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Abstract:At the front contact of thin film silicon solar cells, the junction between the p-doped window layer and the n-type transparent electrode results in a barrier that must be surmounted by the charge carriers. The barrier height is governed by the work function difference of these two materials. For different compositions of the well known In 2 O 3 -SnO 2 (ITO) system, we find that higher oxygen partial pressure during sputter deposition increases the work function of the deposited films. Over the same range of oxygen partial pressures, ITO electrodes with low tin content applied to n-i-p type thin film silicon solar yield a gain in Voc by up to 40 mV.

Due to its purchasing power, the public food service sector is viewed as a potential transformative driver towards sustainable food systems. Organic meal planning and regional procurement may be a vital implementation strategy towards Planetary Health Diets in the communal catering arena. Capable of unleashing desirable synergies within local foodsheds, this transition pathway can potentially benefit all stages of the value chain, while also positively influencing consumer dietary behavior. Transformation, however, poses complex challenges to caterers, as it demands a shift in mindset regarding the philosophy, organization, and management of cafeteria systems as well as the need for affordable and aggregated supplies of source-identified local organic foods. This action research case study engaged the public caterer of a German University, undergraduate students, and additional stakeholders in a Living Lab to develop a weekly farm-to-table cafeteria menu, including its actual preparation, based on a conceptual sustainability standard. Hence, through an iterative process, involving two feedback cycles, an ambitious set of nutritional and procurement criteria were devised, inspired by the external input from exemplary practitioners in the field of green cuisine and procurement. The resulting meal plan was then subjected to an evaluation vis-á-vis its compliance with (1) dietary recommendations, (2) seasonality, (3) organic certification, (4) a defined foodshed boundary, (5) budget neutrality, and (6) life cycle assessment.

A broad understanding of food systems includes a complex web of activities, outcomes and drivers, encompassing not only the food and agriculture sectors, but also the social norms and cultures in which those activities are embedded. The organic food and farming movement has lately been portrayed as a food system of its own right, since it contains all necessary sub-systems, consisting of food environments, distribution networks, processing, as well as production and supply, all of which are bounded by an organic guarantee system. The underlying hypothesis of this investigation is that drivers in the organic food system operate on a paradigm level that is associated with the codified principles of ecology, health, fairness and care. Personality science suggests that the choice to act in pro-environmental ways is driven by an internalized sense of obligation or personal norms, which justifies our pursuit of seeking key drivers of food systems in the mindset of the actor. Through integrated findings from actor-centered mixed methods grounded theory research involving eleven case territories, this study identified a pattern of global mindset attributes that intuitively drive organic food system actors toward holistic human and sustainable development.

Interacting driving forces in food systems, resulting in cumulative driver effects and synergies, induce non-linear processes in multiple directions. This paper critically reviews the discourse on driving forces in food systems and argues that mindset is the primary predictor for food system outcomes. In the epoch of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the Anthropocene, mindset matters more than ever. Transformative narratives are beginning to transcend the dominant social paradigm, which is still driving the food system's overall trajectory. The psychosocial portrayal of the systemic mindset found in organic food systems presented in this paper “flips the script” and hypothesizes that worldview and paradigm have the most causal linkages with unsustainable driver synergies and reversely the biggest leverage on the mitigation thereof. Borrowing from ecological economics discourses, the paper sharpens the driver definition by applying the DPSIR analytical tool as a modified diagnostic framework and modeling approach for food systems. This research sheds new light on the nature of drivers of change, which are often portrayed as almighty and inevitable trends shaping food systems. Instead, it is proposed that drivers emerge from the actors' mindset, affecting food system behavior in a non-linear way. Mindset drives reinforcing feedback loops, resulting in vicious and virtuous cycles. These driver motives manifest in subsystems and continue to drive their interaction across food system elements. Mindset acts as an encapsulated input of food systems, all the while responding to feedback and releasing new drivers. A transformation framework along leverage points of the food system is presented that features the concept of SDG drivers.