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Over the past half century, the global environment has become subject to an accelerated pace of mediation and datafication. This ongoing transition has become so comprehensive that the knowledge, management and governance of the Earth system is dependent on enormous flows of data from a “vast machine” of measuring tools. These processes combined have formed what we call a “mediated planet,” subject to interpretation and shared human decision-making – that should ideally be democratic, inclusive and accountable. As environmental datafication continues to accelerate, private corporations are gaining increasing influence on and power over the associated collections of data. This is a cause for concern, as the global environmental commons are a public interest of concern to all people. This article argues for the need to critically research the challenges and risks associated with the rapid datafication of the environment, specifically in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for climate change (13), the ocean (14), biodiversity (15) and inclusive and accountable institutions (16). More knowledge is needed of how the SDGs and their supporting networks influence data-generation on a mediated planet, and how issues of access to and use of environmental data, as well as data ownership and AI implementation, can best be navigated. We contend that such knowledge can help enhance the democratic potential of the SDGs to build public trust and secure broad participation in global environmental governance in ways that also support peaceful and inclusive societies, as promised by SDG 16. QC 20240115

At the University of Vienna’s Department of Classical Archaeology, two PhD projects recently focused on rural life in the Norican and Upper Pannonian “Danube Limes” hinterland. These projects share a common research area and partially incorporate the same archaeological sites. The Roman rural settlement in northern Noricum, which is present-day Lower Austria, has been relatively understudied. To address this gap, the recently completed PhD project “Roman Rural Landscapes in Noricum” by Dominik Hagmann aimed to synthesize all known data on Roman rural settlements within a strictly defined area of study. In parallel, another PhD project titled “Supplying the Roman Landscape,” conducted by Nisa Iduna Kirchengast, seeks to provide insight into the economic relationship between urban and rural areas along the Austrian stretch of the Danube. This artifact-oriented, bioarchaeological investigation centers on the supply of animal products and livestock farming within a clearly defined area of interest. Both studies aim to make a significant and lasting contribution to current research in the northern hinterland of the ancient Roman provinces of Noricum and Upper Pannonia, from various perspectives. They intend to do this through the application of differentiated interdisciplinary approaches inherent to both projects, consisting of (archaeo-)zoological methods and the use of geomatics through digital archaeology. Consequently, this theory-laden paper aims to offer insights into the current state of work, in the spirit of a workshop discussion, based on the jointly analyzed site of Waldling in Upper Austria. In the following, the archaeological site will thus serve as an (experimental) case study to demonstrate the possibilities and limitations of an integrated, context-based (zoo-)archaeological evaluation.

Sports historians have argued that the type of ball games common in the British Isles, which were practiced by two teams and in which the ball was driven with sticks towards predetermined goals – i.e., hurling, shinty, bandy and hockey – were never played in early modern Sweden. By highlighting descriptions of ballgames in Johannes Schefferus’s The History of Lapland (1674), a source previously ignored by sports historians, this article challenges such a claim. One of the games described by Schefferus has some similarities with the violent stick-and-ball game known in Icelandic sagas as knattleikr. Even greater similarities (such as the start of the game with a face-off and the goals consisting of lines on the short edges) emerge when the game is compared with the Scottish game of shinty. Thus, pre-modern Scandinavia does not appear to have been as isolated in terms of sports and games as has been suggested by Swedish sports historians. QC 20240223

While existing cross-language studies on the perception of non-native tones primarily focus on naïve listeners, this study addresses an obvious gap by investigating learners from diverse language backgrounds. Specifically, it investigates Mandarin tone perception in two groups of learners from Nordic languages, Swedish (a pitch-accent language), and Danish (a non-tonal language), as well as in a group of native Chinese speakers. Analysis of their performance in tone identification task revealed a slight advantage for Swedish learners, implying the influence of their pitch accent background in learning Mandarin tones. However, both Swedish and Danish learners who excelled in the tone identification task exhibited similar perception of within-category tonal variations but differed from native Chinese speakers. Additionally, the study found that the presence of length contrast, a prosodic feature in the learners’ native languages, significantly influences their perception of Mandarin tones.

Research background: Digital ecosystems in Europe are heterogenous organizations involving different economies, industries, and contexts. Among them, Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) are considered a policy-driven organization fostered by the European Commission to push companies’ digital transition through a wide portfolio of supporting services. Purpose of the article: There are DIHs existing in all European economies, but literature needs more precise indications about their status and nature. The purpose is to study a distribution of DIHs and differences in portfolios of DIHs’ services across European economies. Therefore, the paper wants to deliver more precise data on effects on national and European policies. This is required to define their final role and scope in the complex dynamics of the digital transition, depending on regional context and heterogeneity of industries. Methods: Data on 38 economies was collected from the S3 platform (on both existing and in preparation DIHs) and further verified by native speaking researchers using manual web scrapping of websites of DIHs identified from S3. To find potential similarities of digital ecosystems in different economies as emanated by the existence of DIHs, clusterization (Ward’s method and Euclidean distances) was applied according to the services offered. Economies were clustered according to the number of DIHs and the spread of DIHs intensity in different cities. The results were further analyzed according to the scope of the provided services. Findings & value added: The applied clustering classified European economies in four different sets, according to the types of services offered by the DIHs. These sets are expression of the different digitalization statuses and strategies of the selected economies and, as such, the services a company can benefit from in a specific economy. Potential development-related reasons behind the data-driven clustering are then conjectured and reported, to guide companies and policy makers in their digitalization strategies. QC 20240221

This study presents an in-depth analysis of 69 case studies focusing on the energy retrofit of historic buildings, uncovering challenges, best practices, and lessons learned to balance energy efficiency improvements with heritage preservation. The findings highlight several challenges encountered during renovations, such as complex heritage evaluations, restrictions on alterations, coordination issues with authorities, technical limitations, higher investment costs, and knowledge gaps. On the other hand, identifying factors promoting renovation, including demonstrating energy savings while respecting heritage, early collaboration between planners and authorities, and quantifying investments, could incentivize owners and authorities. The limitations of a still-limited sample size, occasional incomplete data, and potential sample bias call for cautious interpretation of the presented analysis. Despite these, the study provides valuable insights into successful projects, emphasizing the need for scalability, knowledge transfer from innovative policies, and targeted policy-making for successful replication. The study concludes with a call for further development of the HiBERatlas (Historic Building Energy Retrofit atlas), an extensive resource for historic building renovation, expanding its database, collaborating with agencies, and tailoring guidance for stakeholders to foster energy retrofits in heritage buildings.

Folien zum Webcast der Deutschen AG CAA am 2024-01-12 Zusammenfassung Datenmanagement und Datenmanagementpläne (DMPs) sind inzwischen ein fester Bestandteil von Voraussetzungen bei Drittmittelgebern. Dass Datenmanagement aber nicht nur als Pflicht angesehen werden soll, sondern ein wichtiger und zentraler Bestandteil der eigenen Forschung darstellt, soll der Webcast vermitteln. Es werden die Grundlagen des Datenmanagements vermittelt, die letztendlich zu nachhaltig verfügbaren und FAIRen Daten verhelfen. Inhalte: Der Datenlebenszyklus, Metadaten und Dokumentation, Archivierung, Dateiformate, Ordnerstruktur und Dateibenennung, Versionierung, Datenmanagementpläne ausfüllen und pflegen. Slides from a Webcast on 2024-01-12 by the German chapter of the CAA. Abstract Data management and data management plans (DMPs) are now an integral part of the requirements of third-party funding organisations. However, the webcast aims to convey that data management should not only be seen as a duty, but is an important and central component of one's own research. The basics of data management will be presented, which ultimately help in achieving sustainably available and FAIR data. Contents: The data life cycle, metadata and documentation, archiving, file formats, folder structure and file naming, versioning, completing and maintaining data management plans.

Grandparental support may protect mothers from depression, particularly mothers who separate and enter single parenthood. Using longitudinal Finnish register data on 116,917 separating and 371,703 non-separating mothers with young children, we examined differences in mothers’ antidepressant purchases by grandparental characteristics related to provision of support. Grandparents’ younger age (<70 years), employment, and lack of severe health problems predicted a lower probability of maternal depression. Depression was also less common if grandparents lived close to the mother and if the maternal grandparents’ union was intact. Differences in maternal depression by grandparental characteristics were larger among separating than among non-separating mothers, particularly during the years before separation. Overall, maternal grandmothers’ characteristics appeared to matter most, while the role of paternal grandparents was smaller. The findings suggest that grandparental characteristics associated with increased potential for providing support and decreased need of receiving support predict a lower likelihood of maternal depression, particularly among separating mothers.