The rights of the Sámi; Sweden’s indigenous people, have long been a subject of debate. As part of Sweden’s Climate Act and implementation of the 2030 Agenda, Sweden is currently in the midst of an extensive expansion of wind power where a large proportion of the wind turbines will be located in Sápmi. However, the initiative has already faced strong local opposition leading to various conflicts, in particular between authorities, companies and Sámi villages. The purpose of this master’s thesis is to examine how the ongoing debate regarding wind power in Sápmi is expressed in the Swedish media and the different perspectives, rights and voices highlighted in relation to sustainability and decision-making processes. More specifically, this essay aims to explore the arguments related to the large-scale expansion of wind power in Sápmi, presented by the various actors in the debate. The research material, which consists of ten (10) different argumentative texts in the form of debate articles and submissions from the Swedish daily press, is analyzed using an argumentation analysis. Through the application of postcolonialism and recognition as a theoretical framework, the study also explores the inherent power relations within the wind power conflict. The study concludes that the Swedish media debate regarding wind power in Sápmi roughly boils down to the question of whether the measures taken in the name of the green transition should promote economic benefits or the survival of reindeer husbandry. Finally, a discrepancy between theory and practice regarding the Swedish government's respect for Sámi rights can be identified. The essay is written in Swedish.

In recent years, we have seen that global, national, and local governments have put sustainability goals on their agendas. Thus, at different levels and in different sectors, efforts are underway to promote a ‘green shift’, including the energy sector. As a result, landscapes of renewable energy sources are emerging in areas that have sufficient “empty landscapes” (LABLAB, 2023) – namely sparsely populated spaces that lie outside the administrative boundaries of cities. However, the discipline of spatial planning rarely discusses changing landscapes in the hinterlands and the resulting consequences for embedded communities. The city as an energy consumer is treated in isolation from its counterpart, the hinterland as an energy producer. In this context, it is unclear what interrelationships are present between the formation of ‘new energy landscapes’ (Pasqualetti and Stremke, 2018; LABLAB, 2023), the urban ‘hinterland’ (Brenner, 2016; Westlund, 2018; Brenner and Katsikis, 2020), and the realities of embedded communities there.The geographies in the Swedish province of Jämtland belonging to the territory of the indigenous Southern Sápmi offer a suitable basis for a study that could fill this research gap. Thus, the objective of this thesis is to raise awareness of potentially conflicting interests between cities - striving to become more ‘sustainable’ - and the emergence of ‘new energy landscapes’ in the ‘hinterlands’ by including two different perspectives: an urban economic lens on the hinterland and a non-urban lens taken from the lived everyday lives of Sápmi communities embedded in new energy landscapes. This thesis poses three research questions to which it aims to find answers by using qualitative semi-structured, problem-centred interviews. It thus follows an interpretative abductive research approach. Through the analysis of the empirical data, the thesis shows that a joint discussion of the two discourses (‘hinterland’ and ‘new energy landscapes’) can help to gain a new understanding of urbanisation processes by including the perspective of non-urban communities in questions of urban sustainability. Furthermore, the thesis serves as an eye-opener for spatial planners to incorporate indigenous knowledge and lived experiences into the field of urban studies.

The Sami in Sweden have lived on and managed their lands since time immemorial. The strong connection to the environment and nature has given them centuries of knowledge that is still applicable to this day. With the help of their ancestral knowledge the Sami have preserved their Indigenous land. With constant work towards sustainability and extractive projects of natural resources for renewable energy that takes place in Sápmi, the question is raised of who is included in the transition towards sustainable development and who the transition is for. The purpose of this study is to investigate and get a deeper understanding of Sami perspectives on sustainability and the connection to their rights. Applied methodology for this qualitative study is semi-structured interviews with nine Sami, followed by a thematic analysis of the collected empirical data. This was done to understand and analyse perceptions of sustainable development and how it relates to Sami inclusion and Sami rights, using frameworks of colonial governmentality and green colonialism. The findings suggest that a differentiation can be made concerning how the Sami perceive actions for sustainable development and the concept of sustainable development. Further, the Sami view their inclusion in policy-making and implementation in regards to questions of sustainable development in Sweden as being somewhat low or not applied at all. In relation to environmental sustainability this study shows that the implementation of Sami rights varies depending on the context, but that it is generally experienced as insufficient, and that rights are often applied to the economic units of the samebys, and not all Sami, creating a division within the Sami community. The results also show a perception of lack of political will and a neglectance to include and implement Sami rights, as state interests are prioritised. The societal and institutional conditions for the Sami to claim their rights and require inclusion within sustainable development prove that the theories of colonial governmentality and green colonialism are applicable to the current situation in Sápmi.

This study is about increasing engagement in understanding complex energy related information. The purpose of the study is to provide insights on how to create a  concept for increasing engagement in understanding complex energy related information, primarily for young adults, and to provide concept how storytelling  and other techniques be used to engage users in complex energy related information and how design principles be applied with the aim of conveying complex energy related information  in an understandable way. The goal is to increase the understanding on how to engage young adults and to enable a design concept with the collaboration partner Energy Evolution Center. The methods used in the thesis are AEIOU method, user workshop, questionnaire, user observation, storyboard, prototyping, focus groups, cognitive walkthrough and design principles. The design process builds upon a human centered design approach. The design concept was tested, iterated and produced with close collaboration with the target audience and experts within the field. The results show signs that the target group's engagement could be increased through interactive activities that are similar to games and contain experiments, if placed within an educational context and be able to participate during school hours. Thus, the target group raised the issue of engaging voluntarily in activities with subjects in which they have no existing interest in. However, the target group expressed a greater commitment by participating in the activities that the design concept suggested, and to creating engagement to topics such as energy by participating in educational contexts. The conclusion is that the design concept allows room for failure, playfulness, exploration and teamwork, that is conceptualized through interaction of multiple senses. This study would also benefit from larger research and create space for more research especially in the societal aspects of inclusion, such as gender for example. / Denna studie handlar om att öka engagemanget i att förstå komplex energirelaterad information. Syftet med studien är att ge insikter om hur man skapar ett koncept för att öka engagemanget i att förstå komplex energirelaterad information, främst för unga vuxna, och att ge ett koncept för hur berättande och andra tekniker används för att engagera användare i komplex energirelaterad information, samt hur designprinciper tillämpas i syfte att förmedla komplex energirelaterad information på ett begripligt sätt. Målet är att öka förståelsen för hur man engagerar unga vuxna i energi relaterade ämnen och att möjliggöra ett designkoncept med samarbetspartnern Energy Evolution Center för detta ändamål. Metoderna som används i uppsatsen är AEIOU-metod, workshops, frågeformulär, användarobservation, prototypande, fokusgrupper, cognitive walkthrough, storyboard och designprinciper. Designprocessen bygger på ett mänskligt centrerat designtänkande. Designkonceptet testades, itererades och producerades i nära samarbete med målgruppen och experter inom området. Resultatet visar tecken på att målgruppens engagemang skulle kunna ökas genom interaktiva aktiviteter som är likt spel och innehåller experiment om det är placerat inom skolsammanhang och att delta under skoltid. Målgruppen tog upp problem med att engagera sig frivilligt i aktiviteter med ämnen som de inte har något befintligt intresse för. Men målgruppen uttryckte ett större engagemang genom att delta och skapa engagemang för ämnen som energi genom att delta i utbildningssammanhang. Designkoncept som prototypes fram bygger på ett energi-äventyr som interagerar, utforskar och interagerar med samarbetspartnern Energy Evolution Centers energidata och goda exempel. Slutsatsen är att designkonceptet ger möjligheter och utrymme för misslyckande, lekfullhet, utforskande och samarbete, som konceptualiseras genom interaktion mellan flera av människans sinnen. Denna studie skulle behöva större forskning och skapa utrymme för mer forskning om särskilt de samhälleliga aspekterna av inkludering, som till exempel genus.

There has recently been an increased interest in hydrogen, both as a solution for seasonal energy storage but also for implementations in various industries and as fuel for vehicles. The transition to a society less dependent on fossil fuels highlights the need for new solutions where hydrogen is predicted to play a key role. This project aims to investigate technical and economic outcomes of different strategies for production and storage of hydrogen based on hydrogen demand and source of electricity. This is done by simulating the operation of different systems over a year, mapping the storage level, the source of electricity, and calculating the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH). The study examines two main cases. The first case is a system integrated with offshore wind power for production of hydrogen to fuel the operations in the industrial port Gävle Hamn. The second case examines a system for independent refueling stations where two locations with different electricity prices and traffic flows are analyzed. Factors such as demand, electricity prices, and component costs are investigated through simulating cases as well as a sensitivity analysis. Future potential sources of income are also analyzed and discussed. The results show that using an alkaline electrolyzer (AEL) achieves the lowest LCOH while PEM electrolyzer is more flexible in its operation which enables the system to utilize more electricity from the offshore wind power. When the cost of wind electricity exceeds the average electricity price on the grid, a higher share of wind electricity relative to electricity from the grid being utilized in the production results in a higher LCOH. The optimal design of the storage depends on the demand, where using vessels above ground is the most beneficial option for smaller systems and larger systems benefit financially from using a lined rock cavern (LRC). Hence, the optimal design of a system depends on the demand, electricity source, and ultimately on the purpose of the system. The results show great potential for future implementation of hydrogen systems integrated with wind power. Considering the increased share of wind electricity in the energy system and the expected growth of the hydrogen market, these are results worth acknowledging in future projects.