The issue of climate migration has long been struggling to make its way onto the international agenda. This study therefore set out to shed a light on eleven strategies for handling climate migration. The study builds on the work by Ransan-Cooper et al. (2015) where they allocate actors to four different frames depending on how the actor in question view the environmental migrant, either as; a victim; a security threat; an adaptive agent or; a political subject. This makes out an important comparative basis for the analysis done in this study. It also provides a background on problem definition and framing and the role it plays in policy making. This study then takes the step to also present solutions to the problem defined by presenting concrete strategies which can all be allocated to one of the four frames. The core ideas of the strategies and the solutions they provide are presented using a content analysis. In addition, the question of responsibility for climate migrants is discussed using three normative theories: contribution to the problem, ability to pay and beneficiary pays. The study concludes that there is a consensus among most actors that there is a need for global cooperation and shared responsibility for climate migration and climate migrants. It also concludes that the way a problem is defined or framed plays a highly important role.

Copper (Cu) is a heavy metal that is essential for life but toxic at high concentrations. This toxic effect is used on boats to prevent biofouling on boat hulls by painting the hulls with antifouling paint that contain high levels of Cu. The Cu is slowly diffused out in the water and accumulated by animals higher up in the food chain. In order to test the effects of marinas on Cu bioaccumulation in invertebrates, I sampled molluscs at seven marinas and seven shore sites on the Swedish west coast. Two molluscs with different feeding behaviours, one grazer, the periwinkle (Littorina littorea) and one filter feeder, the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) were used as study organisms. Both species were sampled at each location within 50 m from each other. Body Cu concentration of both species was measured with a Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (FAAS). Cu concentration of periwinkle soft body tissue was generally higher than in mussel soft body tissue. In addition, periwinkle tissue Cu concentration reacted strongly positively to the presence of marinas, whereas mussel tissue Cu concentrations did not. This shows that contamination from marinas affects the grazing periwinkle but not the filter feeding blue mussel. Thus, for biomonitoring purposes, grazers may be more suited as indicator organisms.

Varved lake sediments were used to provide information on how a landscape is affected by disturbances of different scales, from global (i.e. climatic) to local (i.e. fires), as well as anthropogenic activities. Geochemical and pollen data, biogenic silica (bSi), lake-water total organic carbon (LWTOC) and chlorophyll a were used as proxies to infer past changes in lake-conditions. The goal was to evaluate the response to scale different disturbances and how it differs among sites. By comparing different lake records, it became possible to isolate the climatic signal from the effect of soil development and vegetation establishment, and differences emerging from different catchment characteristics. Climatic trends were reconstructed based on the pollen and geochemical data. The sediment records were then compared to identify the effect of each disturbance on individual lakes. One of the most prominent event observed was the immigration of spruce at about 3000 BP which considerably affected sedimentation trends. The presence of spruce within the catchment appears to promote the input of fine-grained material to the lakes. The timing and intensification of anthropogenic activities was established and it was possible to differentiate the effects of human disturbance from changes caused by natural processes such as climate or landscape vegetation cover changes. The results show that farming practices started earlier in more southern locations and that this timing is site-dependent. Two phases were identified, corresponding to the start of slash and burn farming and later to the expansion of agricultural practices, with a more profound transformation of the landscape.

This report is about the impact climate change has on the water and sewage systems in general, and the situation in the municipality of Karlstad in particular. Which vulnerabilities are linked to water and sewage systems with regard to climate change and extreme weather situations, what are the possibilities to adapt the system to this and what significance does climate adaptation of the water and sewage systems have in relation to sustainable development?To answer these questions I have studied literature on the subject and interviewed several people who work with these types of questions. The answers I have received state that there are a multitude of vulnerabilities linked to the water- and sewage systems, but that there are also many strong interests which strive to take measures and adapt to a changed climate. I have also come to the conclusion that the starting points and views of the possibilities to act differs between the people that I have interviewed, but that theses problems are built into the concept of democracy.

In 2015, the number of unaccompanied children that fled to Sweden and applied for asylum was 35 369, more than ever before. The great majority of them, 22 806, were young male refugees from Afghanistan, often with very small chances of returning back to their countries mainly due to war, oppression and poverty. For any society to become sustainable, integration of new citizens is essential. However, right-wing populist parties and nationalism is growing in Europe, including Sweden. The fundamental socioeconomic and cultural flourishing needed for individuals to get integrated is lacking and thus causing a segregated Sweden. The question is why. Hence, the purpose of this master thesis was to examine what barriers that exist for economic-, social- and cultural integration in Sweden based on the perceptions of young male refugees from Afghanistan. This was studied through ten qualitative semi-structured interviews with young male Afghan refugees between 19 and 25 years’ old in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, in April 2019. The results were analysed through a conceptual framework of economic-, social- and cultural integration. The results revealed that language was perceived to be the main barrier for both economic-, social- and cultural integration, which in turn impacted the other perceived barriers of attaining an employment, lack of governmental support, difficulties in interacting with Swedes and crash of cultures. Experienced discrimination was mentioned throughout all societal spheres. To overcome these barriers, interactions with Swedes was believed to be essential. Factors that showed to enable this were improved language skills, active societal participation and living with host families.

The Circular Economy was developed as a response to the prevailing linear model of material use. The goal of the concept is to eliminate waste and mitigate environmental impacts by transforming the economic system into one that pursues a circular flow of materials and resources, in contrast to the current make-use-waste paradigm. While the concept has gained some momentum in the past years, there is still no definition that is agreed upon by scholars and practitioners. While the goal of the Circular Economy is clear, the perspectives on how this can be achieved differ. This study focuses on the Circular Economy at the city level via a case study of Uppsala, Sweden. The aim of this study is to gather the perspectives of actors active in circularity and to determine whether they agree on how the Circular Economy can be achieved. While there are a large number of actors involved in Circular Economy in Uppsala, this study focuses on two actor groups: the municipality and businesses. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and the actors' responses were analysed in regard to the actor's underlying ideology, their role within Circular Economy and their perception on how a transition to a circular system should occur. The study's results reveal that the actors in Uppsala lack an overall consensus on how the Circular Economy should be achieved, even though they tend to agree on some aspects. Furthermore, the interviewed actors do not take into account the systemic perspective of the transition. In response to this finding, the waste hierarchy was updated with the aim to draw attention to this notion. Additionally, it is found that most of the interviewed actors mention co-operation among different organisations as being the key to achieving the Circular Economy, which could help to promote the Circular Economy in the future.

In a world that is changing rapidly due to the social and environmental consequences of the unsustainable economic growth, societal and economic transformations from unsustainable visions and practices are inevitable. While there is a need to develop alternative approaches to production and consumption, changing these systems is not feasible without changing the mainstream marketing ideas and its practices where the main incentive is “how to sell more”. The initial phase of the research process supports conceptual clarity and the evolution of marketing thought towards sustainability marketing. It identifies the presence of sustainability marketing in the existing marketing curriculum through qualitative content analysis using grounded theory and quasi-statistical approaches, that facilitates the search for sustainability in marketing curriculum based on UNESCO’s indicative learning objectives for promoting Education for Sustainable Development. The thesis draws on relevant literature in the marketing field, utilizing the content analysis of various syllabi and mandatory literature of Uppsala University’s marketing courses, as well as employing semi-structured interviews with five lecturers of Uppsala University’s Marketing faculty and eight marketing students from across Sweden. The institutional setup of the case of Uppsala University is found to be problematic when considering its commitments towards sustainable development and its Action Plan for Sustainable Development 2019–2021. The study established the strong influence of dominant social paradigm in the curriculum development of marketing courses, which was evident through the content analysis and portrayals of the respondents’ perspectives of the marketing faculty. Further, it was found that the societal understanding of marketing dictates what can be taught in marketing education, which consequently circumscribes what can be researched in marketing. In addition, the concept of sustainability marketing was found to be nonexistent in mandatory literature of the courses, and was poorly covered throughout the secondary literature. Similarly, most of the mandatory literature of the marketing courses of Uppsala University do not follow UNESCO’s (2017) indicative learning objectives for promoting ESD, and hence do not promote learning for sustainable development. The results of this thesis suggest that we still have a long way to go to bring Education for Sustainable Development into marketing education, as current mainstream marketing practices and its rationale with dominant social paradigm prevalence maintains, supports and exacerbates the global unsustainable consumption and production patterns.

The project of sustainable development, as reflected in the Agenda 2030 and the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals, plays a central role in the story of crisis and transformation today. Yet, this project has rarely been the object of ideology critique. This paper formulates an ideology critique as a form of immanent critique of the project of sustainable development with a basis in Herbert Marcuse’s one-dimensionality thesis. The analysis of the ideology of sustainable development is structured around the three-pillar conception of sustainability which is applied in the Agenda 2030. The transformative potential of the project of sustainable development is assessed on the background of the analysis. The transformative potential in each of the three pillars is found to be inhibited by the project of sustainable development and the paper identifies and explains the ideological mechanisms through which this inhibition takes place. The research suggests that the project of sustainable development cannot be seen as a transformative project.

Sanitation is critical for sustainable development. However, the current systems in place are vulnerable to future risks. One of the main risks expected to have severe effects on the earth systems and our societies is climate change. If not dealt with, it threats to hinder or even reverse the progress done in sanitation access so far. On the other hand, countries are lacking the financial capabilities to achieve the sustainable development goals related to sanitation, not to mention the additional costs needed to increase its resilience towards climate variability and extreme weather conditions. Nevertheless, sanitation is not only vulnerable to climate change, it is also a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions which drive climate change. It is therefore important to better understand the linkages between sanitation and climate change. The aim of this study is to evaluate the inclusion of sanitation in climate policy and finance. A secondary content analysis is used to identify interest in sanitation in countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris agreement. Climate-related official development assistance flows and financial elements of approved project proposals by the Green Climate Fund board are analyzed to quantify climate finance flows supporting sanitation projects. The results indicate that sanitation is largely ignored in countries’ climate agendas constituting only 1% of all countries’ activities with very scarce mitigation activities for the sector. Furthermore, sanitation is marginalized in the international climate finance landscape. Very limited climate-related finance from official development assistance was found allocated to projects with the main focus on sanitation. As for the GCF approved project proposals, only 7 projects out of 99 had sanitation or wastewater-related components and only one project of the 7 received GCF funding. These results indicate a knowledge gap of sanitation’s potential contribution to emissions reduction and the risks from climate change towards sanitation systems. Furthermore, it points out the need for better coordination between development and climate finance in order to reduce the finance gap and help achieve the sustainable development goals and the Paris agreement simultaneously.

This study explores the option of stimulating cycling activity as part of the strife of the modern city towards adopting the principles of sustainable development in order to shape the everyday habits of its inhabitants. The case of the city of Glasgow was chosen as an appropriate example of the potential obstacles and benefits which the implementation of cycling policies is attributed with. The Scottish city’s cycling agenda was analysed and interpreted in light of a broader international context by offering similar instances. This paper is divided into two main parts. The first one focuses on reviewing and assessing the key aspects of Glasgow’s Strategic Plan for Cycling 2016 - 2025 and questions its applicability/capability on achieving the cycling rates (10% of all journeys) stipulated by the Scottish government. This is done via a literature review and supplementary interviews by local experts and suggests that there is a strong correlation between cycling levels and governmental/ local council policies while also indicating that historical, cultural or climate-related tendencies do not have such a strong influence. The paper identifies Glasgow’s cycling plan as inclusive and contributing to the evolution of urban planning towards sustainability. Additionally, it is established that the plan creates liaisons between the state, the private sector and civil society (in the form of NGOs and local community groups as well as individuals), which has led to lasting partnerships based on the collaborative planning and execution of projects. Lastly, the analysis implies that Glasgow’s plan for cycling distinguishes deftly between applying soft or/and hard measures according to the needs of the local residents, in particular, the local users. The second part of the paper investigates the successes and shortcomings of Glasgow’s Strategic Plan for Cycling 2016 - 2025 when it comes to the case of the South City Way Development Project by drawing links from the prior analysis and additional primary data sources. The thesis suggests that the main difficulties associated with the project would stem from the inconsistent cooperation with local community groups, the lack of opportunities for citizen participation and to a lesser degree the insufficient amount of supporting cycling infrastructure (cycle parking). Cycling-related policies have proven to be able to play a significant role in achieving sustainable urban development. Glasgow City Council’s cycling plan underlines the importance of combining governmental standards, environmental needs and communal necessities but at the same time fails to implement them in practice in order to achieve the fundamental shift in behaviour set as a target by the Scottish government. Sidelining the essential partnership and cooperation with local stakeholders as well as community involvement would likely bring about fractured public support, limited outreach and thus diminished results. Having pooled considerable financial and human resources into creating the 2016 -2025 Strategic Plan for Cycling, the paper suggests that Glasgow City Council has to follow its guidelines strictly in order to lead its community towards sustainability.