Macedonia, as a candidate country to the EU and a member of the WTO is in need of a comprehensive, transparent, and internationally comparable assessment of the support to agriculture in the country. OECD that has been measuring support to agriculture on a yearly basis, in its member countries as well as some other countries since the mid-1980s offers a good tool for such a task. The method is known for its most important indicator, the Producer Support Estimate (PSE). Using this method, data on Macedonian agricultural policy measures, in place – partly or entirely - for the period 1999 to 2004, have been gathered and categorized in order to arrive at an estimate of the level of support. This report presents the main findings of this assessment.
The SURE-Farm project aims to analyse, assess and improve the resilience and sustainability of farming systems in Europe. Farming systems face a whole range of social, ecological, economic and political disturbances and changes, such as sharp market fluctuations, severe weather events, climate change, new technologies, changes in consumer preferences and in governance structures and so forth, operating at a range of scales (local, regional, national and global). Some stresses on the farm system can be predicted (e.g. retirement of farmers), while other shocks are more uncertain and unpredictable (e.g. flooding, sudden price drop, illness). Project's WP2 aims to comprehensively understand farmers' risk behaviour and risk management (RM) decisions, and to develop and test RM strategies and decision support tools that farmers can use to cope with increasing economic, environmental and social uncertainties and risks. WP2 contributes to the development of RM in EU farming systems by understanding and eliciting farmers' risk perceptions and preferences; learning about farmers' adaptive behaviour; learning capacity and preferred improvements of current RM tools; designing and analysing improved strategies to deal with extreme weather; and co-creating improved RM tools and map-related institutional challenges.
Governments and organisations have set targets for increased food production as a result of an increasing population. In order to increase food production, the capacity of agricultural enterprises needs to be expanded. The Swedish agricultural industry expresses difficulties in finding labour, which prevent businesses from expanding, or that companies must settle with less skilled employees. In order to respond to the set targets of increased food production, agricultural companies need to be better able to attract and retain employees. The average age is high among employees in Swedish agriculture while the portion of young employees is declining. Since young peoples are the new generation of employees, they are of particular interest to agricultural companies to hire. One way to address the problem of finding and retaining workforce is through marketing. Employer branding is a marketing concept that includes how companies can attract and retain employees. Businesses can develop its employer brand by knowing what attributes of employer branding that are valued by their existing employees. This study aims to investigate how young employees value employer branding attributes in the Swedish agricultural sector. This study applies a qualitative approach with case study design. The case studies consist of nine cases involving nine different young employees from agricultural companies in the region of Mälardalen. Data has been collected through semi-structured interviews based on an interview guide with questions to get the young employees' thoughts and answers. A conceptual framework has been developed to analyze the collected data. The framework is evolved from existing knowledge of employer branding. The framework is based on the analytical categories; work content, affiliation, compensation, career, benefits, all of which are considered to contain attributes that affect a company's Employer brand. The collected data has been analyzed with thematic encoding and divided into themes. The study shows that young employees value several attributes of employer branding in their employment. Identified attributes that are valued are found in all analytical categories from the developed framework. In addition to identifying valued attributes and making suggestions for how employer branding practices can be developed, the study contributes to an expanded understanding of employer branding in the context of agricultural companies. Most attributes can be influenced by the employer. By using the results of this study, agricultural companies can develop their employer brand. This can lead to development and increase of agricultural businesses' production. ; Regeringar och organisationer har satt upp mål om en ökad livsmedelsproduktion till följd av en stigande befolkning. För att livsmedelsproduktionen ska kunna öka behöver kapaciteten hos lantbruksföretag utvecklas genom nya investeringar. Nya investeringar är beroende av input resurser så som tillgång till relevant arbetskraft. Den svenska lantbruksbranschen uttrycker svårigheter i att hitta arbetskraft, vilket leder till att expandering av verksamheten hindras, eller att företag får nöja sig med sämre kompetens bland. För att kunna bemöta den framtida förväntansbilden om en ökad livsmedelsproduktion behöver lantbruksföretag bli bättre på att attrahera och bibehålla anställda. Det råder idag en hög medelålder bland anställda i svenskt lantbruk, samtidigt som andelen yngre i lantbruket minskar. Eftersom unga personer är den nya generationen anställda, är de av speciellt intresse för lantbruksföretag att anställa. Ett sätt att adressera problemet med att hitta och bibehålla personal är genom marknadsföring. Employer branding är ett marknadsföringsverktyg som innefattar hur företag kan attrahera och bibehålla anställda. Företag kan utveckla sitt employer brand genom att förstå vilka egenskaper av employer branding som värderas av deras befintliga anställda. Den här studien syftar till att undersöka hur unga anställda värderar egenskaper av employer branding i den svenska lantbrukssektorn. Den här studien tillämpar ett kvalitativt angreppssätt med fallstudiedesign. Fallstudierna består av nio fall innehållande nio olika unga anställda från lantbruksföretag i Mälardalen. Empiri har samlats in genom semistrukturerade telefonintervjuer. Ett konceptuellt ramverk har utvecklats för att analysera den insamlade empirin. Det konceptuella ramverket bygger på existerande kunskap om employer branding. Ramverket baseras på de analytiska kategorierna; arbetsinnehåll, erkännande, kompensation, karriär, förmåner och utveckling, som alla anses innehålla egenskaper som påverkar ett företags employer brand. Den insamlade empirin har analyserats med tematisk kodning och delats in i teman. Studien visar att unga anställda värderar flera egenskaper av employer branding i sin anställning. Identifierade egenskaper som värderas återfinns i alla analytiska kategorier från det framtagna ramverket. Förutom att identifiera värden, och komma med förslag till hur utövande av employer braning kan utvecklas, bidrar studien till en utökad förståelse av employer branding i kontexten av lantbruksföretag. Genom att använda resultaten i den här studien, kan lantbruksföretag utveckla sitt employer brand. Detta kan leda till att lantbruksföretag kan utvecklas och öka sin produktion.
Groundwater monitoring is recommended as a higher-tier option in the regulatory groundwater assessment of crop protection products in the European Union. However, to date little guidance has been provided on the study designs. The SETAC EMAG-Pest GW group (a mixture of regulatory, academic, and industry scientists) was created in 2015 to establish scientific recommendations for conducting such studies. This report provides recommendations for study designs and study procedures made by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Environmental Monitoring Advisory Group on Pesticides (EMAG-Pest). Because of the need to assess the vulnerability to leaching in both site selection and extrapolating study results, information on assessing vulnerability to leaching is also a major topic in this report. The design of groundwater monitoring studies must consider to which groundwater the groundwater quality standard is applicable and the associated spatial and temporal aspects of its application, the objective of the study, the properties of the active substance and its metabolites, and site characteristics. This limits the applicability of standardised study designs. The effect of the choice of groundwater to which the water quality guideline is applied on study design is illustrated and examples of actual study designs are presented.
Environmental organizations play an important role in mainstream debates on nature and in shaping our environments. At a time when environmental NGOs are turning to questions of gender-equality and ethnic diversity, we analyze their possibilities to do so. We argue that attempts at ethnic and cultural diversity in environmental organizations cannot be understood without insight into the conceptualizations of nature and the environment that underpin thinking within the organization. Serious attempts at diversity entail confronting some of the core values on nature-cultures driving the organization as well as understanding the dimensions of power such as class, gender, and race that structure its practices. We study what nature means for one such organization, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, and the ways in which thinking about nature dictates organizational practice and sets the boundaries of their work with diversity in their projects on outdoor recreation. We base our analysis on official documents and interviews, analyze how ''diversity'' and ''gender-equality'' are represented in the material and reflect on the interconnections as well as the different trajectories taken by the two issues. Our study shows that the organization's understanding of nature is a central and yet undiscussed determinant of their work with diversity that closes down as much as it opens up the space for greater inclusion of minorities. We argue that for environmental organizations wanting to diversity membership, a discussion of what nature means for people and their relationships to each other and nature is vital to any such efforts.
The purpose of this study was to develop a compilation of knowledge about the risk factors of stress and fatigue, and their importance for injuries in agriculture as a basis for preventive measures. The knowledge compilation was based on an extensive literature review and partly on analysis of previously conducted interviews with farmers who suffered accidents. In the literature review, both national and international studies were investigated with regard to the mentioned risk factors for injuries. Also examples of preventive measures applied to farmers were obtained. Documentation of projects was also sought through various industry magazines and websites. The Department of AEM possesses extensive data on injuries in agriculture and forestry in 2004 and 2013. From this data, 460 short stories were analyzed of what happened at the time of the injury and the cause of the injury in 2004. From the 2013 study, 242 stories were analyzed regarding the injury, but also about the measures taken by the farmer to prevent injuries. In addition, 75 band-recorded interviews were analyzed with the affected farmers with further information. In particular, the stories that indicated stress and fatigue as a cause of the injury were studied. The studies of occupational injuries in the Swedish agriculture show that injuries have decreased in absolute terms over the past 10 years. Taking into account the reduced labor requirements in agriculture or decrease in the number of farms in the same period, the number of injuries has not decreased. Farmers are exposed to various risks of injuries at work, such as handling animals (e.g. crushed or trampled by the animals), large machinery and vehicles (such as stuck in the machine, tractor injury) and in construction and repair work (e.g. fall from ladder). In addition to these hazardous conditions, the farmer is also exposed to a variety of stressors by e.g. heavy workload, time pressure, mechanical and technical failures, disease attacks, financial worries, dependent on the weather, government regulations, bureaucracy, working alone and family problems. The literature review showed that farmers who experienced a lot of stress were more likely to experience an accident in their work. Many farmers suffer from fatigue, sleep disorders and insomnia that is related to the high workload and stress they are exposed to, which can affect the ability to make decisions for dangerous situations and injuries as a result. Many of the farmers who suffered injuries in agriculture in Sweden also indicated stress, fatigue, sleepiness, carelessness or negligence as cause of the injuries. There are a lot of fact sheets and brochures with advice to farmers on how to deal with stress and fatigue by example to take breaks, exercise regularly, eat healthy foods and avoid alcohol. Several interventions and programs have been implemented with regard to the prevention of occupational injuries in agriculture. Some studies showed positive results, while most others gave very limited evidence that interventions were effective in reducing agricultural injuries. There is a need for more accurate evaluations of intervention programs for safety in agriculture.
Lithuania and Southern Sweden share similar natural conditions, but differ considerably in forest policies and management; thereby providing an opportune basis for comparative studies. Since the 1990s, Sweden has attempted to reduce the negative impact of its forest management on biodiversity, after decades of intensive production forestry. In contrast, Lithuania has been intensifying forestry practices associated with the post-soviet socio-economic transition. Here we assess the actual outcomes by comparing selected forest structure and composition variables known to be indicators for forest biodiversity; and estimate the prospective trends by scrutinising current forest policies and management. Our results indicate that Lithuanian forests consistently possessed higher rankings in six indices related to tree species composition, stand age, and deadwood quantities that are positively associated with forest biodiversity. The reverse is indicated by those data on stand age and tree diameter that are associated with centennial dynamics in forest utilisation intensity. With respect to policy instruments, Lithuania designates a substantially greater share of forest area to non-timber functions and legislates more severe management restrictions in forests targeting timber production. Concurrently, all estimates of forestry activities indicate more intensive forest management in Southern Sweden, including a higher share of artificial regeneration and shorter rotations. This allows concluding that, if current forest management practices persist, then an increased "biodiversity gap" may be expected between the two countries. The study concludes with discussing to what degree the identified trends are the direct product of targeted policies versus merely by-products of other factors.
Sweden has recently decided to ratify the European Landscape Convention (ELC). Methods for implementation have been discussed for both the ELC and related national environmental objectives. Thus, the Swedish Government decided that seven County Administrative Boards should undertake pilot studies for Regional Landscape Strategies (RLS) during 2006–2007. The RLS pilot projects aimed at a new and more effective approach for conservation and sustainable land use at regional level. Additionally, RLS should also function as a method for implementing the ELC and other environmental objectives. One specific focus of the pilot studies was on developing methods for public participation. Other important issues were to involve different administrative sectors, municipalities and regional authorities in the process, as well as attaining a good balance between conservation and profitable land use. This chapter presents some of the results from the RLS case study in Vellinge municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden's southernmost province. The focus of the study was on public participation in particular by equestrians and landowners. The first 'bridleway organization' of its kind in Sweden was established as a direct result of the project.