No / The quest for best practices may lead to an increased risk of poor decision-making, especially when aiming to attain best practice levels reveals that efforts are beyond the organization’s present capabilities. This situation is commonly known as the “best practice trap”. Motivated by such observation, the purpose of the present paper is to develop a practical methodology to support better practice benchmarking, with an application to the banking sector. In this sense, we develop a two-stage hybrid model that employs Artificial Neural Network (ANN) via integration with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which is used as a preprocessor, to investigate the ability of the DEA-ANN approach to classify the sampled branches of a Greek bank into predefined efficiency classes. ANN is integrated with a family of radial and non-radial DEA models. This combined approach effectively captures the information contained in the characteristics of the sampled branches, and subsequently demonstrates a satisfactory classification ability especially for the efficient branches. Our prediction results are presented using four performance measures (hit rates): percent success rate of classifying a bank branch’s performance exactly or within one class of its actual performance, as well as just one class above the actual class and just one class below the actual class. The proposed modeling approach integrates the DEA context with ANN and advances benchmarking practices to enhance the decision-making process for efficiency improvement.

Riparian Forest Buffer Systems contribute to non-point source pollution control and improve the physical and trophic qualities of streams. There is a limited understanding of the full range of costs incurred when implementing a RFBS. Establishment costs will vary with the site characteristics. The amount of forgone income will vary with the current land-use. RFBS enterprises may yield returns that partially or fully offset forgone income. Section A discusses the physical characteristics and functions of RFBS in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Section A argues that RFBS design and site characteristics alter the physical ability of RFBS to produce environmental services. Altering design specifications may come at little environmental loss but might greatly reduce landowner costs. Section B describes a decision support system that can provide landowners and policy makers with financial information on the site specific changes in costs that occur as RFBS designs are altered. Section C utilizes the decision support system software to simulate the common design and site characteristics found within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed of Virginia. Generalizations are drawn concerning reduction efficiencies of a RFBS based on the physical characteristics of the regions. Section D discusses government policies and incentive programs, as well as additional private income opportunities, that may influence the cost and adoption of RFBS. Findings revealed a range of annual per acre cost of adoption between $140.09 rising to a positive return of $124.79, depending on assumptions of site characteristics, land-use, and supplemental financial incentives. / Master of Science

Sediment is one of the leading non-point source pollutants in the U.S and has detrimental effects on biological communities such as aquatic communities; human use such as recreation; and natural processes such as flood water storage. For silvicultural operations, the majority of sediment is produced from erosion on highly disturbed areas, such as skid trails, haul roads, and log landings. Erosion from silvicultural activities not only has the potential to introduce sediment into waterways but can also decrease site productivity through the removal of topsoil. In order to minimize erosion from silvicultural operations, forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs) have been developed, but efficacies of various BMP options are not well documented. This study evaluated five closure and cover BMPs for the control of erosion on bladed skid trails through both field based measurements with sediment traps and soil erosion modeling. The erosion models used were the Universal Soil Loss Equation for Forestry (USLE – Forest), the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation version 2 (RUSLE2), and the Water Erosion Prediction Project for Forest Roads (WEPP – Forest Roads). Erosion model predictions were also regressed against field based results to determine accuracy. The bladed skid trail BMP treatments evaluated were: 1) water bar only (Control); 2) water bar and grass seed (Seed); 3) water bar, grass seed, and straw mulch (Mulch); 4) water bar and piled hardwood slash (Hardwood Slash); and 5) water bar and piled pine slash (Pine Slash). Field based results show that the Control treatment was the most erosive (137.7 tonnes/ha/yr), followed by the Seed treatment (31.5 tonnes/ha/yr), Hardwood Slash treatment (8.9 tonnes/ha/yr), Pine Slash treatment (5.9 tonnes/ha/yr), and finally the Mulch treatment was the most effective erosion control technique (3.0 tonnes/ha/yr). Model accuracy results show that RUSLE2 performed the best overall. Both USLE – Forest and WEPP – Forest Roads under predicted values on the Control treatment, where erosion rates were very high. WEPP – Forest Roads under predicted these values the most. All models generally show that the Control was the most erosive followed by the Seed, Hardwood Slash, Pine Slash, and Mulch treatments. / Master of Science

Water quality practices can have a financial impact on the cost of harvesting timber in Virginia. Two hundred seventy-two timber harvesters were surveyed to determine the estimated cost for implementing best management practices (BMPs) on harvested sites. BMPs analyzed in this study are pre-harvest planning, road construction, broad base dips, water turn-outs, water bars, streamside management zones, stream crossings, and site stabilization. Loggers provided an estimate of the cost or expense for constructing each BMP. They gave an indication of how costly these practices were to implement. The responses for each BMP were then stratified by region to determine if there were regional differences in the unit costs. With the exception of haul road construction costs, the data showed no regional differences in the unit BMP costs across Virginia. Forty-six harvested sites in Virginia were visited to determine the number of BMPs constructed for the harvesting operations. The total cost of following BMP guidelines was calculated using the state median cost, regional road construction costs, and number of practices installed on the site for each tract. The BMP cost per acre was reported by region. / Master of Science

This report consists of the results from implementing the co-creation paradigm in the education. It was created from international team during the project T-CREPE - TEXTILE ENGINEERING FOR CO-CREATION PARADIGMS IN EDUCATION, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. Topics as planet platform, ChoiCo games, using simulation software, Enterpreneuship and feedback from industrial partners are presented.:1. Introduction 7 2. Design Thinking – Design-based Learning – Co-creation 9 References 16 3. Games in Education 18 References 18 4. The Co-Creation Planet: Metaphor and Theory 20 4.1 The Planet Metaphor 20 4.2 Planet Tools 21 4.2.1 Design Thinking Tools 21 4.2.2 The ChoiCo, game-based learning and co-creation 21 References 23 5. Practical Guide to the Planet Platform 25 5.1 Layers of the planet 25 5.2 How to use the Planet 28 5.2.1. For Teachers 28 5.2.2. For Students 28 How to use the Planet for you projects? 28 5.3 How to use ChoiCo 29 6. ChoiCo Game Modification Example 34 6.1. The expert games “Heating outdoor pads” 34 6.2. The textile game mod by lecturer 35 6.3. The textile games mods by students 36 6.3.1. Heating Garment 37 6.3.2. Heating Cushion for Car Seat 37 6.3.3. Heating T-Shirt and Gloves 38 6.3.5. Heating Textiles 38 6.3.6. Heating Socks 39 6.3.7. Heating Socks ThermoTrousers 3000 ™ 40 7. Stimulating Entrepreneurship 41 7.1 Co-creation scenes 41 7.2. Valorisation 43 7.3 Psychological ownership 45 8. The industry experience: Co-creating with Knitronix (Italy) 50 8.1 Collaboration with industry – Knitronix 50 8.2. Knitronix and the Co-creation course at UGent 51 9. Co-creating with industry: the richter+partner GmbH (Germany) 54 9.1 Introduction 54 9.2 Collaboration with industry – r+p 54 9.3. r+p and the Co-creation course 'Digital Nomad' at UGent and UNIWA 55 10. Co-creation process with textile CAD software 57 10.1. Introduction 57 10.2. Discovery process 57 10.3. Define 58 10.4. Develop 60 11. Co-creation in (design) education: lessons learned from T-Crepe 64 11.1 A reflection 65 11.2. Role of the students 65 11.3. Role of the instructors 66 11.4. Role of the industry partners 66 11.6. The T-CREPE heritage 67 References 67

Protecting water quality, biota, and ecosystem services of streams (cumulatively referred to as stream health) while increasing food production is a major global challenge. One way to balance these often-competing interests is through the installation of agricultural conservation practices, such as excluding livestock from streams via fencing and adjusting grazing patterns. However, conservation practices often do not improve stream health as expected. Failure to achieve stream health outcomes may be due to biophysical (e.g., conservation practices are not appropriate for the landscape) or social reasons (e.g., agricultural producers are not willing to use conservation practices). Therefore, the goal of my dissertation research was to understand factors influencing effectiveness of conservation practices using an interdisciplinary approach that integrates ecological engineering, ecology, and social science. My research focuses on southwest Virginia, a karst region where cattle grazing is common. In the introduction, I developed a social-ecological framework that outlines how the natural and social sciences can be used to guide effective placement and implementation of conservation practices and explain why interdisciplinary approaches are often necessary due to social-ecological connections that influence efficacy (i.e., feedbacks, heterogeneity, time lags, and thresholds). In Chapter 1, I modeled pollutant transport to characterize watershed features that contribute disproportionate amounts of pollutants to streams. I found that water, and associated nitrate, is primarily entering streams through subsurface pathways, whereas sediment is entering the stream through streambank erosion. Therefore, a combination of conservation practices that stop nitrogen at its source (e.g., nutrient management plans) and stabilize streambanks (e.g., fenced riparian buffers) could be useful for protecting stream health. For Chapter 2, I sampled water quality, habitat, and macroinvertebrates from 31 streams within sub-watersheds that span a range of pollutant yields, conservation practice densities, and agricultural land use extent to understand the pathways through which conservation practices influence stream health. Agricultural land use increased total nitrogen and decreased macroinvertebrate diversity, but conservation practices stabilized nitrogen and improved bank stability. Despite such improvements, adverse effects on water quality and habitat still limited the biotic assemblage. Therefore, innovative conservation practices, higher densities of existing practices, or allowing more time for the effects of existing practices to improve water quality and habitat may be required to achieve stream health goals. For Chapter 3, I surveyed producers to understand if they continue to use their conservation practices after their cost-share contracts end (i.e., persistence) and factors that influence persistence. Persistence was most strongly related to producers' attitudes towards the conservation practice, producers' motivations, and practice durability. Therefore, persistence could be encouraged by using producers' motivations to focus messaging on ways conservation practices are achieving producers' goals and allocating more funding to practice maintenance. Overall, my interdisciplinary approach led to a greater understanding of pollutant dynamics, the pathways through which conservation practices influence stream health, and social constraints to persistence. This knowledge can inform what conservation practices may be most effective and strategies to keep appropriate practices on the landscape long enough to achieve stream health goals. / Doctor of Philosophy / As farmers work to feed a growing worldwide population, streams can inadvertently receive pollution, like excess sediment and nitrogen. Too much sediment can clog the gills of aquatic animals and reduce their habitat, and too much nitrogen can cause excessive plant growth and decrease the amount of oxygen in the water. The cumulative effects of pollution from farming can result in streams being unable to support human uses such as clean drinking water and fishing opportunities. To increase food production while protecting streams, government agencies help farmers pay for the costs of using conservation practices that can reduce pollution. Examples of conservation practices include keeping livestock out of streams with fences, ensuring the ground is covered with plants in between planting crops, and developing a plan for the maximum amount of fertilizer that can be used. Unfortunately, conservation practices are sometimes ineffective, and streams still become polluted despite their use. My goal was to understand why some conservation practices are ineffective and how conservation practices might be improved for southwest Virginia. In the introduction, I developed a framework that illustrates how connecting the natural and social sciences can improve conservation practice efficacy by guiding planning and placement of new practices. In Chapter 1, I used a computer program to simulate pollution within streams so that I could understand which locations have the greatest amount of pollution and why. I found that nitrogen typically enters streams through the water in the soil rather than water running over the land surface and that sediment mostly enters the stream through erosion of the streambanks. These results suggest that conservation practices such as limiting the amount of nutrients placed on the landscape could be especially effective for reducing nitrogen pollution, whereas building fences to exclude cattle from streams and planting trees along streams can help reduce sediment pollution. For Chapter 2, I visited 31 streams in southwest Virginia that had varying amounts of pollution and conservation practices and collected water quality, habitat data, and aquatic insects. All these metrics are good indicators of pollution, but aquatic insects are particularly excellent indicators because their populations respond to cumulative changes in habitat and water quality. Streams with more conservation practices did not exhibit more diverse insect communities but did show stabilized water quality and habitat. These results indicate that the types of conservation practices currently used are not completely protecting streams and farmers may need to use more practices, new types of practices, or use their current practices for longer periods of time. For Chapter 3, I surveyed farmers to find out if they continue to use their conservation practices after funding from agencies ends, as well as their motivations for their actions. Farmers indicated that they were more likely to continue using conservation practices if their goals for using the practice were achieved and that they had difficulty keeping fences and trees from being destroyed by floods and wildlife. Government agencies could increase continued use of conservation practices by showing farmers how the practices are achieving their goals and by providing more funding to maintain practices. By combining research from several fields of study, I was able to better understand which conservation practices would be most effective in protecting streams and new ways to support farmers in using conservation practices.

This dissertation investigates the links between lesson characteristics, student engagement, self-determination, and environmental literacy outcomes at a residential environmental education (EE) program. I developed a novel methodology using observations of 81 lessons at the study site to isolate the characteristics hypothesized to influence student engagement, self-determination, and outcomes of environmental literacy. Student surveys provided self-reported data on student engagement, selfdetermination, and environmental literacy. Mixed-methods analyses allowed me to explore these links within the 81 lessons observed in this case study. The results are organized into five chapters: an introduction chapter; three manuscripts planned for stand-alone publication (Chapters 2 - 4); and a conclusion chapter. Chapter 2 reports on the links between student engagement, self-determination, and environmental literacy. Chapter 3 provides insights on the links between the lesson characteristics (e.g., educator characteristics, teaching approaches, and schoolteacher/chaperone behaviors) and environmental literacy outcomes. Chapter 4 investigates the degree to which measures of student engagement, observed or self-reported, are associated with environmental literacy outcomes. Chapter 5 summarizes the findings from this study and presents additional analyses intended to fully synthesize the links between lesson characteristics, student engagement, self-determination, and environmental literacy. This study provides a novel methodology and survey items that may be of use to both practitioners and researchers. This research offers useful information about why and how EE works in this case and some of the specific characteristics and practices that engender positive environmental literacy outcomes. / Ph. D. / This dissertation investigates the links between lesson characteristics, student engagement, self-determination, and environmental literacy outcomes at a residential environmental education (EE) program. I developed a novel methodology using observations of 81 lessons delivered to diverse middle school students at the study site to isolate the characteristics hypothesized to most positively influence student engagement, self-determination, and outcomes of environmental literacy. Student surveys completed at the end of each lesson observed provided self-reported data on student engagement, self-determination, and outcomes of environmental literacy. I performed a variety of mixed-methods analyses to explore these links and have organized the results into five chapters: an introduction chapter; three manuscripts planned for stand-alone publication (Chapters 2 – 4); and a conclusion chapter. Chapter 2 provides details on the links between student engagement, self-determination, and environmental literacy. Chapter 3 provides insights on the influences of a myriad of lesson characteristics (e.g., educator characteristics, teaching approaches, and schoolteacher/chaperone behaviors) on student environmental literacy outcomes. Chapter 4 provides results on the degree to which student engagement, observed or self-reported, is positively associated with environmental literacy outcomes. Chapter 5 summarizes the findings from this study and presents additional analyses intended to fully synthesize the holistic links between lesson characteristics, student engagement, self-determination, and environmental literacy outcomes. This study provides a new novel methodology and survey items that may be of use to both practitioners and researchers, particularly those with time constraints in the field. This research offers useful information about why and how EE works at this study site and provides details on specific characteristics and practices that led to positive student environmental literacy outcomes.

Forestry best management practices (BMPs) programs were developed by individual states in response to the Clean Water Act in order to protect water quality during and after timber harvests. Our research goals are to compare BMP implementation at stream crossings by region and road type in Virginia and to quantify effectiveness of BMPs by developing hypothetical upgrades and determining upgrade costs. Stream crossings (75 truck, 79 skidder) sampled for BMP implementation were on operational harvests conducted in 2016, from the Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain of Virginia. Erosion rates of stream crossing approaches were modeled using the Universal Soil Loss Equation modified for forest lands (USLE-Forest) and Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) methodologies. Implementation ratings (BMP-, BMP-standard, BMP+) were developed to characterize crossings with respect to state implementation standards. Costs for upgrading crossings to a higher BMP category were estimated by adjusting cover percentages and approach lengths. Sixty-three percent of stream crossings were classified as BMP-standard, with an average erosion rate of 7.6 Mg/ha/yr; 25% of crossings were classified as BMP+, with an average erosion rate of 1.7 Mg/ha/yr; and 12% of crossings were classified as BMP-, with an average erosion rate of 26.2 Mg/ha/yr. Potential erosion rates decreased with increasing BMP implementation (p <0.0001). Average BMP implementation audit scores for stream crossings were 88% on skid trails and 82% on truck roads. To upgrade from a BMP- to BMP-standard, the cost-benefit ratio of dollars to tons of sediment prevented averaged $166.62/Mg for skid trails and $2274.22/Mg for truck roads. Enhancement to the BMP+ level is not economically efficient and BMP implementation at stream crossings reaches maximum efficiency at the BMP-standard level. / M. S. / Timber harvesting can accelerate erosion processes and result in the discharge of large quantities of sediment into nearby water resources if proper management is not used during and after harvests. Most of sediment entering streams is generated from forest roads and trails, particularly at stream crossings. This study includes 154 crossings (75 truck, 78 skidder) randomly selected from the Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain regions of Virginia. Evaluations were conducted on lands with silvicultural operations completed in 2016 that had truck road crossings and/or skidder crossings over any stream. Information was gathered at each crossing to model the erosion rates from both approaches to the stream by using the Universal Soil Loss Equation modified for forest lands and the Water Erosion Prediction Project. Implementation ratings (BMP-, BMP-standard, BMP+) were developed to characterize crossings with respect to state implementation standards, and evaluate other factors, including stream bank stability, ground cover, and evidence of sedimentation in the stream. The Virginia Department of Forestry BMP audit was used to score the crossings. Costs for upgrading the crossing to a higher BMP category were estimated by adjusting cover and approach lengths, and then using previous research data and existing road cost models. Potential erosion rates decreased with increasing BMP implementation (p <0.0001). Average BMP implementation audit scores for stream crossings were 88% on skid trails and 82% on truck roads. This research contributes to the evidence of BMP effectiveness and provides transparency to the citizens of Virginia regarding sustainable forestry practices.

This essay explores whether the gender constructions in Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold and Juliet Marillier’s Daughter of the Forest question or contribute to existing gender categories. The analysis is performed using Raewynn Connell’s gender structure model, Brian Attebery’s theory of fantasy as a "fuzzy set" and Maria Nikolajeva’s schedule for stereotypical gender traits. Thus, both of the texts were analyzed to determine if their contents, structures and reader responses create opportunities or act limiting, how the main characters are portrayed and how the books various power-, production-, emotional- and symbolic relations look like. The result of the analysis is that both of the books portray patriarchal worlds, sexual division of labor, misogyny and gender-binding statements. The characters in Daughter of the Forest are quite stereotypical, with some traits that exceed their gender, whilst the characters in Best Served Cold are all portrayed with traditionally manly traits (even the female main character). Therefor one can say that Best Served cold’s female protagonist is the only element in the books that fully questions prevailing gender categories.

I föreliggande studie undersöks hur rättssäkerheten tillämpas och tolkas allmänt för barn som placeras utanför det egna hemmet av socialtjänsten samt hur rättssäkerheten tolkas och tillämpas när det rör barn som är placerade på ideella kvinnojourer. Studien är av rättssociologisk art. Metoden som används i studien är en kombination av rättsdogmatisk metod och samhällsvetenskaplig metod. Detta för att genom den rättsdogmatiska metoden studera lagstiftning och den samhällsvetenskapliga undersöka hur lagen tillämpas i praktiken. Materialet består av texter samt intervju. Teorier om rättssäkerhet används för att skapa en förståelse av materialet (Staaf; Petczenik) Studien visar att det finns brister i den formella rättssäkerheten samt att den materiella rättssäkerheten inte diskuteras över huvudtaget. Studiens resultat visar även att det finns ett glapp mellan rätten och dess tillämpning. / The present study examines how the rule of law is applied and interpreted for children placed outside their home by social services and how the rule of law are interpreted and applied in the case of children placed on non-profit refuges. The study has a sociology of law approach. Methods used in the study are a combination of legal dogmatic and social scientific method. The material consists of texts and one interview. Theories of the rule of law is used to create an understanding of the material (Staaf; Petczenik). The study shows that there are deficiencies in the formal legal rights as well as to the substantive legal rights, that will not be discussed at all. The results of the study shows that there is a gap between the law and its application.