Resilience at Work - Extending knowledge of resilience in the work context

Diese Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit dem Konzept der Resilienz im Arbeitsumfeld. Drei Forschungsarbeiten liefern einen Beitrag zur Literatur im Bereich der Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie. In der ersten Studie werden Resilienzskalen miteinander verglichen und im Arbeitskontext validiert. Es wird eine Empfehlung ausgesprochen, welches Messinstrument sich am besten zur Erfassung von Resilienz im Arbeitskontext eignet. Die zweite Studie stellt die Unterschiede zwischen den beiden ähnlichen Konzepten Resilienz und Core Self-Evaluations dar. Zusätzlich wird die kognitive Bewertung von Situationen (Cognitive Appraisal) als Resilienzmechanismus in einem Tagebuchdesign betrachtet. In der dritten Studie wird der regulatorische Fokus von Personen als weiterer Resilienzmechanismus analysiert, um die Zusammenhänge zwischen Resilienz und positiven arbeitsbezogenen Ergebnissen zu erklären. Die Gesamtdiskussion baut auf den Erkenntnissen aus den drei Studien auf und fasst die theoretischen und praktischen Implikationen zusammen. Zusätzlich werden Ideen für die zukünftige Erforschung von Resilienz im Arbeitskontext diskutiert.

A Modeling Analysis of Changing Global Land Use as affected by Changing Demands for Wood Products

The 21st century has brought new challenges for forest management at a time when globalization in world trade is increasing and global climate change is becoming increasingly apparent. In addition to various goods and services like food, feed, timber or biofuels being provided to humans, forest ecosystems are a large store of terrestrial carbon and account for a major part of the carbon exchange between the atmosphere and the land surface. Depending on the stage of the ecosystems and/or management regimes, forests can be either sinks, or sources of carbon. At the global scale, rapid economic development and a growing world population have raised much concern over the use of natural resources, especially forest resources. The challenging question is how can the global demands for forest commodities be satisfied in an increasingly globalised economy, and where could they potentially be produced? For this purpose, wood demand estimates need to be integrated in a framework, which is able to adequately handle the competition for land between major land-use options such as residential land or agricultural land. This thesis is organised in accordance with the requirements to integrate the simulation of forest changes based on wood extraction in an existing framework for global land-use modelling called LandSHIFT. Accordingly, the following neuralgic points for research have been identified: (1) a review of existing global-scale economic forest sector models (2) simulation of global wood production under selected scenarios (3) simulation of global vegetation carbon yields and (4) the implementation of a land-use allocation procedure to simulate the impact of wood extraction on forest land-cover. Modelling the spatial dynamics of forests on the global scale requires two important inputs: (1) simulated long-term wood demand data to determine future roundwood harvests in each country and (2) the changes in the spatial distribution of woody biomass stocks to determine how much of the resource is available to satisfy the simulated wood demands. First, three global timber market models are reviewed and compared in order to select a suitable economic model to generate wood demand scenario data for the forest sector in LandSHIFT. The comparison indicates that the ‘Global Forest Products Model’ (GFPM) is most suitable for obtaining projections on future roundwood harvests for further study with the LandSHIFT forest sector. Accordingly, the GFPM is adapted and applied to simulate wood demands for the global forestry sector conditional on selected scenarios from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Global Environmental Outlook until 2050. Secondly, the Lund-Potsdam-Jena (LPJ) dynamic global vegetation model is utilized to simulate the change in potential vegetation carbon stocks for the forested locations in LandSHIFT. The LPJ data is used in collaboration with spatially explicit forest inventory data on aboveground biomass to allocate the demands for raw forest products and identify locations of deforestation. Using the previous results as an input, a methodology to simulate the spatial dynamics of forests based on wood extraction is developed within the LandSHIFT framework. The land-use allocation procedure specified in the module translates the country level demands for forest products into woody biomass requirements for forest areas, and allocates these on a five arc minute grid. In a first version, the model assumes only actual conditions through the entire study period and does not explicitly address forest age structure. Although the module is in a very preliminary stage of development, it already captures the effects of important drivers of land-use change like cropland and urban expansion. As a first plausibility test, the module performance is tested under three forest management scenarios. The module succeeds in responding to changing inputs in an expected and consistent manner. The entire methodology is applied in an exemplary scenario analysis for India. A couple of future research priorities need to be addressed, particularly the incorporation of plantation establishments; issue of age structure dynamics; as well as the implementation of a new technology change factor in the GFPM which can allow the specification of substituting raw wood products (especially fuelwood) by other non-wood products.

Assessing adaptation – Climate change and indigenous livelihood in the Andes of Bolivia

Based on a case study of Charazani – Bolivia, this article outlines the understanding of adaptive strategies to cope with climate change and its impact on environmental and socioeconomic conditions that are affecting rural livelihoods. Mainly qualitative methods were used to collect and analyze data following the framework for vulnerability assessments of a socio-ecological system. Climate data reveals an increase of precipitation and temperature during the last decades. Furthermore the occurrence of extreme weather events, particularly drought, frost, hailstorms and consequently landslides and fire are increasing. Local testimonies highlight these events as the principle reasons for agricultural losses. This climatic variability and simultaneous social changes were identified as the drivers of vulnerability. Yet, several adaptive measures were identified at household, community and external levels in order to cope with such vulnerability; e.g. traditional techniques in agriculture and risk management. Gradually, farmers complement these activities with contemporary practices in agriculture, like intensification of land use, diversification of irrigation system and use of artificial fertilizers. As part of a recent trend community members are forced to search for new off-farm alternatives beyond agriculture for subsistence. Despite there is a correspondingly large array of possible adaptation measures that families are implementing, local testimonies point out, that farmers often do not have the capacity and neither the economical resources to mitigate the risk in agricultural production. Although several actions are already considered to promote further adaptive capacity, the current target is to improve existing livelihood strategies by reducing vulnerability to hazards induced by climate change.

Contradictions within the Modern Food System: Nutritional Disbalance across the Globe, Its Main Drivers and Possible Ways Out

Contemporary food production, given the degree of technology being applied in it and the present state of scientific knowledge, should be able to feed the world. Corresponding statistics show that in fact the volumes of modern food production confirm this statement. Yet, the present nutritional situation across the globe leaves much to be desired: on the one hand the numbers of undernourished and malnourished people are still high and even growing in some regions, and on the other hand there is an increasing number of overweight and obese people who are experiencing (or are at risk of) adverse health impacts as consequences. The question arises how this situation is possible given the present state of food production and knowledge, and also in terms of nutrition basics when talking about the latter. When arguing about the main causes of the present situation with nutrition across the globe, it is the modern food system with its distortions that is often criticised with emphasis placed on inappropriate food distribution as one of the key problems. However it is not only food distribution that shapes inequalities in terms of food availability and accessibility – there is a number of other factors contributing to this situation including political influences. Each of the drivers of the present situation might affect more than one part and have outcomes in different dimensions. Therefore it makes sense to apply a holistic approach when viewing the modern food system, embracing all the elements and existing relationships between them for this will facilitate taking appropriate actions in order to target the desired outcome in the best possible way. Applying a systematic approach and linking various elements with corresponding interactions among them allows for picturing all the possible outcomes and hence finding the way for a better solution on global level – a solution to the present problem with nutritional disbalance across the globe.

Farmers’ perspectives with regard to arable crop production and deagrarianisation: an analysis of Nkonkobe Municipality, South Africa

This exploratory study evaluated biophysical, cultural and socio-economic factors affecting crop production and land utilisation in the Nkonkobe Municipality, South Africa. The study sought to establish what farmers in the area perceive as serious threats to crop production, drivers for land abandonment, and how best current agricultural production could be intensified. The farmers’ perspectives were assessed through interviews using semi-structured and open-ended questionnaires. The results of the study revealed declining crop productivity and increase in land abandonment in the Municipality. The biophysical drivers of land abandonment were low and erratic rainfall and land degradation while the socio-economic drivers were labour shortages due to old age and youth movement to cities, lack of farming equipment and security concerns. The most abandoned crops were maize, sorghum and wheat. This trend was attributed to the labour intensiveness of cereal production and a shift in dietary preference to purchased rice. These findings should be factored in any programmes that seek to increase land utilisation and crop productivity in the Municipality.