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This open access book examines whether a distinctly Nordic procedural or court culture exists and what the hallmarks of that culture are. Do Nordic courts and court proceedings share a distinct set of ideas and values that in combination constitute the core of a regional legal culture? How do Europeanisation, privatisation, diversification and digitisation influence courts and court proceedings in the Nordic countries? The book traces the genesis and formation of Nordic courts and justice systems to provide a richer comprehension of contemporary Nordic legal culture, and an understanding of the relationship between legal cultural stability and change. In answering these questions, the book provides models for conceptualising procedural culture. Nordic procedural culture has partly developed organically and is partly also the product of deliberate efforts to maintain a certain level of alignment between the Nordic countries. Studying Nordic cooperation enables us to gain a deeper understanding of current regional, European and global harmonisation processes within procedural law. The influx of supranational European law, increased use of alternative dispute resolution and growth in regulation density that produces a conflict between specialisation and coherence, have tangible impact on the role of courts in a democratic society, the form of court proceedings and court structures. This book examines whether and why some trends exert more tangible, or perhaps simply more perceptible, influence on procedural culture than others.

Chapter 1. Introduction to Nordic Courts and Court Culture -- Part I: The Historical, Cultural and Linguistic Roots of the Nordic Court Culture -- Chapter 2. A sketch of the Development of Nordic Court Procedure and Court Culture, and Assessment of the Level of "Nordic-ness" Over Time and Reasons for Variation -- Chapter 3. Sources of Inspiration of Nordic Procedural Law -- Chapter 4. Courts, Law, Language and Culture -- Part II: Identifying Elements of a Nordic Court Culture -- Chapter 5. The Legal Cultural Model as a Tool for Analysis and Comparison -- Chapter 6. Culture, Society and Mentality in Nordic Courts -- Chapter 7. Nordic Courts in a European Perspective. A Comparative Perspective on Nordic Court Procedure in an Age of Convergence, Approximation and Harmonization -- Part III: Global Trends and Their Impact on Nordic Court Procedure -- Chapter 8. Globalization, Privatization, Diversification – A Farewell to Classic Court Procedure? -- Chapter 9. The Narrowing Space for National Courts – Fact or Fiction? -- Chapter 10. Not So National? – Trends in Criminal Procedure -- Part IV: Europeanisation, Globalization of Court Procedure -- Chapter 11. Dialogue Between Courts -- Chapter 12. The Changing Role of Nordic Courts -- Chapter 13. European Criminal Procedure and Nordic Courts -- Chapter 14. Fragmentation, Privatization, … of Court Procedure -- Chapter 15. Does Membership in the EU Matter in a Multi-speed Europe? -- Chapter 16. Iceland – Court Culture on the Outskirts of Europe -- Part V: The Changing Role of Courts – Diversification of Procedure, Specialization of Courts -- Chapter 17. Mediation: A Change in Court Culture? -- Chapter 18. Plea Bargaining: Criminal Justice as Communication -- Chapter 19. Small Claims in a Nordic Context -- Chapter 20. Online Dispute Resolution and the Role of Courts -- Part VI: Nordic Courts and Cooperation -- Chapter 21. Nordic Cooperation - Past, Present and Future -- Chapter 22. Is there a Nordic Court Culture? -- Part VII: The End or a New Beginning for Nordic Court Culture -- Chapter 23. Conclusions – Mapping the Future of Nordic Court Culture.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between open innovation and the use of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The authors consider patents, industrial designs (i.e. design patents in the USA), trademarks, and copyrights.Design/methodology/approachThe relationships between open innovation, IPRs, and profitability are tested with random-effects panel regressions on data from the Spanish Community Innovation Survey for 2,873 firms spanning the years 2008-2013.FindingsA key result is that SMEs do not benefit from open innovation or from patenting in the same way as larger firms. Furthermore, the results show that SMEs profit in different ways from IPR, depending on their size and the corresponding IPR.Research limitations/implicationsThe different impact of IPRs on the efficiency of open innovation in firms of varying sizes highlights the importance of further investigation into IP strategies and into open innovation in SMEs.Practical implicationsIndustrial designs are currently the most efficient IPR for SMEs to protect their intellectual property in open innovation collaborations. Depending on the company size, the use of different IPRs is recommended. Moreover, firms should seek to increase the efficiency of open innovation and the use of IPRs.Social implicationsThe high impact of SMEs on employment highlights the importance of fomenting efficient innovation processes in such firms.Originality/valueThis paper opens the black box of IPR in relation to open innovation in SMEs, and draws distinctive conclusions with regards to patents, industrial designs, trademarks, and copyrights.

Tiedotteita - Research Notes 2426 ; The report presents an outlook for alternative motor fuels and new vehicles. The time period covered extends up to 2030. The International Energy Agency and the U.S. Energy Information Administration predict that the world energy demand will increase by over 50% from now to 2030, if policies remain unchanged. Most of the growth in demand for energy in general, as well as for transport fuels, will take place in non-OECD countries. Gasoline and diesel are projected to remain the dominant automotive fuels until 2030. Vehicle technology and high quality fuels will eventually solve the problem of harmful exhaust emissions. However, the problem with CO2 still remains, and much attention will be given to increase efficiency. Hybrid technology is one option to reduce fuel consumption. Diesel engines are fuel efficient, but have high emissions compared with advanced gasoline engines. New combustion systems combining the best qualities of gasoline and diesel engines promise low emissions as well as high efficiency. The scenarios for alternative fuels vary a lot. By 2030, alternative fuels could represent a 10-30% share of transport fuels, depending on policies. Ambitious goals for biofuels in transport have been set. As advanced biofuels are still in their infancy, it seems probable that traditional biofuels will also be used in 2030. Ethanol is the fastest growing biofuel. Currently the sustainability of biofuels is discussed extensively. Synthetic fuels promise excellent end-use properties, reduced emissions, and if produced from biomass, also reduced CO2 emissions. The report presents an analysis of technology options to meet the requirements for energy security, reduced CO2 emissions, reduced local emissions as well as sustainability in general in the long run. In the short term, energy savings will be the main measure for CO2 reductions in transport, fuel switches will have a secondary role.

The psychosocial care & protection of children affected by armed conflict & displacement are extremely important components of humanitarian action.

"Thirty years ago, the adoption of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (crc) reaffirmed children as rights- holders and the existence of children's rights as a particular set of human rights. The crc represents a comprehensive child law perspective and can, as such, serve as a model for countries aspiring towards a genuine child- rights- approach in their national constitutional law. However, the crc does not entail an obligation to provide constitutional protection of children's rights. It mandates only appropriate legislative and administrative protection supplemented by other measures implementing the rights enshrined in it"

Previous studies of citizenship preparation in upper secondary school, including studies on vocational programmes, have primarily focused on general subjects. Potential and actual roles of vocational subjects in this context have received little attention, so we have little knowledge of what is likely a significant part of the citizenship preparation that occurs in vocational programmes. Drawing on the work of Basil Bernstein and ethnographic data, this study presents an analysis of socialisation processes in vocational elements of three vocational programmes in Swedish upper secondary school. The analysis addresses the formation of pedagogic codes in various vocational programmes and subjects, and how these codes condition students' practice of citizenship at individual, social and political levels. The results show how different pedagogic codes have different implications for the students' practice of citizenship, and thus raise questions about factors and processes that may either constrain or strengthen, this aspect in vocational subject classes.