Trade-offs in the transition to a blue economy - Mapping social acceptance of aquaculture expansion in Norway.

Aquaculture is currently the fastest growing food industry globally, and proposed expansion plans include substantial increases in production over the next decades. While this will improve global food security, contribute to the blue economy and create jobs locally, the potential negative impacts on the marine environment could be massive. The existing literature suggests that further research needs to be conducted into the dynamic nature of the social-ecological systems which host aquaculture.

Willingness to pay to protect cold water corals.

There is increasing pressure to use currently untapped resources in the deep sea, raising questions regarding ecosystem service trade-offs in these often unknown areas. We assessed the trade-offs between protection of cold-water coral reefs and economic activities, such as fisheries and petroleum extraction, through a survey of a representative sample of the populations of Norway and Ireland. Choice-experiment surveys were conducted in workshop settings and through the internet.

Global ecological, social and economic impacts of marine plastic.

This research takes a holistic approach to considering the consequences of marine plastic pollution. A semi-systematic literature review of 1191 data points provides the basis to determine the global ecological, social and economic impacts. An ecosystem impact analysis demonstrates that there is global evidence of impact with medium to high frequency on all subjects, with a medium to high degree of irreversibility.

Smarter elder care? A cost-effectiveness analysis of implementing technology in elder care.

Whereas in most sectors, technology has taken over trivial and labour consuming tasks, this transformation has been delayed in the healthcare sector. Although appropriate technology is available, there is general resistance to substituting 'warm' hands with 'cold' technology. In the future, this may change as the number of elderly people increases relative to the people in the work force.

Economic gains from electronic message exchange: the importance of working procedures.

Background And Purpose: There are several cost-benefit evaluations of introducing new technology for administrative purposes in the health care sector. Whereas some of these recognise the importance of adapting the working procedures to the new technology, very few look into the consequences of delays in adaptation to the new technology. In this paper, we focus on the consequences of keeping old working procedures, although new technology is implemented.