Thesis (MTech (Interior Design))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / This research is about the spaces between places in urban settings, also referred to as "Interiorscapes", a term coined by Paul Cooper (2003). These spaces are often overlooked by developers and urban planners in their vision of the bigger scheme yet they function as extensions of the habitable spaces in buildings and contribute to the overall structure and understanding of a place. If disregarded these spaces can potentially become neglected and derelict inadvertently sanctioning opportunities for crime. In Cape Town, the proposed developments at the Two Rivers Urban Park in partnership with the Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town, offer an opportunity to explore the inclusion of Interiorscapes in adaptive reuse projects aimed at creating sustainable commercial urban spaces in Cape Town. This interpretive qualitative research was conducted by exploring proposals made for two of the districts within the Two Rivers Urban Park area; (1) Oude Molen Ecovillage, currently a mixed-use sustainable neighborhood, and (2) the River Club where planning is currently underway to develop a commercialised recreational hub and tourist attraction. These sites were identified as study areas as they offer the potential for the implementation of Interiorscapes in adaptive reuse projects. Using a Grounded Theory approach, data was collected by interviewing the stakeholders, reviewing the proposals drawn up for these developments and through observations made when visiting the sites. Using the principles of New Urbanism, data has been analysed and the findings are presented as a narrative. The findings of this research indicate that ultimately the inclusion of Interiorscapes and all they represent is tied up in politics and economic processes monopolised by developers. The construct of Interiorscapes becomes a metaphor for the wellconsidered, well planned, user centered, ‘bottom-up’ design solutions which in the current context may present as a challenging problem which has no apparent solution. Recommendations are made for sustainable design alternatives to the current building and planning practices in Cape Town for adaptive reuse projects through the introduction of Interiorscapes.

Little is known about how sustainable entrepreneurs balance sustainability aspects with growth. The aim of this study is to investigate how growth and sustainability are balanced, and what role customers play in this balance. To answer this question we used a case study design and interviewed 8 executives representing 5 sustainable new ventures based in Sweden. The theory of the three pillars of sustainability was used to categorise and probe the data. Our research draws on two types of sustainability companies (sustainability-at-its-core and product-at-its-core) that balance sustainability and growth in a different way. Customers play an essential role in the balance, as they both impact growth and the sustainability level. Our research shows that within balancing growth and sustainability, sustainability can be seen as a company trait rather than a choice as sustainability is a part of the core of the new ventures’ business and will therefore always have an important position, even if growth is limited. It is recommended to explore the distinction in sustainable company type more in depth or other stakeholders’ influence towards new ventures in balancing growth and sustainability in the future.

Previous research has shown that the existence of after school program is beneficial for children's health and their academic performance. Lorensborgsskolan, an elementary school situated in Malmö, implemented a project called “From movement in school to being active in organized sports” where they started a school sport organization. The project seeks to increase the amount of children active in external sport organizations and to make the transition more accessible. The project collaborated with Hemmaplan which is an initiative from the Scanian Basketball Federation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to discuss the prerequisites for implementing Lorensborgsskolans project “From movement in school to being active in organized sports” from a sustainable perspective. The sustainable perspective contains three concepts: social, environmental and economical. Three research questions has been formulated.How was the preparation of this project in relation to sustainability?What challenges can be identified when implementing this project?What benefits can be identified when implementing this project?Interviews, observation and document analysis were the methods used in this research and the data was analyzed through a six step coding process. The result and analysis were divided in three paragraphs named after the research questions connected to the theory. The research findings indicate how this project would give the children a protective factor outside of school. According to the collected result the children should be given the access to pursue sport in the entire city of Malmö and to work on their social skills. In conclusion, an external analysis should have been done before the implementation of the project. The financial aspect is identified as a challenge. For the children to be a part of the school’s sport organization is free of charge in contrast with external sport organizations where this does not imply.

Sustainability is a term that is constantly gaining focus in our society and we are becoming more and more aware of the need to take the next generation into consideration when making decisions. The sustainable activity within the core business is growing and is also connected to profitability in ways that have not been seen before. However, the activities that are not included in the core business have not yet reached this long-term perspective. These non-core businesses within an organization goes under the term Facilities Management (FM). This paper focuses onReal Estate businesses, FM-suppliers and the relation between them.The purpose is to investigate current knowledge regarding outsourced FM-services and the real estate organisation’s use of these services. Furthermore, the purpose is to analyse what obstacles are currently restraining a sustainable way of working with FM-services and finally to present substantial suggestions for change. It is commonly agreed that acting in a sustainable way is a shared responsibility, and that acting accordingly will have great impact over the coming years. The Real Estate companies are facing an obstacle with lack of knowledge and awareness of the current situation. The FM-suppliers do not have the last say in the procurement process which prohibits them from using their knowledge effectively. Collaboration between the two parties is essential in order to achieve an improved result of sustainable development within FM. Five suggestions that will develop sustainability within FM have been depicted within this paper. The first suggestion is a plan of action with the foremost purpose of promoting sustainability and FM. Next follows a suggestion that shows the importance of early influence from proficient people. The third suggestion is to make sustainability measurable by creating a certification. Fourth, a law regarding sustainability reports can show how companies act in order to enhance the three dimensions of sustainability within their organization. The last suggestion is a template that will support both parties in the process of signing FM-contracts. In an ideal world, increasing the understanding and knowledge of sustainability and FM will prevent Real Estate businesses from buying services that are not sustainable as well as keeping FM-suppliers from delivering such services. / Hållbarhet får allt större fokus i vårt samhälle. Genom ett mer eftertänksamt beteende har ett agerande för en hållbar utveckling där nästa generation ges samma förutsättningar som denna påbörjats. Tankesättet växer sig starkare inom organisationens kärnverksamhet och i takt med detta ses hållbart agerande även i större grad som en del i organisationens ökade lönsamhet. Inom stödverksamheterna har utvecklingen dock inte nått detta långsiktiga perspektiv. Sammantaget utgör stödtjänsterna en stor del av en organisations totala omsättning varför det är av stor vikt att påbörja en hållbar utveckling inom dessa. En organisations samtliga stödtjänster sammanfattas i termen Facilities Management (FM). Detta arbete är inriktat mot FM-leverantörer och fastighetsbolag samt framställs med intresse för relationen dem emellan. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka befintlig kunskap om outsourcade Facilities Management-tjänster och fastighetsbolags nyttjande av tjänsterna. Vidare är syftet att analysera vilka hinder som idag motverkar ett hållbart arbetssätt inom dessa tjänster samt framställa konkreta förslag till förbättringsåtgärder. En litteraturstudie samt sju intervjuer har legat till grund för de resultat som framställs. Ansvaret för att agera hållbart inom FM anses ligga på var och en gemensamt och intervjuobjekten är eniga om att hållbarhet kommer att bli allt viktigare i dagens samhälle. Hinder hos fastighetsbolagen är bristande kunskap och medvetenhet gällande den ohållbara situation som råder idag. För FM-leverantörerna finns ett hinder i rådande partsrelation, där fastighetsbolagen har sista ordet vid upphandling trots att FM-leverantörerna besitter mest kunskap. Det krävs ett samarbete mellan parterna för att nå ett förbättrat resultat av hållbar utveckling inom FM-tjänsterna. Fem förslag för att utveckla hållbarhetsarbetet inom FM framställs. Det första är en handlingsplan med främsta syfte att marknadsföra hållbarhet och FM. Nästa förslag belyser vikten av att ge personer med kompetens inom området möjlighet att påverka i ett tidigt skede. I det tredje förslaget framställs en möjlighet att certifiera hållbart arbete för att göra hållbarhet mätbart. Vårt fjärde förslag är att införa en lag om hållbarhetsredovisning där organisationer tvingas redovisa hur de arbetat med de tre dimensionerna av hållbarhet under året. Slutligen föreslås en mall som kan vara till stöd vid tecknande av FM-kontrakt. I den bästa av världar kommer ett aktivt arbete med att öka förståelsen och kunskapen gällande hållbarhet inom FM att leda till att fastighetsbolagen aldrig köper ohållbara stödtjänster samtidigt som FM-leverantörerna heller aldrig levererar sådana.

In recent years, generative AI has made significant strides, likely leaving an irreversible mark on contemporary society. The launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT 3.5 in 2022 manifested the greatness of the innovative technology, highlighting its performance and accessibility. This has led to a demand for implementation solutions across various industries and companies eager to leverage these new opportunities generative AI brings. This thesis explores the common operational challenges faced by a small-scale Tech Enterprise and, with these challenges identified, examines the opportunities that contemporary generative AI solutions may offer. Furthermore, the thesis investigates what type of generative technology is suitable for adoption and how it can be implemented responsibly and sustainably. The authors approach this topic through 14 interviews involving several AI researchers and the employees and executives of a small-scale Tech Enterprise, which served as a case company, combined with a literature review.  The information was processed using multiple inductive thematic analyses to establish a solid foundation for the investigation, which led to the development of a Proof of Concept. The findings and conclusions of the authors emphasize the high relevance of having a clear purpose for the implementation of generative technology. Moreover, the authors predict that a sustainable and responsible implementation can create the conditions necessary for the specified small-scale company to grow.  When the authors investigated potential operational challenges at the case company it was made clear that the most significant issue arose from unstructured and partially absent documentation. The conclusion reached by the authors is that a data management system powered by a Retrieval model in a LLM presents a potential path forward for significant value creation, as this solution enables data retrieval functionality from unstructured project data and also mitigates a major inherent issue with the technology, namely, hallucinations. Furthermore, in terms of implementation circumstances, both empirical and theoretical findings suggest that responsible use of generative technology requires training; hence, the authors have developed an educational framework named "KLART".  Moving forward, the authors describe that sustainable implementation necessitates transparent systems, as this increases understanding, which in turn affects trust and secure use. The findings also indicate that sustainability is strongly linked to the user-friendliness of the AI service, leading the authors to emphasize the importance of HCD while developing and maintaining AI services. Finally, the authors argue for the value of automation, as it allows for continuous data and system updates that potentially can reduce maintenance.  In summary, this thesis aims to contribute to an understanding of how small-scale Tech Enterprises can implement generative AI technology sustainably to enhance their competitive edge through innovation and data-driven decision-making.