While political environmentalism played an important role in social mobilization against communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe before 1989, throughout the 1990s and early 2000s ...conservationism appeared to be in decline across the region, and external pressure from European institutions and Western donors influenced environmental policy. What explains the effectiveness of protest since the environmental movement emerged in the 1980s? We trace the emergence and evolution of Polish political environmentalism, looking at three levels of the environmental movement's legitimacy: the level of practices, societal support, and discourse. Each phase identified between 1980s and 2017 saw shifts on different levels of legitimacy, and each ended with a spectacular environmental protest or a decision, bearing implications for the following phase. Since 2010, we see a deep polarization of Polish politics, limiting the effectiveness of environmental protest despite the movement's regained triple legitimacy in large parts of the society.
•Propensity score-matched cohort study of remdesivir in patients with COVID-19.•Remdesivir showed borderline significant mortality benefit in a multivariable model.•Remdesivir significantly reduced ...the new need for mechanical ventilation.•The study supports routine use of remdesivir in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
Georgia introduced remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19 in December 2020. We evaluated the real-world effect of remdesivir on mortality and the need for mechanical ventilation among inpatients with COVID-19.
The study included 346 remdesivir recipients and 346 controls not receiving remdesivir selected through propensity score matching based on age, gender, presence of any chronic comorbid condition, and oxygen saturation at admission. Factors associated with in-hospital mortality and the need for mechanical ventilation were assessed in a multivariable logistic regression model.
The groups were comparable by age, gender, comorbidities, and baseline oxygen saturation. Among 346 remdesivir recipients, 265 (76.6%) received a generic formulation of the drug. Eight (2.3%) patients died in the remdesivir group and 18 (5.2%) in the control group (P = 0.046). In the multivariable analysis, remdesivir was associated with non-statistically significant reduced odds of death (odds ratio: 0.39, 95% confidence interval: 0.14-1.04, P = 0.06). Significantly fewer patients in the remdesivir group required mechanical ventilation compared to controls: 2.9% vs 6.4% (P = 0.03). Statistically significant difference was maintained in multivariable analysis (odds ratio: 0.40, 95% confidence interval: 1.04-5.60, P = 0.04).
Borderline reduction in the odds of death and statistically significant decrease in the need for mechanical ventilation support use of remdesivir in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
While alternative food networks (AFNs) have become the leading conceptualisation of sustainable food systems, vibrant scholarship on food self‐provisioning (FSP) in Central and Eastern Europe has ...remained confined to the geopolitical region it investigates. This article brings these two bodies of thought closer together in two steps. First, we trace four framings of FSP deployed over the last three decades—coping strategy, cultural practice, hobby and source of good food and reading FSP as transformative practice—to demonstrate its progressive affinity with AFNs. Second, we follow the most recent framing in highlighting the material reality of local food production as a feature shared by both FSP and AFNs. From this perspective, FSP can be understood as a more radical variant of AFNs given its more substantial environmental and social impact (FSP is more widespread and socially inclusive and less dependent on market transactions). By uncovering the epistemological underpinnings of these different framings of FSP and exploring their implications for food practices on the ground, this article draws general lessons for scholarship aiming to advance food system transformation.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has resulted in the displacement of millions of Ukrainians, leading to socio-economic and political challenges for the host countries. The Refugee Response Plan, ...encompassing heavily affected EU Member States, has been the focus of this study, examining how the issue of refugee integration was addressed, with a specific emphasis on flaws and omissions in the approach. Various demographic and socioeconomic data and strategic national documents related to refugee integration were compared for this analysis. Employment was identified as a key tool for the integration of Ukrainian refugees. The findings revealed a lack of a common refugee integration policy among the surveyed countries despite similar past and current socioeconomic circumstances and security environments, including mixed migration. Ambiguities across these countries, including local population perceptions hindering Ukrainian refugee integration, were observed. Consequently, we assert the necessity for EU harmonized measures, emphasizing their long-term implementation to alleviate the economic burden of the war in Ukraine and provide predictability in the actions of individual governments.
The relationship between performance art and the camera - be it the photographic or video camera - in Central and Eastern Europe is a special one. Because of the manner in which performance art ...developed in the region, remaining mainly an alternative form of art, artists preserved their work visually for a range of reasons: as evidence of it having occurred, as a witness to the event, for a future audience that could someday appreciate it, or to be sent abroad as mail art - one of the few ways artists could participate in international exhibitions and networks if they were unable to travel abroad, which they often were. Unlike in Western Europe and North America, where performance attempted to eschew the grasp of commodification, in Central and Eastern Europe, artists did not want their performative work to remain ephemeral. This article will demonstrate how documentation played a very important role in insuring its longevity, and argue that rather than creating performances to avoid commodification, artists deliberately used the camera to preserve these ephemeral acts, either for distribution at the time, or as a record of the event. It will also show how artists developed innovative ways to integrate this essential tool, the camera, into their actions.
•New index of social inequality using data from Central and Eastern Europe.•Social inequality measures disparities in actual and in potential future outcomes.•Social inequality accounts for ...disparities in perceived access to basic services.•Cross-country variation of social and income inequality differs significantly.•Social inequality better correlates with macro outcomes than income inequality.
As distinct from income or wealth inequality, ‘social inequality’ is currently poorly understood and, at best, unevenly measured. We conceptualize social inequality as the relative position of individuals along a number of dimensions that measure achieved outcomes and, innovatively, expectations about future outcomes. Using data from 12 Central and Eastern European countries, we find that cross-national patterns of social inequality differ significantly from patterns derived from income inequality measures. Moreover, our measure of social inequality is much better correlated than income inequality with other country differences such as higher levels of economic performance and human development, and stronger political institutions.
Better insights into spatio-temporal climate signals are needed to understand more clearly the applicability to palaeoclimatic analysis and dendrochronological dating of the long tree-ring oak ...chronologies currently being compiled in Eastern Europe. This study investigates the climate sensitivity of two recent oak tree-ring width (TRW) chronologies from Transcarpathian and Ciscarpathian Ukraine and their coherence with 35 oak chronologies from Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Hungary. The new Transcarpathian chronology consists of 247 TRW series of living trees from 13 sites covering the period 1836–2020, while the new Ciscarpathian chronology consists of 215 TRW series from 13 sites and spans the period 1775–2020. Despite the strong similarity between these two chronologies, their responses to climate differ significantly. Growing-season precipitation and particularly drought (three-month SPEI index) were found to be the primary drivers of oak growth on the border between the Carpathians and the northeastern Pannonian Basin. Spatial correlations of the Transcarpathian chronology show particularly high explained variability in the April-August SPEI index, roughly between 18.5–28.5°E and 45–52°N. In the Ciscarpathian, June precipitation primarily influenced oak radial growth but the spatial correlation was quite low. While the Transcarpathian TRW chronology was strongly correlated with eastern Slovakian and northwestern Romanian chronologies, the Ciscarpathian chronology revealed very low correlations with surrounding chronologies. This study indicates the great dendroarchaeological and palaeoclimatic potential of the Transcarpathian chronology and points to the need to analyse additional living trees from the Ciscarpathian region to understand the spatial variability of oak growth and its climate signal better.
•Climate sensitivity of oak TRW chronologies divided by the Carpathian Arc differs.•Transcarpathian chronology strongly reflects summer hydroclimate conditions.•Transcarpathian chronology correlates well with Slovakian and Romanian chronologies.•Ciscarpathian chronology shows very low correlations and needs further research.
Important insight into the Central and Eastern European food industry, beyond traditional food safety (FS) management and reflects on its food safety climate or the human route of its food safety ...culture is provided. Novel FS climate self-assessment tool was developed and validated by 65 FS experts from governmental agencies, third party certification bodies, food sector associations, universities and food industry. Three original FS climate components: FS knowledge, business priorities and FS legislation, were introduced and their nine components were assessed in nine Central and Eastern European countries involving 470 food companies. FS knowledge was better assessed in big and medium sized than in small companies. Knowledge component was equally assessed as good, irrespective of the FS risk profile of the food company surveyed while certified FS management system was charted by higher FS knowledge scores within a same food company. Business priorities in Central and Eastern European food organizations were related to hygiene and food safety and were always put before profit regardless of the company size. Hygiene and food safety were seen equality as a critical business success factor irrespective of the associated level of riskiness. FS climate legislation component in all food organizations surveyed was assessed affirmatively. Central and Eastern European food companies seemed to avoid problems in cooperation and trust between food safety leaders and other employees, since they have perceived FS climate highly and similarly. EU operating food companies had comparable overall FS climate to non-EU companies mostly because they have equally perceived their business priorities and appropriateness of associated FS legislation. The only exception was the FS knowledge that was better assessed in EU than non-EU food enterprises.
•Novel food safety climate self-assessment tool developed.•New food safety climate components validated and assessed.•Knowledge, business priorities and legislation were assessed as good.•Better food safety climate in food safety management certified companies.•No effect of the company size on food safety climate.
This paper explores the role that agricultural subsidies have assumed in the lives and decisions of farmers in Hungary. It provides insights into farmer subjectivities within a rapidly transforming ...rural political economy where individuals are highly dependent on government transfers. Through ethnography, subsidies are shown to rework traditional notions of farm work and value, with consequences for labour and land use strategies. Subsidies are more than economic tools as the Hungarian state manipulates, rewards and disciplines rural actors. In consequence, new farmer subjectivities and habits comprise traits and labours that are synonymous with 'new' farmers who are frequently non-local and mobile.
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