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This chapter provides a comprehensive presentation and discussion of special education in Sweden. The presentation and discussion are tied deeply to the country’s general education system which incorporates social and political aspects as well as beliefs in equity for all.

The municipalities in Sweden have a large degree of independence as such special education can be organized in different ways. Yet, within each municipality’s educational structure is the common theme that students are different therefore teaching cannot be the same for everyone. The following chapter sections provide the reader with a better understanding of Sweden’s general special education system today: legislative acts that ensure equal access to education; the special education context; the history of special education and service in Sweden; the expansion of special education starting in the 1960s and early 1970s; current prevalence data; a clarification of differentiation, inclusion and categorization; teacher preparation advances; problems in schools and student’s difficulties; a description of inclusive education; and current challenges to inclusive education.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the horizontal expansion of Burayu Town between 1990 and 2020. The study typically acts as a baseline for integrated spatial planning in small- and medium-sized towns, which will help to plan sustainable utilization of land.

Landsat5-TM, Landsat7 ETM+, Landsat5 TM and Landsat8 OLI were used in the study, along with other auxiliary data. The LULC map classifications were generated using the Random Forest Package from the Comprehensive R Archive Network. Post-classification, spatial metrics, and per capita land consumption rate were used to understand the manner and rate of expansion of Burayu Town. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were also used to validate land use classes through triangulation.

The study found that the built-up area was the most dynamic LULC category (85.1%) as it increased by over 4,000 ha between 1990 and 2020. Furthermore, population increase did not result in density increase as per capita land consumption increased from 0.024 to 0.040 during the same period.

As a result of financial limitations, there were no high-resolution satellite images available, making it challenging to pinpoint the truth as it is on the ground. Including senior citizens in the study region allowed this study to overcome these restrictions and detect every type of land use and cover.

Data on urban growth are useful for planning land uses, estimating growth rates and advising the government on how best to use land. This can be achieved by monitoring and reviewing development plans using satellite imaging data and GIS tools.

The use of Random Forest for image classification and the employment of local knowledge to validate the accuracy of land cover classification is a novel approach to properly customize remote sensing applications.

This paper aimed to investigate the determinants of loans and advances from commercial banks in the case of Ethiopian private commercial banks.

The study randomly selected seven commercial banks to represent the population stratified on their asset, deposit and paid-up capital amounts. The study utilized an unbalanced panel data model as each bank started operation at a different period of time and considered the period 1995–2016 for secondary details.

The findings showed that the deposit size, credit risk, portfolio investment, average lending rate, real gross domestic product (GDP) and inflation rate had significant and optimistic effects on the lending and advancement of private commercial banks. On the contrary, liquidity ratio had significant and negative effects on private commercial bank loans and advances. Finally, the study forwarded a feasible recommendation for concerned organs to focus on deposit size, credit risk, portfolio investment, average lending rate, real GDP, inflation rate and liquidity ratio. The results of this study will help banking industry policymakers and planners understand how to minimize inflation and unemployment by improving development and sustainable economic growth.

The findings of this study can also affect the general attitudes of a society by increasing knowledge and improve the quality of life for the general public.

Smallholder farmers have always been profoundly the first to be impacted by climate change, and therefore, farmers understanding of climate change and accessibility to alternative adaptation strategies are crucial for reducing the effect of climate change. The purpose of this study is to assess the perception of farmers to climate change, adaptation strategies and determinants of adaptation choice in central Ethiopia.

The study used data from randomly selected 240 farm households. Descriptive statistics were used to describe farmers’ perceptions of climate change and adaptation strategies. Also, a multivariate probit model was used to identify the major factors affecting farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies to climate change in central Ethiopia.

Smallholder farmers perceive climate change in the past two decades in response; the majority (91.47%) of farmers used adaptation options. Improved crop varieties and input intensity, crop diversification, planting date adjustment, soil and water conservation activities and changing of the crop type were used as adaptation options in the study area. A few of these strategies were significantly confirmed a complementary and supplementary relationship. The study identified sex, family size, agroecology, climate information, crop-fail history and formal extension service as significant determinants for farmers’ adaptation choices as these variables significantly affected more than two farmers’ adaptation strategies simultaneously.

Farmers’ choice of adaptation was highly constrained by institutional factors and all these identified factors can be possibly addressed through a better institutional service provision system. It is, therefore, recommended that local administrators should explore the institutional service provision system for a better farm-level adaptation while considering demographic characteristics as well.

This study identified factors affecting farmers’ several adaptation strategies at a time and provides information for the policymaker to make cost-effective interventions for better farm-level adaptation practices.

The purpose of this systematic review was to assess the determinant factors of climate change adaptation (CCA) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Studies that focused on determinant factors of CCA by crop–livestock farmers and pastoralists in SSA and written in English were reviewed from five major databases using the applications of Endnote and NVivo. The review process followed a sequence of steps to reach into the final selection.

A total of 3,028 papers were recovered from the databases and screened for duplicates (777) and publications before 2000 (218). The titles and abstracts of 2,033 papers were reviewed, and 1,903 of them were excluded owing to preliminary exclusion criteria. Finally, 130 papers were selected for full-text review and more detailed assessment, where 36 papers qualified for the final review. The most important determinant factors of CCA by pastoralists were household income, access to information, access to extension services, government support and access to market. In the case of agro-pastoralists, access to information, household income, age and land/livestock ownership were found as the major determinant factors. Household income, land ownership, access to information, farm size, household size and access to extension services were the determinant factors found for CCA by smallholder farmers.

This systematic review identified the major determinant factors according to production systems and highlights the importance of considering specific factors in designing CCA strategies.

After clearly stating the research question, a literature search was conducted from the major databases for climate-related research, and a comprehensive search was performed by two independent researchers.