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The Delphi method was used to gather assessments from 93 experts about drivers of future angling participation by locals and tourist anglers in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The main drivers of future angling participation related to habitat and fish populations, and access to and information about fishing. For Norway and Finland, the predicted future decline in local angler numbers was consistent with a life-cycle model of recreational fisheries, while the anticipated increase for the three other countries contradicted the model. For tourist anglers, growth was expected for both domestic and foreign tourists. Long-term and societal drivers, such as urbanization, sociocultural changes, and climate change were not seen as strong drivers, and may be considered out of reach by managers, but should be included with information and conservation drivers in angler recruitment and retention strategies.

Accurate information about anglers’ motivations, satisfaction, and fishing behavior is needed to design effective recreational fisheries management. This study used a comprehensive survey of Swedish anglers to explore the risk for common sampling strategies and survey response groupings to introduce significant error or biases that impact the interpretation of data. Angler motivation and satisfaction differed between anglers based on avidity, type of boat use, and gender. Measures of satisfaction from angling appear to be less affected by biases than general motivations, fishery specific motivations, and catch measures. Fishing season and place of residence have less relationship to psychological dimensions of survey responses, but remain important when considering target species. These results can guide data collection to more accurately measure the preferences and behaviors of different resource user groups, improve the design of regulations and management, and tailor communication to facilitate greater compliance and adoption of best practices.

This study explored the effect of recreational anglers’ sense of place on their intentions to engage in environmental stewardship actions on the island of Gotland, Sweden. Both sense of place and environmental stewardship were conceptualized as multi-dimensional constructs to explore the nuances of place meaning and place attachment on the anglers’ intentions to perform stewardship actions in private and social spheres, and catch-and-release angling. Partial least squares structural equation modeling revealed significant positive effects of sociocultural place meaning on place dependence and place identity, and on social sphere stewardship intentions. Biophysical place meaning positively influenced stewardship intentions in the private sphere and catch-and-release intentions. Our findings illustrate that the anglers’ intentions to engage in stewardship action on Gotland were influenced by their relationships to Gotland as an angling place. We highlight the importance of acknowledging the diversity of people-place relationships and their differential effects on stewardship actions.

Farm advisors are important knowledge transfer agents for improving rural sustainability. Most literature focuses on their role in improving farm economies, but they can also promote greater environmental sustainability. Across Europe, most natural wetlands have been drained, impacting multiple ecosystem services (ES) including biodiversity support and nutrient retention, highlighting the need for increased restoration and creation efforts. In Sweden, these efforts depend on voluntary landowner actions. We interviewed farm advisors to learn how they encourage landowners to create and manage wetlands and the institutional barriers they still encounter. Advisors highlighted trust and long-term relationships as key success factors and considering landowner motivations that often prioritize recreational and cultural ES. Advisors noted overly complex bureaucracy, breaks in funding, inadequate long-term support, and lack of holistic perspectives as barriers for wetland creation. These insights about successful advisor/landowner interactions for wetland creation can be applied when implementing other agri-environmental measures.

Transdisciplinary Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus projects intend to engage stakeholders from a broad base. European Union funded projects must adhere to General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) that govern the way in which personal data of stakeholders is gathered, stored, and used. In the H2020 project NEXOGENESIS, WEFE nexus interlinkages are assessed in five river basins, four in Europe and one in Southern Africa. This work is carried out in a participatory manner and stakeholder engagement plays a central role. Stakeholders were asked to actively consent to the collection, storage, and use of their information through a privacy policy consent form. Active engagement with stakeholders occurred in the first half of the project (2021-2023) through stakeholder workshops via different modalities in each of the five case studies, and targeted stakeholder interviews and focus group discussions. We show that the stakeholders that actively consent to the use of their information are not evenly distributed across all sectors but are generally from the water sector and have high interest and rather low power. Our study provides evidence that the need to sign a consent form reveals biases in the stakeholder landscape. Results also show that consent rates increased with active engagement situations and were relatively high through face-to-face interactions but were the highest in absolute terms through hybrid events. Using consent forms not only helps increase the transparency of how personal data of stakeholders is used, but also helps show the biases that are present in the active stakeholder base.

Integrated approaches for managing natural resources are said to meet increasing demand for water, energy, and food, while maintaining the integrity of ecosystems, and ensuring equitable access to resources. The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus has been proposed as a cross-sectoral approach to manage trade-offs and exploit synergies that arise among these sectors. Although not initially included as a component of the Nexus, the role of nature in sustaining the water, energy, and food sectors and in regulating their interrelationships is increasingly recognised by Nexus researchers and practitioners. To converge existing approaches that integrate nature into the WEF Nexus and suggest a common framework, we – an interdisciplinary group of natural resources management researchers and systems thinkers from the European research network NEXUSNET COST Action – followed a collaborative process of knowledge creation combining literature review, elicitation of expert opinion and collaborative writing. Our results reveal a multiplicity of concepts utilised in the literature to represent, partially or fully, “nature” in the Nexus, such as “environment”, “ecosystems”, “ecosystem services”, “social-ecological systems”, and “biodiversity”. Disparity was also found in the role attributed to nature, represented by three key paradigms: (1) ecosystems as the fourth component of an expanded Nexus, i.e., the WEF-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus; (2) ecosystems as a foundational layer to the Nexus; and (3) the WEF Nexus as a central component of social-ecological systems (SES). By creating a hybrid approach that brings together the benefits of the respective paradigms, we present a forward-looking WEFE Nexus conceptualisation. This paradigm expands the mutual interlinkages among water, energy and food to the entirety of SES, thus acknowledging the social-ecological processes that are affected by and affect the WEF Nexus. The results of this collaborative research effort intend to provide researchers and stakeholders with means to better understand and ultimately manage Nexus issues towards a transformative change.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are increasingly promoted as responses to interconnected climate, biodiversity, and societal challenges. This report explores what NbS are, clarifies where conceptual confusion arises, and outlines their benefits and limitations, focusing on decision-making, knowledge and justice. The themes in the report were shaped at a workshop held in May 2025 with a newly established NbS network.  

The NbS network, supported by UUniCORN catalyst funding, is investigating how the use of NbS might help mitigate conflicts related to biodiversity protection and natural resource use. Its vision is to develop new research collaborations within UU that contribute to healthy, resilient, and biodiverse landscapes while also meeting diverse societal needs. Insights from network members are featured throughout the report. 

There is a global call for proactive drought risk management, stressing the need to further our understanding of the systemic nature of drought risk. Proactive drought risk management requires an understanding of not only the drought hazard itself, but also the underlying vulnerabilities in sociohydrological systems. As a result, drought vulnerability assessments are increasingly being conducted across the globe. However, drought vulnerability is complex and shaped by the social, ecological, and hydroclimatic context. Thus, understanding how vulnerability is manifested depending on regional, sectoral, or societal differences is crucial. Therefore, here we present an assessment of the practical relevance and relative impact of various drought vulnerability factors for water-dependent sectors and societies in forested cold climates. The analysis was based on the results of an online survey conducted in Sweden, targeting stakeholders from seven water-dependent sectors, working in authorities, private and public enterprises, NGOs, and trade associations. Respondents were asked to rate a comprehensive list of vulnerability factors, connected to sectoral and societal vulnerability as well as governance, based on their perceived impact on drought risk in their sector as well as for society as a whole. Results showed that the relevance and impact of individual vulnerability factors differed across sectors, with the forestry sector especially standing out compared to other sectors. Furthermore, the results indicate regional differences in societal vulnerability factors. The substantial list of vulnerability factors found to be relevant by the respondents demonstrates the complex nature of drought risk, as well as the importance of using caution when selecting generic vulnerability factors for applied vulnerability assessments. Furthermore, the results provide a comprehensive guide to both sectoral and societal drought vulnerability in sociohydrological systems located in forested cold climates.

Low-carbon transitions are essential but contested, particularly regarding what constitutes a ‘just transition’. To grasp their political nature, adopting a spatial perspective becomes indispensable, as different actors hold different views on how to allocate burdens and benefits across scales. In this study, we examine how notions of ‘justice’ are expressed and manifested spatially, negotiated between conflicting parties, and undergo changes, delving into the conflict surrounding an electric vehicle (EV) factory near Berlin, Germany. To do so, we leverage the theoretical lens of ‘hydrosocial territories’. This framework helps to understand how beliefs about desirable societal development (‘imaginaries’) interlink with actors’ perceptions of just distribution of water-related benefits and burdens, as well as decision-making power across spatial scales. We identify one territory supporting the factory and two counter-territories challenging its legitimacy. Actors of one counter-territory question the net benefit for in situ communities due to water challenges, while the other casts doubt on the legitimacy of the capitalist systems as such and considers the EV technology and its supply chains exemplary of exploitative relations in the water sector. We derive three key insights for the conceptualisation of ‘justice’: Firstly, divergence in the underlying values of desired societal development and the spatial scales at which transitions are conceptualised can affect the possibilities for compromise. Secondly, justice, as viewed by actors negotiating transitions, requires continuous reassessment due to its fluid nature. Thirdly, localities where low-carbon transitions occur are perceived at multiple spatial scales simultaneously, adding complexity to how actors understand justice. Our research holds value for the study of low-carbon transitions, illuminating the complexity, spatiality, and fluidity of justice and offering a heuristic device to capture it.