This study investigates learning experiences and outcomes during the train travel phenomenon Interrail. It especially focuses on transformational learning and whether and in what scope these learning outcomes correlate with the concept of global citizenship. It further analyses how the proposal of a free Interrail ticket, that is currently debated within the European Commission, could foster global citizenship in the wider context of Education for Sustainable Development. Although there has been much research on educative benefits of travel, Interrail in general and as an informal learning environment in particular, is an under-researched phenomenon. By providing a deeper understanding about transformative learning processes and outcomes during the specific case of Interrail in the context of sustainable development, this study contributes towards closing this niche. This research was carried out in form of a qualitative case study research. In total, 18 in-depth interviews were conducted with young adults representing 13 different nationalities. The interviews were thoroughly analysed by applying Jack Mezirows´ transformative learning theory and the concept of global citizenship. The results were completed with an additional documentation analysis. The study results reveal that Interrail with its specific characteristics and elements may provide an informal learning environment that can foster and promote both transformative learning and global citizenship to the individual traveller. The identified patterns and commonalities of learning experiences and outcomes were summarized within the main topics of personal development, critical thinking and reflection, cultural sensitivity and pluralism, shaping identity and sense of belonging, broadening view and change of behavior or action. Implementing a free Interrail ticket could thus arguably contribute to greater accessibility and more equal opportunities for youth to discover, experience and learn from travelling through Europe by train. Subsequently, this could help to foster Education for Sustainable Development and global citizenship. Based on the study results it is suggested, that transformative learning during Interrail could be enhanced through providing incentives and formal guidance in critical thinking and engagement in rational discourse in formal education.

The city of Xalapa, like many Mexican cities, does not count with any sort of official recycling program. Resource recovery relies on the work performed by the informal recycling sector and often, such work is neglected by the local government. In line with this, the aim of this study is to evaluate if a participatory resource management is a more suitable option than the current approach; so that the informal recycling sector can be included into the formal waste management system. In order to do so, this study employed a case study method using qualitative data; during the month of field work in Xalapa, semi- structured interviews and observation were the techniques used for collecting data. Concepts such as informal economy, participatory resource management, network theory and waste management were employed to analyze the organization and operation of the formal and informal waste management systems. Drawn from the results and analysis, it was presented that the informal recycling sector in Xalapa is composed of 5 different types of actors. Some of these actors are organized, while others work independently. The study revealed that their income is related to their capability of accessing to infrastructure and resources. This access to infrastructure and resources takes the form of a secondary materials trade hierarchy where the income of an actor depends on their ability to add value to their recovered materials. Additionally, organized actors tend to be less prone to manipulation and exploitation. Furthermore, it was deemed relevant to look at the current policies and regulations as well as to the action plans proposed by the local government for alleviating the solid waste crisis in Xalapa. It was identified that to consider a participatory resource management approach, several barriers need to be overcome; these barriers lie within the governance and social spectrum. However, despite the identified barriers, the current waste management system has opportunities for creating a more inclusive and socially just municipal solid waste management system.

The Planet has entered a new epoch - the Anthropocene; where human activities, such as mining for and burning of fossil fuels, land-use change, and industrialization are actively disrupting the planet’s state. The rate at which climate change is occurring as a result of human activity is unprecedented in recent millennia and poses many threats through drastic changes in rain fall patterns, rising sea level, retreating glaciers, and an increase in extreme weather events. Mountain ranges and the plant and animal species that thrive in specific ‘life zones’ on the mountain slope are particularly vulnerable to the threats posed by climate change. As temperatures increase, these ‘life zones’ will essentially shift upwards - and flora and fauna either adapt to warmer conditions, or migrate to avoid extinction. This begs the questions, where will species retreat to when there is nowhere further up the mountain to migrate? Assisted migration has been proposed as a potential solution for species unable to adapt to climate change or unable to migrate, and involves the deliberate interference of humans in relocating species to habitats, outside their historic range, in hopes of preventing the species from going extinct. I examined key patterns within assisted migration research from peer-reviewed literature, to highlight the current state of assisted migration research and debate. My aim is to identify whether research favored certain species or geographic locations, to highlight the ethical dilemmas associated with engineering nature, and the potential assisted migration has for sustainable development in mountain ranges. I conducted a literature review and content analysis of 68 journal articles. The results suggest that assisted migration research is heavily debated from scientific, ethical, political and economic perspectives; with a largely theoretical debate and with limited transfer into field experiments. Furthermore, there is an element of bias in research focusing on plant species of economic value as opposed to other species. Moreover, many ethical dilemmas in assisted migration research exist, but no consensus as to whether assisted migration is ethically justifiable. Lastly, I suggest there could be potential for assisted migration for sustainable development in mountain ranges, however there is a need for inter/transdisciplinary research to collaborate in implementing assisted migration.

Unsustainable food production and consumption patterns are threatening our living environment and our lives on earth. There is a need for profound transition in our ways to produce and consume food. Food, its production and consumption is a hot topic currently – as can be seen in media and in several projects run by various institutions. Circular economy and sustainable resource management address different actors as well. The City of Lahti joined the FISU-network and is taking steps towards sustainable resource management. This thesis contributes to the ongoing work of the City of Lahti in developing its food sustainability strategic work through its participation in the FISU-network. The study aims to investigate the state of the regional food supply chain of Lahti, Finland, and its path on sustainability transition. Further on, it examines how alternative food networks may impact different aspects of sustainable local development and what kind of a role actors of regional food supply chain play in promoting food sustainability. This study applied a case study approach and used qualitative research methods in the forms of workshop and semi-structured interviews. The results were examined applying the theoretical framework which included Activity theory, Co-Creation and Economy of Common Good. There are various policies and strategies on global, national and regional level aiming to sustain the food system, food production and consumption, as well as promoting the use of local food. Few of them were used to reveal the present state of the regional food supply chain together with the results gained at the workshop and interviews to find the desired way. Alternative food networks may shorten the food supply chain and allow everyone a chance to contribute to local food sustainability. They may have social meaning by bringing the food supply chain actors together and offering more value than purchasing goods. Consumers can act as co-creators having possibility to influence what is produced, where and how. Alternative food networks may not necessarily be ecological, but they may have wider implications for the regional and local communities on economic, social and cultural levels by offering jobs, interaction, as well as giving a face and a story to the food.

The globalized food system poses many systemic challenges that have significant impacts on the environment and human health. In order to tackle these challenges, especially those relating to climate change, it is assumed that consumers need to be accountable for the role they play in these issues, requiring them to alter their harmful consumption habits. In terms of the food system, this means that people need to evolve into ethical consumers and become more invested in what and how much they eat, where it comes from, etc . However, throughout the literature and in policies, there remains a focus on altering what people buy, rather than reducing waste from their overconsumption. Reducing waste and consumption would have a more beneficial impact for the environment, human health, and urban sustainability, yet it remains secondary to the narrative of buying sustainable alternatives. A waste reduction narrative would encourage sustainable behaviours that would also be more accessible to households of various socioeconomic backgrounds, and would provide more tangible results in terms of money saved, reduced greenhouse gases and waste output, and increased sustainability. However, food consumption is the result of many ingrained daily food practices influenced by a multitude of factors that prevent people from consciously considering the consequences of their actions. Food consumption and waste management as a phenomenon can therefore be interpreted using Social Practice Theory (SPT), which states that all humans act autonomously and according to social norms. This means that practices are recursive and routinized, subject to change, yet somewhat unconscious. All practices lead to consumption in some way, and changing such deeply embedded routines to become more sustainable requires a full understanding of these deeply entrenched practices. Practices can be broken down into three main components that drive how practices are formed and maintained:materials, competences, and meanings. This project uses mini-ethnographic studies to highlight SPT in order to understand the factors (contextual, materials, competences, and meanings) influencing households in Edmonton, Canada as they navigate the current sustainability narrative, and how they approach sustainable food consumption and food waste management. The results from this study lend some insight into what materials, competences, meanings, and other factors drive people already somewhat aware of sustainable food consumption issues to practice such types of behaviour. These influential elements have been found in many other recently published works, and give further insight into how broad external factors and specific internal factors can drive consumption practices. Prevention and reduction behaviours were already somewhat prevalent in this group. It is important that education programs targeting sustainable food consumption behaviours understand what drives certain food related practices, and how they can target the barriers that prevent certain groups of people from adopting more sustainable habits.

This is a study on the conditions of collaborative learning in the context of UK ammonia emissions. By conducting an extensive review of over 40 scientific articles, this study identifies and synthesizes a list of nine conditions deemed necessary for successful collaborative learning processes and explores their extent and overall influence between three stakeholders involved in UK ammonia emissions. Hybrid focus group/key informant interviews provided the data for this exploration. This study suggests that the extent of these 9 conditions are present enough between the three stakeholders to initiate a collaborative learning process. By conducting further studies with a wider field of stakeholders, a collaborative learning process could identify possible ways to mitigate UK ammonia emissions.

During the planning stages of new business start-ups in Leksand, it was decided that an archaeological survey of the area in question was to be performed in 2013. The reason for this was that in the 1980s findings of Stone Age character had been found in the clay field that once was there. In the 2013 survey, it was found that the area is a stone age settlement, dating back close to 9, 600 BP ( early mesolithic age). Stone age settlements are usually very close to rivers or lakes. For this reason, there arenormally no archaeological surveys of areas not adjacent to water. But this settlement was found on a clay field, 100 meters from the nearest water, Limsjön.The reason for this is that the water level at the time of the settlement's construction was higher in the ground than today. This is b ecause of the uplift of land that occurs in Sweden. The settlement, which was built close to 10,000 years ago was built when the water level was about 10 meters above todays water level at Limsjön. The purpose of this work is to produce maps showing where the whole Siljan shore line was at the time when the first people settled there. This will be done using information for the water surface position close to the settlement from 10,000 years ago to. The old shore line is several 10’s of kilometers long. To get more specific areas the maps also show suitable settlement areas based on the soil types that people have settled on during that time. These maps will then be used as a supportfor choosing areas where archaeological surveys might be of interest. / Under planeringen av nya företagsetableringar i Leksand valde man att 2013 utföra en arkeologisk undersökning av det aktuella området. Anledningen var att man på 1980-talet funnit fynd av stenålderskaraktär i den leråker som låg där då. I undersökningen framkom det att området är en stenåldersboplats, daterad till som äldst omkring 9 600 BP ( tidigmesolitisk tid). Stenåldersboplatser finns i regel i mycket nära anknytning till vattendrag och sjöar. Av denna anledning görs det normalt sett inga arkeologiska undersökningar av denna typ om området inte ligger intill vatten. Men denna boplats hittades alltså på en leråker, 100 meter från det närmsta vattnet, Limsjön. Anledningen till detta är att vattennivån vid tiden för boplatsens uppförande låg högre upp i terrängen än vad den gör idag. På grund av landhöjningen har vattenytans nivå sjunkit i terrängen. Boplatsen som uppfördes för nära 10 000 år sedan uppfördes när vattenytan låg cirka 10 meter högre upp i terrängen vid Limsjön. Syftet med detta arbete är att utifrån information för vattenytans läge vid boplatsen för 10 000 år sedan ta fram kartor som visar var hela Siljans strand låg i terrängen för tiden då de första människorna bosatte sig där. Den forna strandkanten är flera mil lång. För att få fram mer specifika områden ska kartorna även visa områden som är lämpliga boplatsområden, utifrån vilka jordarter som människorna har bosatt sig på under den tiden. Dessa kartor ska sedan kunna användas som underlag för var arkeologiska undersökningar skulle kunna vara intressanta att genomföra.

A framework for evaluating different wind turbine foundations has been proposed and applied in six hypothetical case studies located in three sites in different locations throughout Sweden.The framework is based on decision making method PROMETHEE II and consists of nine criteria covering financial, environmental and technical aspects of wind turbine foundations. The foundation has been evaluated from two different stakeholder perspectives – civil designers and financial advisors. Application of this framework has shown that an existing commonly used wind turbine foundation type is not the most favourable alternative, whilst a new market entrant – prefabricated foundation – shows promising results. Using PROMETHEE II it became evident that in any given case, a prefabricated foundation is ranked as the most or a close second to most suitable type of foundation. Gravity caissons ranked as the least favourable option in almost all, except one, case. Comparing these three alternatives prefabricated foundation showed greater economic feasibility, lower impact on environment and technologically more applicable than other alternatives with very few existing drawbacks.

In this study the use of two radar interferometry methods, PSInSAR and SBAS, were tested as tools for measuring coastal erosion. If successful it would have allowed for measuring coastal erosion as a function of material lost. The study area used was Ystad municipality, in southern Sweden. Radar data for the study was provided by the ESA, the European space agency, from their ERS-2 and ENVISAT satellites, spanning the period 1998-2005. Unfortunately, even after many different configurations of settings were tested, the results indicated that both methods are very unsuited for use in rural areas such as Ystad, whether for measuring coastal erosion or otherwise. Both methods had severe problems achieving significant coverage after low coherence areas were masked out, and PSInSAR suffered from several anomalies. This is likely due to the highly vegetated nature of the landscape, which results in low coherence through temporal decorrelation. Of the two methods SBAS showed the most promise, but not nearly enough to be considereduseful. It is, based on the scientific literature, possible that simpler interferometry methods might have been more useful. This, and other possible ways to improve the results is something that this study discusses at length.

A considerable part of the global pool of terrestrial carbon is stored in high latitude soils. In these soils, repeated cycles of freezing and thawing creates soil motion (cryoturbation) that in combination with other cryogenic disturbance processes may play a profound role in controlling the carbon balance of the arctic soil. Conditions for cryogenic soil processes are predicted to dramatically change in response to the ongoing climate warming, but little is known how these changes may affect the ability of arctic soils to accumulate carbon. In this thesis, I utilize a patterned ground system, referred to as non-sorted circles, as experimental units and quantify how cryogenic soil processes affect plant communities and carbon fluxes in arctic soils. I show that the cryoturbation has been an important mechanism for transporting carbon downwards in the studied soil over the last millennia. Interestingly, burial of organic material by cryoturbation appears to have mainly occurred during bioclimatic events occurring around A.D. 900-1250 and A.D. 1650-1950 as indicated by inferred 14C ages. Using a novel photogrammetric approach, I estimate that about 0.2-0.8 % of the carbon pool is annually subjected to a net downward transport induced by the physical motion of soil. Even though this flux seems small, it suggests that cryoturbation is an important transporter of carbon over centennial and millennial timescales and contributes to translocate organic matter to deeper soil layers where respiration proceeds at slow rates. Cryogenic processes not only affect the trajectories of the soil carbon, but also generate plant community changes in both species composition and abundance, as indicated by a conducted plant survey on non-sorted circles subjected to variable differential frost heave during the winter. Here, disturbance-tolerant plant species, such as Carex capillaris and Tofieldia pusilla, seem to be favoured by disturbance generated by the differential heave. Comparison with findings from a previous plant survey on the site conducted in the 1980s suggest that the warmer temperatures during the last decades have resulted in decreased differential heave in the studied non-sorted circles. I argue that this change in cryogenic activity has increased abundance of plants present in the 1980s. The fact that the activity and function of the non-sorted circles in Abisko are undergoing changes is further supported by their contemporary carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes. Here, my measurements of CO2 fluxes suggest that all studied non-sorted circles act as net CO2 sources and thus that the carbon balance of the soils are in a transition state. My results highlight the complex but important relationship between cryogenic soil processes and the carbon balance of arctic soils.