policy

AbstractConcerns about energy transition and policies to achieve a clean energy Europe are omnipresent in all European discourses. A transformation dynamic has captured all European states, whereby the extent, scope, and direction of this transition vary between different (EU member‑) states and political levels (European, national, federal, local). Likewise, governance dynamics and policies vary between the different European governance and regulatory systems. This Special Issue aims to take stock and discuss approaches in governance and policy research to assess, analyse and evaluate this variance from a theoretical, methodological, and empirical perspective. Of particular interest are recourses to investigate concepts describing and analysing the formation of new policy fields. Within the framework of the Special Issue, the role of specific architectures in which the energy transformation in Europe is embedded (e.g., federalism and multi-level structures, institutional constellations of actors, multi-sector networks, etc.) are analysed to explain the energy transition policies and their transformative properties. Linking the empirical results back to basic research concepts and relating the results to the existing approaches in policy and governance research facilitates a better understanding of the energy transition as a classic and/or new transformation policy.

Corporate Social Responsibility Practices Amid Political and Economic Transformation in Europe

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has evolved over time, influenced by political, social, and economic changes, leading to a growing recognition of the importance of addressing social and environmental issues. Many companies now incorporate sustainability and social responsibility into their business strategies, but the role of CSR can vary across regions. The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the need for businesses to prioritize social and environmental issues. Methodology used secondary data analysis for emphasizing CSR practices of companies and CSR initiatives that proved to be a façade for corporate greenwashing. With this research the author intends to raise awareness over the social and environmental problems that should be seen as a matter of concern for individuals and organizations of all kind. The role of CSR in sustainable development is complex and multifaceted, and ongoing efforts are required to promote responsible business practices.

The principle for forming a portfolio of public services based on the analysis of statistical information

One of the key goals of digital transformation in Europe is to transfer 100 % of public services online, in particular, by 2030, all key public services should be online. This process requires the creation of comprehensive services that combine several services provided to the user on one application. The introduction of comprehensive services significantly unloads work of the bodies providing services and significantly simplifies the process of obtaining the results of services for users. Thus, the introduction of comprehensive services significantly improves the process of providing public services for all participants in the process. The formation of complex services is carried out solely on the principle of combining according to a life (business) event or situation. However, as practical experience shows, users often apply for several services at the same time, and these services are not connected by one life event. This can be seen by analyzing statistics on the provision of services by service centers. The use of statistical analysis methods makes it possible to identify a hidden relationship between services. Based on this, a new principle of combining services is formulated. The object of this research is the process of forming a portfolio of services based on this principle. An algorithm for forming a portfolio and providing recommendations for a decision maker has been developed. Recommendations are represented in the form of sets of services that can be included in the portfolio. The application of this principle will expand the range of comprehensive services at the expense of new portfolios. This will simplify and improve the process of providing services for both authorities and users. An example of creating a portfolio of services is considered and recommendations for the application of the proposed methodology are given. Dataset of 84 services was analyzed, it was recommended to create 2 portfolios

Risk management of digital transformation under pandemic

Introduction. Development of the information space stimulates economic growth, increases the level of integration of social processes and the competitiveness of the national economy. The knowledge and information economy intensifies national socio-economic processes and gives an additional impetus to the development of information technologies. Information technologies actively influence the economy, create space for its development and stimulate business processes that require an effective risk management system in a crisis. Developed countries are dynamically digitizing all sectors of the economy but Ukraine is forced to develop and converge in this direction during the crisis. Today it is important to study the process of risk management of digital transformation during pandemic.Methods. The methodological basis of the study is a set of fundamental provisions of crisis theory, management theory, risk management theory, as well as modern concepts of digital transformation. The solution of the set tasks was carried out by using a set of general scientific research methods: analysis of scientific literature, method of analogy and comparison, theoretical synthesis, classification, methodological generalization, economic and statistical analysis: cluster analysis, regression model; expert assessments and scientific abstraction.The purpose of research – to substantiate the system and stages of risk management, estimation the digital challenges, opportunities and share of digital transformation in Europe, identify macroeconomic preconditions for risk management and develop risk management of digital transformation and its directions under pandemic.Results. Risk management methods such as risk elimination and localization are evaluated, its stages are established and its system is studied. Digital challenges and opportunities that have changed the way people communicate, learn and work are assessed. A cluster analysis of the share of digital transformation of society among European countries is carried out. The economy of Ukraine is analyzed according to the level of innovation and the histogram of national growth of labor productivity is constructed. The macroeconomic preconditions of risk management in a pandemic are assessed. Basic measures of risk management of digital transformation in the conditions of pandemic and recommendations for ensuring continuous business activity are offered.Prospects. The prospect of further research is to focus on the problems of digital gap and imbalance, as well as on the government’s balance of support for e-money for the most vulnerable segments of the population and guarantee the security of their funds in a crisis.

Integration and the European Security Solution: Overcoming the Security Dilemma

Article Open Access by Mykola Gnatiuk1 1 National University of «Kyiv-Mohyla Academy» (Kyiv, Ukraine) DOI: https://doi.org/10.29202/up/10/3 Received: 27 May 2022 / Accepted: 14 June 2022 / Published: 20 June 2022 View Full-Text Review Reports Cite This Paper Abstract One of the key drivers of European integration has been the transformation of Europe from a «continent … Читать далее Integration and the European Security Solution: Overcoming the Security Dilemma

The "karma" of impact on the Earth: will humans take responsibility? Evidence of energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

Energy consumption and CO2 emissions are agreed as the main causes of global warming and climate change, which are causing several extreme weather events in recent decades. However, there is little understanding how humans adjust their behaviours in energy consumption and emissions in responding to these natural threats. This study aims to examine the influences of exposure, susceptibility, and vulnerability to five natural hazards on CO2 emissions, energy intensity, renewable energy, and electricity consumption. The feasible generalized least squares model and several panel estimates are applied for a global sample of 161 countries from 2011 to 2018. The empirical results provide interesting findings. First, exposure, susceptibility, and vulnerability appear to reduce electricity usage, renewable energy consumption, energy intensity, and CO2 emissions in the global sample. Second, the negative effects of exposure, susceptibility, and vulnerability are consistent across four income groups (high-income; upper-middle-income; lower-middle-income; and low-income) except for some interesting differences. Exposure appears to increase renewable energy consumption significantly in upper-middle and high-income, while susceptibility has a significant positive influence on renewable energy consumption in low-, upper-middle, and high-income. Third, the negative impact is also documented in seven regions, with the exception of some interesting findings: threats from nature appear to increase CO2 emissions and energy intensity in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and Europe and Central Asia, while they stimulate the use of renewable energy in Latin America and Caribbean. Interestingly, exposure and susceptibility appear to induce renewable energy transformation in Europe and Central Asia.