This paper presents a master’s thesis research project that aimed to explore the attitudes of members of Lithuanian hiking community and derelict building owners towards the possibility of adapting country’s abandoned rural buildings into a network of recreational ‘travelers’ huts’. Participants’ opinion on the need of such network as well as their management, location, building age, type, and other preferences were considered. During the two-phase mixed methods research project data was gathered through online questionnaire filled in by 624 members of Lithuanian hiking community and 10 in-depth interviews with derelict building owners, members of country’s hiking community and caretakers of two already operational travelers’ huts. The findings indicate that majority of research participants support the implementation of such project in Lithuania, preferring potential locations of huts in more remote and natural areas. Regarding type of buildings, it was given less significance than the location aspect, however a potential renovation of old wooden huts of traditional vernacular architecture was preferred slightly more than that of modern or Soviet-era buildings. Findings of the study also highlighted rather strong participants’ concerns regarding a diverse spectrum of issues: lack of history and ‘heritage’ of hiking and hutting in Lithuania, potential maintenance and management of the huts, safety, vandalism, privacy, and other. Qualitative data analysis provided evidence that many of those concern can be linked to low levels of social capital within Lithuanian society. Questions of huts’ management approaches, especially those of openness and accessibility of such buildings, showed rather unanimous opinions, suggesting a network of differently managed huts to cater divergent hikers’ needs might be a reasonable solution in Lithuania.

Community energy is an umbrella term encompassing various forms of renewable energy initiatives involving citizens and communities. These initiatives have been highlighted as a strategy for more sustainable and just energy systems. While community energy is a marginal phenomenon in Sweden, there are still around 140 active community energy initiatives of which the majority are wind power cooperatives. An overview of both active and discontinued wind power cooperatives gives evidence of different types and levels of collaborations with municipal energy companies, pointing to the vital role these play in the emergence and development of wind power cooperatives in Sweden. Still, there is a lack of research engaging with wind power cooperatives on the local level. With this thesis, I address this research gap by conducting a qualitative case study of four wind power cooperatives in Sweden exhibiting different types and levels of collaborations with municipal energy companies. The aim is to explore ways to conceptualise these collaboration structures and create a better understanding of the implications they have on the emergence and development of energy cooperatives in general. To this end, I use the concept of modes of governance as an analytical tool to discern, describe, and conceptualise the various ways in which wind energy cooperatives and municipal energy companies collaborate. The findings indicate both differences and similarities between the various cases in terms of how and why wind power cooperatives and municipal energy companies collaborate. The results suggest that a productive and supportive collaboration structure between energy cooperatives and energy companies is characterised by principles of co-production such as mutual interests and benefits. In turn, the conditions for such a collaboration depend on internal and external factors such as personal ties, individual engagement, and institutional aspects like policies and tax rules. Further, the study indicates that while cooperative ownership still has a role to play in the expansion of renewable energy in Sweden, it will likely remain a niche phenomenon whose emergence and survival is dependent on facilitation and guidance by governments.

Women tend to be underrepresented among cyclists in many Western cities. The literature on gender and cycling identifies two main reasons to explain the gender gap: differences in risk aversion, and unequally shared domestic responsibilities. While urban cycling policies often focus on developing cycling infrastructures to encourage cycling, this research argues that such approach is not sufficient to achieve diversity among cyclists. The case study of Lyon, in France, provides a good example, as increased cycling infrastructures over the past few years have not prevented the existing gender gap among cyclists in the city. This research uses qualitative methods and feminist theories to investigate the reasons for the lower representation of women among cyclists in Lyon. It focuses especially on the role of the gendered meanings attached to cycling in explaining the gender gap, i.e., how cycling is perceived, interpreted, and appropriated by women. Female cyclists, non-cyclists, and members of cycling associations have thus been interviewed to understand their motivations and barriers to cycling. Numerous aspects impacting negatively cycling levels among women have been raised throughout the interviews, some not directly related to cycling infrastructures. These include a lack of representation of women among cyclists, restraining social norms, and gender inequalities in general. These findings underscore the importance to take into consideration, besides cycling infrastructures, social and cultural factors that may encourage or not women to cycle in urban cycling policies to close the gender gap.

As biodiversity continues to diminish worldwide, an interrogation of long-standing conservation discourse is needed to reformulate a new conservation rhetoric that confronts the socio-ecological complexities of the world and reorients the relationship between humans and nature. Using ecologically sensitive critical discourse analysis, this research investigates the dominant ideologies perpetuated within an iteration of mainstream American wildlife discourse and explores opportunities for transformative conservation alternatives. Critical discourse analysis is performed on the State Wildlife Action Plans policy framework, which serve as the United States’ primary comprehensive wildlife conservation strategies that guide states in the preservation of fish and wildlife. Analysis of the State Wildlife Action Plans Report and Best Practices for State Wildlife Action Plans documentation revealed three dominant ideologies constructed and perpetuated within this conservation program, summarized as “Human Centrality,” “Animals as Resources,” and “The Supremacy of the Economic.” These three ideologies are manifestations of the overarching worldview of Anthropocentrism. After identifying the potentially harmful impacts associated with these ideologies, new stories inspired by insight from various environmental philosophies, Indigenous beliefs, and historical conservation leaders that align with the tenets of transformative conservation are created. These three new, alternative stories are: “Honoring the Intrinsic Value of Nature,” “Humans and Nature Rejoined,” and “Decentering the Economic.” By disentangling the hegemonic ideologies and power relations upheld within American conservation discourse, novel ways of thinking inspired by transformative conservation can be forged to combat biodiversity loss.

I denna studie undersöktes cirkulära metallflöden i medicinteknik på Akademiska sjukhuset i Uppsala och Region Uppsala. Syftet var att kartlägga och undersöka kritiska metaller i utvald medicinteknisk utrustning. Återvinningen av metaller i utrustningen på Akademiska sjukhuset undersöktes. Utöver detta studerades upphandlingar kring medicinteknisk utrustning och förslag och åtgärder för förbättringar presenterades. Specifik högteknologisk medicinteknisk utrustning och komponenter valdes ut för studien. Dessa var: datortomografi, magnetisk resonanstomografi, strålbehandling, patientövervakning (monitorer, termoelement och pulsoximeter) samt batterier och touchskärmar. 33 olika metaller kartlades i utrustningen och en kriticitetsmatris utformades för kriticitetsbedömningen av metaller. Kriticitet i denna studie beaktade försörjningsrisk och en ny bedömningsparameter: medicinteknisk betydelse. Tio metallers kriticitet bedömdes och dysprosium, europium, praseodym, niob, kobolt, indium, litium, gallium och volfram bedömdes som kritiska metaller för medicinteknik.  Akademiska sjukhuset har en egen återvinningsstation där de sorterar batterier och den medicintekniska utrustningen. Därefter transporteras batterier till El-Kretsen och elektronikavfall till Stena Recycling för återvinning. Där utvinns metallerna ur produkterna och säljs sedan vidare för att användas i nya produkter. El-Kretsen följer de lagstadgade kraven för återvinning av batterier, vilket varierar mellan 50-65 %, men återvinner inte mycket mer än vad lagen säger. Stena Recycling gör massabalanser på produkterna för att få information om vilka metaller elektronikavfallet innehåller och uppgav att de på så vis kan återvinna 98-99 %. Flera regioner kontaktades angående deras upphandlingskrav om metaller i medicinteknisk utrustning. Region Uppsala ställer inga miljökrav för metaller vid upphandling av medicinteknisk utrustning, men krav bör ställas på tillverkare och leverantörer. Det finns flera regioner som Region Uppsala kan ta inspiration ifrån för att formulera upphandlingskrav. Även IT- och byggbranchen har krav för metaller och materialåtervinning som är värda att studera vidare. För att förbättra återvinningen genom upphandlingskrav kan krav om innehållsdeklaration, demonterbarhet och omhändertagning av medicinteknisk utrustning utvecklas. Slutligen rekommenderas fortsatta studier inom detta ämne genom att utöka kartläggningen och kriticitetsbedömningen av metaller i medicinteknik.

Purpose. Road transportation is one of the major sources of GHG emissions today. Technological improvements in fuel consumption, as well as the electrification of vehicles can reduce emissions from road transportation. This study aims to investigate the optimal time for vehicle replacement in Sweden for an ICEV to minimise GHG emissions. While many LCA studies compare the total emissions from ICEVs with BEVs and conduct a break-even analysis, little focus is dedicated to the implications of the results. Previous studies did not estimate the time of vehicle replacement at which GHG emissions are minimised. To represent the Swedish vehicle fleet, the optimal replacement time is estimated for a Volvo V70 (petrol, 2011 model), when replacing it with a Volvo V60 (petrol, 2020 model) (Scenario 1), correspondingly when replacing with a Polestar 2 (battery-electric, 2020 model) (Scenario 2). Methods. For the estimation of lifetime emissions resulting from the three vehicle models, a Life Cycle Analysis was conducted. The functional unit investigated was 200.000 km driven with the V70, the V60 and Polestar 2, assuming that the vehicles were operated in Sweden. The emission values are then used to model the vehicle replacement in each scenario and the results are analysed. Findings. The LCA study showed that the V70 emits 64,08 tCO2eq. over its total lifespan, the V60 46,48 tCO2eq., and the Polestar 2 29,05 tCO2eq. The study showed that there is not one optimal replacement time, but the optimal time for vehicle replacement, from a carbon emission point of view, is inherently linked to the total driven mileage and number of cars owned. However, the trend shows that the time of replacement in Scenario 1 should be close to the End-of-Life of the V70. For Scenario 2 it is beneficial to replace the V70 immediately.

The aim of this research is to analyse and describe the promotion of sustainable entrepreneurship by governmental organizations to new entrepreneurs. The thesis looks into the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) which is the main governmental body for organizing business idea competitions in Latvia. The desired outcome of this study is to provide insight into sustainability education to new entrepreneurs and point out issues on state level that hinder transition to sustainability. A qualitative research technique was selected as it offers a way to conduct a comparative research for analysing different points of view for case studies. The results showed that, among other findings, that there is too little emphasis on sustainability at national level, resulting in little interest from the public and a correspondingly narrow range of offerings from LIAA. Consequently, the excessive volume of work and functions is hindering the agency's work, which is reflected in delayed development at sustainability context. The fact that Latvia is lacking a clear national image could be perceived as the result of inability to define values for several decades and failure to implement innovative, sustainability-oriented education system.

Could it be that even though no international treaty or regulation regulates bioprospecting in Antarctica, some features of the techno-science of bioprospecting already lie embedded in the deep texts of the potentially most relevant treaties and regulations? If so, international law already to that extent comprehends the phenomenon, making for sustainable governance and thereby sustainable development. To find out, first an ontology of bioprospecting was synthesized, by an activity theory based conceptual system modeling (CSM). Treating bioprospecting as an activity of search for and research of naturally occurring biota, a set of Conceptual Graphs and associated Tables were drawn up as its ontology-synthesis. Features of this conceptualization were then searched for by an ontological-analysis of the deep texts of selected twenty-five legal instruments, through an ontological legal research (OLR). Search results did unearth several features dispersed and intriguingly embedded in several of the treaties and regulations, quite richly in some of the more recent ones. The cross-application of CSM followed by the hybridized OLR, is a methodological innovation and the generated empirical results of each are resources for further research. The language of international law is revealed as possessing a surprisingly better-than-expected techno-scientific literacy of bioprospecting.

The frequency and severity of floods have increased due to climate change and achieving successful disaster risk reduction is deemed crucial to attain preparedness and sustainability. The responsibility for society’s preparedness mainly resides with local public actors. However, several Swedish municipalities have insufficient flood risk management. Research within disaster risk reduction suggests that risk can be understood as socially constructed and produced, highlighting the relevance of exploring risk perceptions. Yet, previous research has mostly been concerned with objective dimensions of risk and largely neglected social dimensions, such as decision-makers’ risk perceptions. Ridolfi and colleagues’ theoretical contribution to Cultural Theory of Risk suggests four types of ideal societies, or perceptions, which ultimately affect flood risk management: risk neglecting, risk monitoring, risk downplaying, and risk controlling perceptions. Yet, the theoretical work has not been applied empirically. This study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of local public actors’ perceptions of flood risk and how this in turn may be connected to different flood risk management strategies. This thesis adopts a comparative case study design and explores the topic by applying Ridolfi and colleagues’ theoretical contribution to the municipalities of Karlstad and Kristinehamn. While Kristinehamn has been criticized for insufficient flood risk management, Karlstad has been put forward as a front runner in disaster risk reduction. Surprisingly, the results show that the municipalities reason in similar ways about flood risk, suggesting that the proposed differences between the two may be overestimated. Both municipalities believe in the capacity of technical hard-adaptive measures manipulating the environment and thus largely correspond to the risk controlling perception. However, the municipalities differ in some respects, as it can be argued that Karlstad shows signs of a risk monitoring perception whereas Kristinehamn shows signs of a risk neglecting or downplaying perception, potentially shedding light on the slightly varying approaches. In essence, the study’s utilization of the theory indicates that decision-makers’ subjective risk perceptions are important to explore in order to understand flood risk management approaches and subsequently important processes to achieve overall preparedness and sustainability. By exploring municipal actors’ perceptions of flood risk, the study not only contributes empirically by applying mentioned theoretical contribution for the first time, but also adds to the wider body of the theoretical knowledge on the significance of decision-makers’ risk perception for risk reduction, and thus contributes to a better understanding of the social dimensions of risk.

Abstract: This thesis is investigating the situation regarding abortion in Poland since the conservative party Law & Justice came into power. It does so by applying the theory of socialization of human rights, developed by Risse, Ropp & Sikkink (1999). The theory of socialization is a way to uncover the process of a state transgressing from a state of repression to a state of rule-consistent behavior (the rules being the human rights). Here, Law & Justice, the EU and the NGO Federa, working for reproductive rights locally and internationally, was chosen as a case study. The method is a content analysis, where the theory is partly part of the method as it is a model. The topic’s importance within the field of sustainable development is immense, since sustainable development requires human rights and abortion is a human right. In both Poland, the USA and other countries across the world, abortion is being severely restricted, and hence the freedom of women is in jeopardy. The research could have been made more substantial by a polish-speaker, as a conservative, nationalist party like Law & Justice does not translate most of its correspondence or information. Further, using several different organizations, especially from both the ‘new’ and ‘old’ groups of feminists in Poland, could have widened the scope. The research questions are both targeted at uncovering how the EU acts when a country is non-compliant, as Poland is when not following the human rights and hence EU law. They are also uncovering what pressures Poland receive from the EU and Federa, and how far these organizations have come in the process of socialization. The key findings include that Law & Justice have been alternating between different phases in the model, and that the model used does not fully explain cases where states use human rights framing as a way to please its opponents. Further, the EU could have pressured Poland further and earlier, to avoid the situation that has unraveled during the last few years. Another surprising discovery was how unclear and vague the sustainable development goals (SDGs) are regarding abortion rights. These findings contribute to the field by researching a rather recent event, as it is a current topic with developments happening all around the world. The research also contributes by widening the field regarding what type of research can be called sustainable development research. When looking at the human rights and the SDGs, the right to safe abortions is part of both.