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Writer: Alexander Zahl-Thanem

The link between class origin and educational attainment have been extensively studied in numerous countries. Additionally, a growing body of research shows that place is essential for understanding educational inequalities. Rural youth have been identified as a group commonly underrepresented in higher education in several countries. However, evidence on how class origin and youths’ place of residence are intertwined in higher education participation is scarce. Based on population-wide administrative data of the Norwegian 1996-1998 birth cohorts, this chapter analyses the relationship between youths’ class origin and higher education participation along an urban-rural axis. The results confirm previous research showing that social class, gender, and place are all contributing factors affecting youths’ higher education participation. Further, the main results can be summarized as follows: (i) the relationship between class origin and higher education participation is somewhat stable along the urban-rural axis, (ii) gender inequality in higher education participation is more prominent in rural versus urban areas, disfavoring rural boys, and (iii) boys growing up in rural areas have a considerably lower probability of participating in higher education compared to their urban counterparts, even when comparing youth with the same class background. The findings suggest that place should be considered a significant factor that could affect youths’ educational careers – alongside and in combination with other well-known factors, such as class and gender.
I Mariann Villa, Erik T. Valestrand og Johan Fredrik Rye (red.) Migrasjon og mobilitet - handlinger, mønstre og forståelser i norsk sammenheng.


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Writers: Alexander Zahl-Thanem og Anders M. Melås

Trender i norsk landbruk er en nasjonal spørreundersøkelse blant gårdbrukere i Norge. Den gjennomføres av Ruralis – Institutt for rural- og regionalforskning hvert andre år. I denne rapporten presenterer vi de første resultatene fra spørreundersøkelsen Trender i norsk landbruk 2022, der 1070 bønder deltok. Undersøkelsen ble gjennomført i tidsrommet februar til april, noe som innebærer tidsrommet rundt og i etterkant av Russlands invasjon av Ukraina, men før jordbruksoppgjøret i mai. Høye priser på gjødsel, kraftfôr, fossilt drivstoff og andre driftsmidler, samt økte strømpriser, er forhold som gir et viktig bakteppe for resultatene i denne rapporten. Vi ser i rapporten nærmere på følgende fire temaer: 1) økonomi, 2) framtidsutsikter, 3) bondens helse og livskvalitet og 4) klima og klimagassreduserende tiltak.


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Writers: Alexander Zahl-Thanem and Egil Petter Stræte

Denne rapporten er skrevet på oppdrag for Møre og Romsdal fylkeskommune, og baserer seg på data fra spørreundersøkelsen «Trender i norsk landbruk» og et ekstrautvalg bestående av rundt 600 bønder fra Møre og Romsdal som deltok i undersøkelsen våren 2022. Rapporten inkluderer også data fra samme spørreundersøkelse gjennomført i Møre og Romsdal i 2018, samt nasjonale tall. Rapporten konsentrerer seg om følgende overordnede tema: Bonden og gårdsbruket, økonomi og investeringer, rekruttering og framtidsutsikter, tilleggsnæringer, klimaendringer og klimagassreduserende tiltak, samt bondens helse og sosiale liv.


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Writers: Alexander Zahl-Thanem, Ellen Ersfjord, Gudveig Gjøsund, Reidun Heggem, Line Oldervoll, Tanja Plasil and Anne Margrethe Brigham
Denne sluttrapporten er en oppsummering av funn, konklusjoner og anbefalinger fra forskningsprosjektet “Kommunetilpasset forebygging og behandling av overvekt og fedme blant bygdebarn (KOMPASS)”. Prosjektet ble gjennomført i perioden 2018 til 2021, noe som inkluderer ett års forlengelse på grunn av koronapandemien. Hovedmålet med dette prosjektet har vært å frembringe kunnskap rundt betydningen av lokal kultur og fysisk bosted når det gjelder overvekt og fedme hos barn på bygda. Dette har blitt belyst ved å ta utgangspunkt i både barn og foreldres perspektiver, i tillegg til å ta utgangspunkt i problematikken sett fra ulike aktører som jobber med helsefremmende arbeid i rurale områder.


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Many agricultural researchers are now turning away from the traditional postal surveys to email surveys of farmers – an option that is increasingly viable as digitalisation continues to permeate rural areas. However, email surveys often result in considerably lower response rates. This raises questions about the potential of email surveys to experience non-response bias, where the survey methodology excludes particular sectors of the general population and thus results in responses that do not represent the wider population. In this paper we address the issue of whether agricultural researchers should move from postal surveys to email surveys by comparing the results of two applications of the Norwegian national Trends survey – one to 3000 farmers via email and one to 3000 farmers via standard mail. The postal survey achieved a response rate of 41.1% – almost double that of the email survey at 21.4%. However, analysis of the returns suggested this had not led to greater non-response bias in the email survey. While respondents to the email survey were younger, better educated and more likely to be part-time farmers, comparing the entire survey revealed very few significant differences between the two samples. Where the difference was significant (in particular, attitudes towards technology), the scalar difference was so small that using different survey methods would not have led to different conclusions. Although there was no evidence that the low response rate compromised the email survey, we conclude that postal surveys may still be preferable because (a) there is less scope for non-response bias, and (b) having to double the gross survey size to achieve a sufficient sample size may create additional survey fatigue in the long term. We discuss the applicability of the findings to farm surveys in other countries. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.09.029


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“Everyone knows everyone” is a recurring characteristic in descriptions of rural communities, one that has been interpreted as both a benefit and a drawback in research on such localities. In response to that discrepancy, this paper investigates the overall statistical effect of social transparency on residents’ desire to continue living in their rural communities. As revealed by analyses of survey data representing a national sample of Norway’s rural population in 2016, social transparency did significantly increase respondents’ desire to maintain residency in their rural communities. In providing and explaining such results, the paper contributes to current understandings of social conditions that influence rural (non-)migration and rural resilience. https://doi.org/10.2478/euco-2021-0032


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Agricultural activities and associated land use change are a major contributor to global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making climate change mitigation in the agricultural sector all the more critical. However, farmers' willingness to adopt GHG abatement depends, to a large extent, on the financial implications of new practices. Climate change mitigation is unlikely to be adopted without external (financial, socio-cultural, or other) incentives. The research presented in this paper considers farmers' preferences for financing climate change mitigation practices through public crowdfunding. As a first study of its kind, we investigate farmers' attitudes towards climate change mitigation, knowledge of crowdfunding as a fundraising method, and interest in using public crowdfunding campaigns to finance on-farm mitigation practices. Based on a choice experiment survey with 443 Norwegian farmers, we show that knowledge about crowdfunding as an alternative finance method is generally low. Respondents who are interested in using crowdfunding prefer donation- or reward-based crowdfunding models that cover the full cost of mitigation over a loan-based model or campaigns that only fund a proportion of the costs. A financially secure farming business, previous exposure to crowdfunding, and a strong sense of responsibility to abate climate change are associated with higher farmers’ interest in using crowdfunding. We find that farmers in Norway are hesitant to be publicly presented as recipients of crowdfunding, which suggests that crowdfunding is best set up as joint campaigns (e.g. with other farmers) that are run by intermediary organisations (rather than by individual farmers). Our findings highlight that, while opportunities to use crowdfunding as a fundraising method for agricultural climate change may be limited, properly designed campaigns can provide an effective instrument to engage certain groups of farmers in on-farm climate change mitigation.


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Conclusions: Actors and ‘experts’ working with overweight and obesity and national guidelines need to understand rural contexts and customs and address problems of the countryside on rural, not exclusively urban, premises. Different contexts imply different needs when it comes to reducing the inequalities between rural and urban areas regarding overweight and obesity.


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The reappearance of large carnivores in Europe can be viewed as a conservation success, however, the increase in carnivore numbers has also resulted in an increase in livestock predation. While multiple studies have been conducted into farmers’ attitudes to large carnivores, the consequence of predation on farmers’ mental health and wellbeing is under-researched. Using a mixed-method approach, this study examines the potential regional impact of the presence of wolves on farmers’ psychological distress in Norway. Data from the nationally representative Trends in Norwegian Agriculture Survey was analysed using a multiple regression analysis. Psychological distress was measured using a 5 item Hopkins Symptom Checklist. Comparison with register data of livestock losses showed that sheep farmers living in regions where sheep have been killed by wolves within the last 5 years have higher psychological distress scores than (a) sheep farmers elsewhere in Norway, and (b) farmers in the same region without sheep. What makes our study different from others is that the Trends survey was not targeted at the wolf issue directly, meaning that accusations of farmer bias against wolves when responding to surveys cannot explain our results. We support this conclusion by exploring (and, ultimately, dismissing) alternative explanations and through 20 qualitative interviews with sheep farmers in a predation region (regional county of Hedmark) to investigate how carnivore presence is experienced. Stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and reduced quality of life were reported as key consequences of the carnivore pressure. The findings suggest that farmers do not need to experience animal deaths and injuries personally to experience the distress of predation. Living nearby and assisting farmer colleagues make this a shared condition. Journal of Rural Studies 78:1-11


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Successful integration of immigrants is vital for rural areas facing population decline and labour shortage. Yet little is known about the role civil society plays in this process and about the factors that promote or hamper acceptance of immigrants by the local population. By using data from a national survey of the Norwegian population, this article examines rural‐urban differences in attitudes toward immigrants and immigration, and what characteristics rural and urban residents consider important for immigrants who may settle in their locality. The results indicate that people living in rural areas express more negative attitudes toward immigrants and immigration compared to people living in urban areas. Additionally, rural residents place greater importance than their urban counterparts do on immigrants’ participating in local events, speaking the native language, and being willing to adapt to Norwegian values. Sociologia Ruralis, Volume 59, Issue 4


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This report presents a main deliverable of work package 3 in the Coolcrowd project, an international research project funded by the Research Council of Norway. The aim of the project is to develop a crowdfunding program that would enable travelers to offset their GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions locally by supporting Norwegian farmers who want to adopt more climate friendly practices. The main objective of WP3 is to identify farmers’ interest in participating in a locally crowdfunded climate program. The report analyzes the findings of a national survey investigating farmers’ interest in climate change, particularly mitigation and a local crowdfunding program.


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Jordstykker som ligger spredt (fragmentert) fører til mye transport for bøndene, samt økte kostnader og klimagassutslipp. Denne studien viser at om lag fire av ti bønder i Norge opplever spredt arealgrunnlag som et problem. Dess lengre avstander til arealene og dess flere brukere en leier areal av, dess større oppleves problemet. Regionalt oppleves problemet som mest markant blant bøndene i Nord-Norge. Det er også her interessen for å delta i lokale prosjekt er størst. Men også et betydelig antall bønder i Trøndelag, Vestlandet og andre bygder på Østlandet, Agder og Rogaland opplever arealoppstykking som et problem. Omtrent samme antall bønder kan tenke seg å delta i et lokalt prosjekt for å redusere arealspredningen. Også her er interessen størst blant de med mange leiekontrakter og store avstander.


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Trender i norsk landbruk er en postal spørreundersøkelse blant norske gårdbrukere som gjennomføres av Ruralis – Institutt for rural- og regionalforskning. Undersøkelsen er blitt gjennomført hvert andre år siden 2002, som dermed gjør at årets undersøkelse er den niende i rekken. Målet er å få etablert en kvantitativ tidsserie som gir informasjon om utviklingen innen landbruket over tid. I tillegg til strukturelle sider ved landbruket, dekker spørreundersøkelsen også sosiokulturelle tema som ikke kommer frem i den registerbaserte statistikken. Rapporten består av fire hoveddeler: 1) Undersøkelsens formål og profil, 2) gjennomføring av undersøkelsen og metode, 3) resultater og hovedtrender fra undersøkelsen, og 4) ukommenterte frekvenstabeller med oversikt over hvordan deltakerne i undersøkelsen fordeler seg på de ulike svarkategoriene for hvert spørsmål.


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Rapporten viser resultater fra BIOSMART sin spørreskjemaundersøkelse til virksomheter med tilknytning til bioøkonomien. Undersøkelsen kartla virksomhetenes produksjon og bruk av eller annen tilknytning til biologiske ressurser, planer for innovasjon og oppfatninger om rolle i fremtidens bioøkonomi. Analyser av undersøkelsens svar danner grunnlag for utvikling av sektorvise scenarier for bioøkonomien. I rapporten inngår også en presentasjon av BIOSMART-prosjektets perspektiv på endring.


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Basert på en spørreundersøkelse blant lokalbefolkningen i kommunene rundt Dovrefjell og Sunndalsfjella (n=815), finner vi at lokalbefolkningen verdsetter fjellområdet høyt. Dovrefjell og Sunndalsfjella byr på friluftsliv og naturopplevelser, samtidig som det fremstår som et aktuelt samtaletema i hverdagen. Det er med andre ord tydelig at fjellområdet bidrar til å berike lokalsamfunnene. Villreinen verdsettes svært høyt, og mange ser også ut til å akseptere å måtte tilpasse seg villreinen med tanke på vern og tilrettelegging. I forbindelse med forvaltningen har lokalbefolkningen høyest tillit til lokale fjellstyrer, og tendensen er at en lokal forvaltning av fjellområdet fremstår som viktig. Dette betyr ikke nødvendigvis at de mener at sentrale myndigheter ikke skal ha en rolle i forvaltningen.