Kristin Vala Ragnarsdottir

University of Iceland | HI · Faculty of Earth Sciences

The phrase ‘sunshine is the best disinfectant’ is commonly used to suggest that transparency can counter corruption and ensure accountability. In the policy world, several analytical tools have been developed to obtain information on what policy decision would bring about the biggest positive effect for the least amount of effort. There is a tenden...

The paper explores a wide view of why we are failing to change our societies towards sustainability using a systems dynamics approach.

This chapter gives a conceptual overview for viewing the world as interconnected systems. Systems have interconnected stock and flows, and change in one part of the system has nonlinear effects on the whole system due to causes and effects that can be mapped. The systems that are outlined are the Earth system, the economic system, the financial sys...

This chapter introduces the term transformation literacy as an urgently required skill for decision-makers and change agents. It suggests that transformation literacy is the knowledge and capacity of collectives of individual and institutional actors to steward sustainability transformations effectively together across institutions, societal sector...

The rationale for why visioning a regenerative world in the future is presented. Based on the visioning strategy of Donella Meadows, the future is envisioned from 2021 on. In addition to answering the questions of Meadows of how a regenerative world would look like, the importance of building a sustainable economy is outlined, an economy that regen...

The concept of ‘wellbeing economy’ (WE), that is, an economy that pursues human and ecological wellbeing instead of material growth, is gaining support amongst policymakers, business, and civil society. Over the past couple of years, several national governments have adopted the WE as their guiding framework to design development policies and asses...

The WORLD7 model is an integrated assessment model. It includes a biophysical global economic model, based on first principles of physics and thermodynamics for consistency. In the WORLD7 model, revenue and profits come from extraction of natural resources, input of human labour, mechanization, automation, the effect of innovation and the conversio...

The aim of this paper is to enhance understanding of factors that undermine sustainable management of renewable resources by identifying and analyzing the main drivers and dynamics involved, with a focus on the role of corruption perceptions and its implications. To shed light on the research question, we chose to perform a comparative study of thr...

The 10-Point Action Plan to catalyse a Circular Bioeconomy of Wellbeing is a call for collective and integrated action to global leaders, investors, companies, scientists, governments, non- governmental and intergovernmental organisations, funding agencies and society at large to put the world on a sustainable path.

Some countries have been more successful than others at dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. When we explore the different policy approaches adopted as well as the underlying socio-economic factors, we note an interesting set of correlations: countries led by women leaders have fared significantly better than those led by men on a wide range of dime...

In the last 50 years, the biosphere, upon which humanity depends, has been altered to an unparalleled degree. The current economic model relying on fossil resources and addicted to “growth at all costs” is putting at risk not only life on our planet, but also the world’s economy. The need to react to the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis is a unique o...

In this research, we attempt to shed light on the question of where corruption risks in the governance of renewable resources are located and how they have been addressed in European countries that have different levels of corruption. A comparative case study design was chosen, looking into the fisheries sector in Iceland and the forestry sector in...

Phosphorus (P) is an essential macronutrient in agriculture; however, lack of reporting makes its supply chain a black box. By using literature synthesis on the P challenge, we identify four areas where the reporting process is problematic: P reserves and resources; P losses along the supply chain; P externalities; and access to data. We find that...

The long-term supply sustainability of copper, zinc and lead was assessed. Copper will not run into physcal scarcity in the future, but increased demand and decreased resource quality will cause significant price increases. The copper price is suggested to increase significantly in the coming decades. A similar situation applies for zinc and lead w...

Topics: Economy Export Citation Toward a Sustainable Wellbeing Economy Volume 9 | Issue 2 | April 2018 By Robert Costanza, Elizabeth Caniglia, Lorenzo Fioramonti, Ida Kubiszewski, Henry Lewis, Hunter Lovins, Jacqueline McGlade, Lars Fogh Mortensen, Dirk Philipsen, Kate Pickett, Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir, Debra Roberts, Paul Sutton, Katherine Trebe...

The metal contents of ocean floor nodules, crusts and massive sulphides was estimated and an assessment of their commercial extractability were conducted. The metals considered were iron, manganese, copper, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum, platinum, gold and silver. We found that significant metal amounts are located mainly in 5 regions of the world’s o...

The WORLD6 model is a fully integrated dynamic world systems model. It includes a biophysical global economic model, based on first principles of physics and thermodynamics, forcing it to be fully consistent with the underlying mass- and energy balances. The WORLD6 model first creates value from extraction of natural resources, input of human labou...

Recycling Phosphorus (P) from urban wastewater can secure part of domestic agricultural P supply and contribute to a circular P supply chain. In this paper, we use literature review, stakeholder interviews and analysis, and systems dynamics for the capital cities of Stockholm and Budapest as case studies. We find that political support is a prerequ...

The extraction, supply, market price and recycling of the metals molybdenum and rhenium were modelled using an integrated system dynamics model. The resource estimates made here resulted in significantly larger estimates than earlier studies for molybdenum. Present molybdenum resources are about 75–80 million ton and about 7 million ton has been mi...

The exponentially developing Global Megatrends of human society can be explained and modelled from a systemic perspective. Results show simultaneous exponential growth for population, energy consumption, raw materials extraction, GDP, pollution and climate change. The authors participated in the development of the WORLD6 system dynamics model to ex...

The metal contents of ocean floor nodules, crusts and massive sulphides and an assessment of their commercial extractability was conducted with respect to the metals iron, manganese, copper, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum, platinum, gold and silver. We found that, according to the current literature, significant metal amounts are present and located in...

The extraction, supply, market price and recycling of the metals used for superalloys were modelled using the systems dynamics model WORLD6. Peak production per capita (Supply Security) and stock-in-use per capita (Utility of Use) as well as resource stock lifetime during self-supply (Conflict Resilience) have been looked at as key indicators. The...

We have built a system dynamics model, WORLD6, that takes into account population, energy extraction, production and need, aspects social behaviour, material and metals recycling and important links to the economy. The model is ground-truthed by comparing with actual supply per person from 1900 till 2015 and run until 2400. Primary scarcity metrics...

Integrated sustainability indicators for tourism (ISIT) address tourism as an element of both economic and socio-ecological systems and as actively integrated in multi-level policy-making and planning. This paper aims to review studies of ISIT in peer-reviewed journals with a focus on methodological approaches. By specifically examining ISIT, this...

The extraction, supply, market price and recycling of the metal wolfram (W) were modelled using a wolfram submodule developed for the WORLD6 system dynamics model. The resource estimates made for wolfram resulted in significantly larger estimates than earlier studies (URR = 28 million ton in 2015, where at least 24 million ton is in primary ore and...

https://www.crcpress.com/Geothermal-Wind-and-Solar-Energy-Applications-in-Agriculture-and-Aquaculture/Bundschuh-Piechocki-Chandrasekharam-Chen/p/book/9781138029705

In order to study the soil aggregate distributions and soil organic matter (SOM), we sampled top- and subsoils in four intensively farmed croplands (two organic (Org-OB and Org-LA), and two conventional (Con-OB and Con-LA)) on Haplic Chernozems located in Marchfeld in the east of Vienna (Austria). Soil structure and SOM quantity, quality and distri...

The global cobalt cycle in society was modelled using an integrated systems dynamics model, WORLD6, integrating several earlier system dynamics models developed by the authors. The COBALT sub-model was used to assess the long-term sufficiency of the available extractable cobalt and address the effect of different degrees of recycling on cobalt supp...

This chapter summarizes the methods, results, and conclusions of a 5-year research project (SoilTrEC: Soil Transformations in European Catchments) on experimentation, process modeling, and computational simulation of soil functions and soil threats across a network of European, Chinese, and United States Critical Zone Observatories (CZOs). The stud...

Many European northern periphery (NP) communities are likely to experience increased and complex environmental, social and economic impacts of tourism in the near future. Therefore, approaches that see tourism as included in complex socio-ecological systems are critical for identifying and assessing sustainability indicators in the NP specifically....

The long term development of world primary extraction, market supply, recycling and extractable amounts of the platinum group metals platinum, palladium and rhodium was assessed. The degree of sustainability was estimated using system dynamics modelling. Compiling estimates from different sources, and considering recent technological advances in de...

Sustainable management of soils is needed to accomplish many of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, but it can be problematic in practice as soils are complex and to manage them sustainably requires the co-operation of multiple stakeholders on various level of society. We present the outcome of a transdisciplinary approach towards in...

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a detailed dashboard of goals, targets and indicators. In this paper we investigate alternative methods to relate the SDGs to overall measures of sustainable wellbeing that can motivate and guide the process of global societal change. We describe what a Sustainable Wellbeing Index (SWI) that connect...

The reserves, production from mines, supply of aluminium to society and mass fluxes of aluminium in society was assessed using an integrated systems dynamics model (ALUMINIUM) in order to reconstruct the past and investigate potential future scenarios. The investigations for input data show that the mineable aluminium reserves are large, but finite...

We apply causal loop diagrams (CLD) to picture how complex societal scenarios can be understood in terms of interdependent drivers and mechanisms between actors from the public and private sectors respectively. And we show how un-sustainable scenarios can be understood in terms of insufficient balancing feed-back in the system. We apply the methodo...

Dark coloured rocks that attenuate photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) are generally thought to be poor substrates for endolithic colonisation. In this study we show that the internal space of the common dark coloured mica mineral, biotite, is a favourable microhabitat for the growth of filamentous cyanobacteria. Laboratory incubation experim...

The integrated model WORLD and Hubbert's model were used for assessment of future supply for different metals: iron, nickel, manganese, chromium, molybdenum, tantalum, niobium, rhenium, zirconium, tungsten, cobalt, copper, zinc, lead, aluminium and the technology metals derived from copper–zinc mining (tellurium, selenium, gallium, indium, antimony...

In near future it is essential for human society to switch its primary energy use from finite sources to renewable ones. Ethanol has been claimed to be a potential candidate to replace oil use to great extent. This study illustrates that ethanol production has the potential to rely on organic agriculture and thereby to reduce reliance on fossil fue...

The world is facing a number of serious problems of which population rise, climate change, soil degradation, water scarcity and food security are among the most important. Aquaponics, as a closed loop system consisting of hydroponics and aquaculture elements, could contribute to addressing these problems. However, there is a lack of quantitative re...

Quantity and quality of soil organic matter (SOM) affect physical, chemical, and biological soil properties, and are pivotal to productive and healthy grasslands. Thus, we analyzed the distribution of soil aggregates and assessed quality, quantity, and distribution of SOM in two unimproved and improved (two organic and two conventional) grasslands...

Intensive agricultural production can be an important driver for the loss of long-term soil quality. For this reason, the European Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) network adopted four pairs of agricultural CZO sites that differ in their management: conventional or organic. The CZO sites include two pairs of grassland farms in Iceland and two pairs...

This study compares the energy return on investment (EROI) of organic and conventional farms in Iceland. It examines which farming method returns the highest amount of edible energy to society relative to the input required. Twenty farms were studied: Two organic and 18 conventional. Real data were gathered directly from five farms (including both...

Basaltic weathering from volcanic islands plays a critical role in the climate feedback loop. Geochemical and climate models require information on the rate of secondary mineral formation. We provide direct evidence for precipitation of amorphous Si in organic rich and acidic Histic Andosols compared to preferential allophane formation in organic p...

When it was conceived, Gross Domestic Product (‘GDP’) was a useful signpost on the path to a better world. Increased economic activity meant jobs, income, and basic amenities to reduce worldwide social conflict and prevent a third world war. But now, economic activity has created a world very different from the one faced by global leaders at their...

Civilian and military communities alike must pursue innovative approaches to provide resilient, sustainable energy and water sources in the face of global challenges such as climate change, increasing population density, and ever more complex and vulnerable infrastructure systems. Equally compelling is the need for reliable energy supply to remote...

As the pressures from both anthropogenic and natural causes on environmental systems increase, it is no longer effective or efficient to deal with one issue at a time, since solving a singular problem often causes damaging impacts on other environmental compartments or in other places. We must consider the consequences of our actions on all parts o...

Intensive agricultural production can be an important driver for the loss of long-term soil quality. For this reason, the European Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) network adopted four pairs of agricultural CZO sites that differ in their management: conventional or organic. The CZO sites include two pairs of grassland farms in Iceland and two pairs...

The world supply and turnover of copper was modelled using simple empirical estimates and a COPPER systems dynamics model developed for this study. The model combines mining, trade markets, price mechanisms, population dynamics, use in society and waste as well as recycling, into a whole world system. The degree of sustainability and resource time...

The demographic drivers of increasing human population and wealth are creating tremendous environmental pres-sures from growing intensity of land use, resulting in soil and land degradation worldwide. Environmental services are provided through multiple soil functions that include biomass production, water storage and transmission, nutrient transfo...

Ultrasonic dispersion of soil aggregates in water-based solutions is commonly used in soil science, because it is possible to quantify the amount of energy applied to the solutions. However, currently available instrumentation does not provide precisely controlled low ultrasonic energy; thus, the study of weakly aggregated soils is still a challeng...

Gross domestic product is a misleading measure of national success. Countries should act now to embrace new metrics, urge Robert Costanza and colleagues.

abStract The weathering of rocks is a process important for the understanding of soil formation as well as a general understanding of the interaction between litho-and hydrosphere. Phyllosilicates in general are of special importance for the understanding of weathering processes due to their abundance in rocks and soils. A common phyllosilicate in...

The authors have collected data for the silver market, shedding light on market size, stocks in society and silver flows in society. The world supply from mining, depletion of the remaining reserves, reducing ore grades, market price and turnover of silver was simulated using the SILVER model developed for this study. The model combines mining, tra...

The health of river basins throughout the world is under pressure from economic activities and a changing climate. Water is necessary for life, agriculture and many industrial production processes. But water is also a receptor for our waste products. In Europe, diffuse pollution from agriculture and our industrial legacy, together with hydraulic en...

As the pressures from both anthropogenic and natural causes on environmental systems increase, it is no longer effective or efficient to deal with one issue at a time, since solving a singular problem often causes damaging impacts on other environmental compartments or in other places. We must consider the consequences of our actions on all parts o...

The health of river basins throughout the world is under pressure from economic activities and a changing climate. Water is necessary for life, agriculture and many industrial production processes. But water is also a receptor for our waste products. In Europe, diffuse pollution from agriculture and our industrial legacy, together with hydraulic en...

tThe authors have collected data for the silver market, shedding light on market size, stocks in society andsilver flows in society. The world supply from mining, depletion of the remaining reserves, reducing oregrades, market price and turnover of silver was simulated using the SILVER model developed for this study.The model combines mining, trade...

Soil is a complex natural resource that is considered non-renewable in policy frameworks, and it plays a key role in maintaining a variety of ecosystem services (ES) and life-sustaining material cycles within the Earth's Critical Zone (CZ). However, currently, the ability of soil to deliver these services is being drastically reduced in many locati...

Abstract This study focussed on understanding whether trace metals in the natural environment have a role to play in the development of prion diseases. The prion protein (PrP) is the key protein implicated in the development of scrapie, a sheep and goat specific transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. The N-terminal tail of the protein includes 5...

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pose a threat to the environment due to their high adsorption capacity to soil organic matter, stability and low reactivity, low water solubility, toxicity and ability to bioaccumulate. With Icelandic soils, research on contamination issues has been very limited and no data has been reported either on PCB degradatio...