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Providing care for dying patients is demanding for nurses. The aim of this study was to investigate Norwegian and Swedish nursing students’ concerns about dying and sense of coherence in their first and third year. Further, to describe the students’ experiences of caring for dying patients during their education. Nursing students in their first and third year in Norway (n = 64) and Sweden (n = 79) responded to the questionnaire Concerns about Dying and Sense of Coherence Scale. Interviews were conducted with 11 students. In their third year, both groups reported reduced concerns with regard to their own death. Norwegian students with no experience in healthcare before education reported more concerns about dying patients. Caring for a dying patient was experienced as a challenge to endure, perform and learn. There is a need to develop teaching methods and to give individualized support to nursing students during their education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Including stakeholders in environmental model building and analysis is an increasingly popular approach to understanding ecological change. This is because stakeholders often hold valuable knowledge about socio-environmental dynamics and collaborative forms of modeling produce important boundary objects used to collectively reason about environmental problems. Although the number of participatory modeling ( PM) case studies and the number of researchers adopting these approaches has grown in recent years, the lack of standardized reporting and limited reproducibility have prevented PM's establishment and advancement as a cohesive field of study. We suggest a four-dimensional framework (4P) that includes reporting on dimensions of (1) the Purpose for selecting a PM approach (the why); (2) the Process by which the public was involved in model building or evaluation (the how); (3) the Partnerships formed (the who); and (4) the Products that resulted from these efforts (the what). We highlight four case studies that use common PM software-based approaches (fuzzy cognitive mapping, agent-based modeling, system dynamics, and participatory geospatial modeling) to understand human-environment interactions and the consequences of ecological changes, including bushmeat hunting in Tanzania and Cameroon, agricultural production and deforestation in Zambia, and groundwater management in India. We demonstrate how standardizing communication about PM case studies can lead to innovation and new insights about model-based reasoning in support of ecological policy development. We suggest that our 4P framework and reporting approach provides a way for new hypotheses to be identified and tested in the growing field of PM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stakeholder participation is considered a key principle for sustainable development in the context of natural resource and disaster risk management. Participatory modelling (PM) is an interactive and iterative process in which stakeholder involvement is supported by modelling and communication tools. Planning and decision-making for sustainable development (SD)integrate three substantive dimensions − social, ecological and economic. The procedural dimension of SD, however, is equally important, and here we see great potential for PM. In this study, we evaluate five PM research projects against criteria for the procedural dimension of SD. This provides a basis for identifying key issues and needs for further research into PM for SD. While the cases show great potential, especially for supporting knowledge integration, learning and transparent handling of values and perspectives, they indicate a particular need to develop PM in respect of organizational integration. This issue is closely connected to the possibility of effectively implementing PM in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk assessments are important to ensure efficient and effective flood risk management. Methods and strategies for flood risk assessment are described in the literature, but less is known about how assessments are actually performed. We have studied local flood risk assessments in Sweden by interviewing flood risk managers in municipalities and analyzing documentation of flood risk assessment efforts. There is a large variation between municipalities in how flood risk assessment has been done. The efforts made in association with the EU Floods Directive together with a Government Commission about a flood in Lake Mälaren are the most advanced assessments. Only a few of the municipalities have done comparable assessments. Generally, however, there is a lack of experience and theoretical knowledge about concepts and methods of flood risk assessment in the municipalities. In the assessments studied, the flood itself had been rather well defined in hazard maps. The consequences of a flood had been studied in the larger projects but only by half of the municipalities. It is mainly direct, tangible consequences that have been included. It is mainly the exposure of assets that has been investigated while little attention has been paid to vulnerability. To improve flood risk assessment in Sweden there is a need for knowledge and resources in the municipalities. Prioritization and motivation are needed to actually perform the assessments. National guidelines for may be helpful to guide municipalities in this work and to have more uniform risk assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]