<p>Fairtrade is a certification of products that has grown from the criticism of conventional trade. By increasing the focus on the producers’ economic and social conditions, poverty can be fought and the producers’ voice in the marketplace can be strengthened. Fairtrade City is a certification for municipalities who wish to engage in ethical consumption.</p><p> </p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to understand the Fairtrade City concept and how this can be a tool for working towards sustainable development. To be more concise, we want to answer the following questions: Why does Örebro municipality work with the Fairtrade City certification and how can Fairtrade City be used as tool for working towards sustainable development? The thesis is based on qualitative interviews and e-mail interviews with members of the steering committee for Örebro Fairtrade City and on literature studies.</p><p> </p><p>We have in our thesis identified Örebro Fairtrade City as a result of 1) that Örebro municipality through Fairtrade City wants to change their surrounding environment by engaging in ethical trade 2) that the surrounding environment effects Örebro municipality through isomorphism regarding its way to deal with sustainable development 3) that the municipality through its work with ethical trade becomes legitimized by their surrounding environment. As a tool Fairtrade City is a prepackaged and easily implemented way for municipalities to work with sustainable development.</p>

Fairtrade is a certification of products that has grown from the criticism of conventional trade. By increasing the focus on the producers’ economic and social conditions, poverty can be fought and the producers’ voice in the marketplace can be strengthened. Fairtrade City is a certification for municipalities who wish to engage in ethical consumption.   The purpose of this thesis is to understand the Fairtrade City concept and how this can be a tool for working towards sustainable development. To be more concise, we want to answer the following questions: Why does Örebro municipality work with the Fairtrade City certification and how can Fairtrade City be used as tool for working towards sustainable development? The thesis is based on qualitative interviews and e-mail interviews with members of the steering committee for Örebro Fairtrade City and on literature studies.   We have in our thesis identified Örebro Fairtrade City as a result of 1) that Örebro municipality through Fairtrade City wants to change their surrounding environment by engaging in ethical trade 2) that the surrounding environment effects Örebro municipality through isomorphism regarding its way to deal with sustainable development 3) that the municipality through its work with ethical trade becomes legitimized by their surrounding environment. As a tool Fairtrade City is a prepackaged and easily implemented way for municipalities to work with sustainable development.