Soil fauna provides processes of crucial importance for ecosystem functions, but our ability to observe their actions often depend on destructive methods where the integrity of the studied environment (the soil) is compromised. In this study, I develop and test a new generation of environmental monitoring tools that utilize vibrations made by soil macrofauna to inform about their performance and health. Three hypotheses were tested on forest ants (Formica sp.): (i) vibrations on a naturally occurring substrate can be used to measure the activity of ants, (ii) the vibrational signature of ants can inform us about the ants’ health, and (iii) behavior (locomotory activity, foraging etc.) of ants is correlated to specific vibrational signal characteristics. Vibrational signals from ant sub-populations (5 individuals/sample) were recorded on natural substrates (leaves) before and after exposure to sub-lethal levels of a contaminant with known negative effects on ants (imidacloprid). Activity was successfully detected from the inferred vibration oscillograms. However, neither the number of vibrational signals captured, or the signal characteristics changed after imidacloprid exposure, indicating that either the exposure was too low to generate a change in behavior or that the technique was unable to detect subtle changes in behavior. Signals of short duration and amplitude were generated by locomotory activity, but their intensity was dependent on the distance to the vibrometers laser focus point. Longer signal segments were either continuous, random, or rhythmic in their distribution. I suggest that these signals are a result of methodological artifacts, movement of multiple ants, and stridulation/drumming on the substrate, respectively. My findings suggest that this advanced monitoring tool is sensitive enough to capture activity from only a few ants, but the characteristics and number of captured signals are strongly affected by the measured substrate

Due to the current increase in lake water total organic carbon (LW-TOC), many studies have investigated the long-term dynamics using lake sediments. However, these have mainly been focused on Sweden’s south and south-central parts. Thus, this study aimed to investigate how LW-TOC concentrations in northern freshwater systems have changed over the recent few centuries and what effect potential trends or patterns may have on mercury (Hg). A multi-proxy study was conducted that included geochemical characteristics, inferred LW-TOC, chlorophyll a, and land-use observations acting as a supplement to modern land-use changes. The results show that LW-TOC concentrations display tendencies to a decreasing trend in the deepest part of the sediment, which could be related to traditional land-use activities. This is followed by a more rapid decrease reaching equally low LW-TOC concentrations as in southern and south-central Sweden, here suggested being caused by catchment disturbances superimposed by acid deposition. During the recent decades, LW-TOC displayed increasing concentrations, possibly due to the combined effect of the reduction of the abovementioned factors, but also likely to be superimposed by an increase in temperature similar to what has been shown for Canadian lakes. These results align broadly with lakes in southern and south-central Sweden, although with potentially different forcings in the earliest part of the sediment. This contemporary increase in LW-TOC is accompanied by an increase in Hg in two lakes, with both LW-TOC and Chl-a show possible relations.

Climate change is known to cause more frequently occurring extreme events which threaten both natural and human systems as we know them. Island nations are particularly vulnerable to these climate-induced changes, and the Åland Islands are no exception to this rule. Åland has already seen a change in typical climate patterns as the temperature has been increasing and precipitation decreasing, which is a cause for concern. Political leaders have a great responsibility to mitigate climate change, through decisions on policy implementation and other legislative action, to strive towards sustainability. However, change is not being made fast enough. Hence, this study aims to determine the challenges that politicians of the Parliament of Åland face when making decisions that promote climate change mitigation, as well as seek why these challenges are present. The study was conducted through qualitative interviews with the seven political group leaders, one for each represented party, that participate in Bärkraft’s group leader forum. Bärkraft is a local network on Åland which strive toward sustainability through its Development and Sustainability Agenda. In addition, the main secretary of Bärkraft was interviewed. The interviews demonstrated that a majority of the participants had previous experience with climate change issues although, just under half of the respondents agreed that Åland faces little to no climate-related risks. From the interviews six themes were identified which relate to challenges in decision-making for climate change mitigation. For instance, a clear majority of the participants mentioned different economic aspects as a barrier in decision-making, likewise, the abstractness of climate change mitigation was deemed as challenging to handle, and marketing climate change mitigation to the citizens and other politicians was seen as challenging since proper arguments are essential for success. In addition, twelve sub-challenges were found that explains why the identified challenges are present. These sub-challenges included e.g., electoral popularity, municipal planning, motivation, etc. In conclusion, these challenges, with associated sub-challenges, highlight the complexity and uncertainty of climate change mitigation which sets barriers for the political leaders in making decisions for policy implementation. The study would have benefited from a larger number of participants. It also has limited generalizability, being a specific case and not including the complete decision-making process for policy implementation and viewpoints from other societal actors. However, the mentioned limitations can be subject to further research on the topic.

In 2022, a significant fish die-off happened in the Odra River due to a bloomof the toxic gold algae species Prymnesium parvum, which occurs in saline andwarm waters. This event is seen as a major ecological disaster in recent Europeanriver incident history. Understanding the hydro-climatic factors and basin characteristicsthat led to this disaster is crucial to prevent similar occurrences inthe future. Multiple national and international research groups have been activelystudying this event, reconstructing its chronology and analyzing the toxicalgal bloom. However, the specific relationship between the algal occurrence andhydro-climatic conditions, as well as the potential for recurrence, remains largelyunexplored. This project utilizes the semi-distributed hydrological model Soiland Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) on a daily time scale to investigate runoffbehavior during the disaster year. The main goal is to assess SWATs capability tosimulate runoff in a large-scale watershed. The obtained results are then analyzedin relation to water quality parameters and climatic conditions. The focus is onunderstanding the relationship between runoff and salinity, which is further examinedthrough a climate change scenario analysis to evaluate the potential riskof increased river salinity due to a change in the flow regime in the future. Byimplementing two Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) scenarios in the calibratedand validated SWAT model, a relative trend of runoff behavior and salinityin the Odra River is examined. The findings indicate that SWAT effectively simulatesrunoff in a large-scale catchment, despite limited information and computationalresources. The analysis reveals a significant relationship between salinityand runoff. The climate change scenario analysis predicts a decrease in runoffunder the pessimistic scenario, while the optimistic scenario suggests a more balancedrunoff trend. Additionally, the estimation of future river salinity suggestsan increase under reduced runoff conditions, and a subsequent recovery in salinitylevels for high discharge conditions. This thesis provides insights into the2022 disaster event in the Odra River and highlights the interplay between hydroclimaticfactors, catchment conditions, and toxic algae blooms. The findings contributeto a better understanding of potential risks and can give information foreffective water management strategies to protect the river ecosystem.

The climate crisis has forced vulnerable countries in the Global South, such as Guatemala, to migrate. This study has two main focuses. The first one is identifying the region's most critical environmental mobility drivers. This is accomplished through a method called Reflective Equilibrium, which integrates justice, ethics, and community perspectives, allowing the connection of a community's judgments to its inherent principles so that the final judgments are consistent with each principle. Thus, this method enables reaching the first result of this work, which is identifying the two most critical environmental drivers in Guatemala while emphasizing the need to incorporate local voices and experiences to ensure fair and humane prioritization. The drivers identified are droughts and rainstorms. The second focus of this work proposes a framework that aims to guide decision-makers in which types of impacts arising from these drivers should be financially prioritized. The methods used for this investigation are a combination of literature review and risk assessment called the "standard model," providing a systemic approach to minimize, avert or address the identified environmental drivers. However, the need to include aspects of justice and rights in this prioritization is noted, as it is constantly neglected in public decisions. In addition, financing strategies are explored through the proposed framework in this study and can be applied beyond Guatemala, serving as a guide for prioritizing funding in other contexts where climate mobility drivers are a constant concern. The study suggests that Guatemalan decision- makers benefit from similar studies to provide evidence of the negative impacts of irresponsible activities by developed countries in their climate finance requests. The main aim of such an action would be to reach multilateral agreements that can be sought to safeguard fundamental human rights and protect Guatemala's natural resources by providing loss and damage funds. Recommendations for future research include estimating budgets for mitigation/adaptation strategies, assessing costs associated with the risks found here, and identifying thresholds for catastrophic events, specifically in Guatemala, thereby improving preparedness and response mechanisms.

The ongoing energy transition in Germany foresees significant increases in the share of renewable energies in the country’s electricity mix until 2030. A share of 80% is targeted and photovoltaics should have a major contribution with a total capacity of 215 Gigawatts aimed to be installed. Since the beginning of the energy transition in Germany, the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) has played a key role with its regulations and support measures. The latest amendment of the EEG in January 2023 includes updated capacity addition targets and regulatory measures. In recent years, the solar branch in Germany has experienced growth after a period of drought from 2013 to 2017. The governmental plans are the basis to enable further growth, but challenges and uncertainties remain if the targets can be reached under the present and anticipated future constraints. This paper presents an evaluation of the feasibility of the capacity addition targets for photovoltaics and outlines the potential contribution of different photovoltaics system types within the installation plans. Through the conduction of semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders of the solar branch in Germany, a large variety of knowledge, experiences, perspectives and assessments is combined to theory which provides answers to the research questions. The results of the data analyses show, that the governmental targets are theoretically feasible but it is doubtful whether they will be reached in practice. Two of the main challenges which will need to be overcome are lacking installation capacities in form of skilled workers and hindering bureaucratic processes regarding planning, approvals, operations and accounting of photovoltaics plants. Moreover, the results indicate that the share of large-scale systems should increase, as scale-effects make them more cost-efficient and more capacity can be installed in the same amount of time. Most of these systems will be ground-mounted, but industrial roof-top systems will also contribute to a certain extent. Furthermore, integrated photovoltaic applications will increase in importance, due to the scarcity of areas and potential synergies. However, most of the stakeholders do not see a major contribution of such systems until 2030, as costs are too high, specific regulations are missing and market awareness is still low. Despite the dominance of large-scale systems, the segment of residential roof-top photovoltaic systems also has a high potential and consumers will want to produce their own electricity due to high energy prices and supply uncertainties.

The growing importance to finding workable solutions to the problem of unsustainable and inefficient resource use cannot be overstated.  In the world facing one of its critical sustainability periods, efficient resource utilization to ensure sustainable development is a problem policymakers should grapple with at a loc, regional and local levels. Because of this, the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) nexus has seen a growing number of proponents and supporters worldwide.  This thesis examines the WEFE nexus and its relevance for sustainable resource management, focusing on South Africa’s Inkomati-Usuthu Water Management Area (IUWMA).  WEFE nexus criticizes existing sector-based approaches for their limited recognition of cross-sectoral linkages.  This thesis presents a systematic review of the WEFE nexus in the IUWMA, identifying policy gaps and making recommendations to enhance integrated resource and environmental management based on the WEFE nexus approach.  The findings highlight various factors affecting energy generation, agriculture, water quality and quantity, and ecosystem-related factors within the IUWMA.  The thesis also provides an overview of critical policies related to the WEFE nexus in the IUWMA, demonstrating coherence (or lack thereof) and environmental considerations, and international cooperation.  The implementation of the WEFE nexus policy faces opportunities in collaboration but challenges such as institutional barriers, knowledge gaps, and limited political will.  The IUWMA also presents a complicated case owing to its transboundary nature, to which special attention must be paid when considering WEFE nexus approaches.  The discussion emphasizes the need for a holistic WEFE nexus approach to avoid inefficiencies and conflicts and calls for strong governance structures and equitable resource allocation.  Implementing the WEFE nexus approach can foster collaboration, sustainable resource management, land resilience to climate change impacts with political support, regional cooperation, and stakeholder engagement.

An unprecedented situation composed by worldwide land degradation, the post pandemic era, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is unfolding, reminding us of the impendent risks that phenomena such as these have for food security. Considering that this context presents new unforeseen challenges, and that there is a lack of knowledge production connecting food security to countries of the global north, such as is the case of Sweden, this thesis seeks to foster discussions on food security through the lens of Uppsala County, integrating notions of Local food systems. During the research process, I take on the role of practitioner of Soft Systems Methodology to address the problematic situation affecting Food Security in Uppsala County in a twofold target, which is first to understand the problem and then devise adequate steps for improving the situation, giving essential importance to stakeholders. For achieving this, I performed a quantitative review of statistical data, as well as, qualitative semi-structured interviews to consumers and producers. These were the first steps to comprehend the problem and its possible manifestations. Then for devising plausible actions, I engaged in participatory activities, which complemented the previous results. The findings reveal key vulnerabilities that are interlinked and required further scrutiny by future researchers. At the same time, local food systems, and localizing food production presents in stakeholder’s perspective and important road to explore in order to strengthen food security

This master's dissertation aimed to comprehensively investigate the influence of green spaces and path connectivity on walking behavior in the context of Uppsala, Sweden. The research questions that guided this study were twofold: (1) To what extent does the presence of green spaces influence the amount of walking occurring within a city? and (2) Can path connectivity significantly affect the amount of walking taking place in a city? Two primary hypotheses were formulated: first, that areas characterized by greater path connectivity would attract more transport walkers, and second, that areas with a higher abundance of green spaces would attract more leisurely walkers. The research adopted a rigorous quantitative approach, employing a multi-faceted methodology that encompassed both spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and field observations to capture real-world behavior. The initial phase of the study involved a meticulous examination of walkability attributes, focusing on the spatial characteristics of green spaces and path connectivity within Uppsala. This spatial analysis provided valuable insights into the potential relationships between these attributes and walking behavior. Subsequently, extensive field observations were conducted to gather empirical data that enabled statistical validation of the associations between the identified spatial factors and actual walking behaviors. Employing robust statistical analysis techniques, the collected data were analyzed to uncover patterns and draw meaningful conclusions. The results revealed a significant interaction between path connectivity and walking behavior, indicating that the extent and quality of path networks have a discernible impact on the walking patterns observed within the city. However, no significant interaction was found between the quantity of green spaces and walking behavior. Nonetheless, when considering the absolute number of walkers, a notable association emerged between both walkability attributes and the total count of walkers within the observed areas. The implications derived from this study indicate that the influence of walkability attributes on walking behavior is multifaceted and not entirely straightforward. While GIS analysis proved to be a valuable tool for evaluating walkability behaviors at a macro level, it became apparent that other microscale factors, including individual perceptions of the built environment, play a substantial role in shaping walking behaviors. Therefore, future studies should consider these microscale aspects to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between walkability attributes and walking behavior. Nevertheless, in general, areas exhibiting greater path connectivity and abundant green spaces showcased higher numbers of walkers in comparison to areas with fewer of these attributes. Thus, the research questions were affirmatively answered, demonstrating that both green spaces and path connectivity have a positive influence on the overall amount of walking within a city. This comprehensive study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on the subject, shedding light on the intricate dynamics between urban design, green spaces, path connectivity, and walking behavior. The findings serve as a valuable resource for urban planners, policymakers, and stakeholders interested in creating sustainable, walkable environments that promote active lifestyles and enhance the overall quality of life for residents in urban settings.

The building sector contributes significantly to carbon dioxide (CO2) due to the high energy use in building material production. One of the most critical concerns the World Summit on Sustainable Development must address is saving energy. In order to reduce CO2 emissions and their impact on the climate, strategies such as reducing energy demand, increasing efficiency, and using renewable resources instead of fossil fuels need to be implemented. This study was conducted through a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the possibility of lowering energy use and emissions in columns. The main purpose is to examine the potential environmental impact and energy use using a lifecycle assessment (LCA) approach. Steel production contributes significantly to climate change because it uses a lot of energy and produces many greenhouse gases. In Sweden, the steel industry uses coal as the main fuel, as shown from the data collected. Various studies explore the potential for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improving carbon sinks, such as taking measures in the building, energy supply, and forestry industries. This study concludes that buildings can be designed to be more energy-efficient, with better materials that are energy-efficient and lower carbon emissions. Material substitution can reduce energy use and carbon emissions. The replacement of steel with wood in construction can significantly reduce carbon emissions. The research findings indicate that an effective strategy to enhance the sustainability of buildings during the production phase is to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions by incorporating wood as a primary building material.