The project of sustainable development, as reflected in the Agenda 2030 and the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals, plays a central role in the story of crisis and transformation today. Yet, this project has rarely been the object of ideology critique. This paper formulates an ideology critique as a form of immanent critique of the project of sustainable development with a basis in Herbert Marcuse’s one-dimensionality thesis. The analysis of the ideology of sustainable development is structured around the three-pillar conception of sustainability which is applied in the Agenda 2030. The transformative potential of the project of sustainable development is assessed on the background of the analysis. The transformative potential in each of the three pillars is found to be inhibited by the project of sustainable development and the paper identifies and explains the ideological mechanisms through which this inhibition takes place. The research suggests that the project of sustainable development cannot be seen as a transformative project.

Bioeconomy strategies in high income societies focus at replacing finite, fossil resources by renewable, biological resources to reconcile macro-economic concerns with climate constraints. However, the current bioeconomy is associated with critical levels of environmental degradation. As a potential increase in biological resource use may further threaten the capacity of ecosystems to fulfil human needs, it remains unclear whether bioeconomy transitions in high income countries are sustainable. In order to fill a gap in bioeconomy sustainability assessments, we apply an ontological lens of coupled social-ecological systems to explore critical mechanisms in relation to bioeconomy activities in the global resource system. This contributes to a social-ecological systems (SES)-based understanding of sustainability from a high income country perspective: the capacity of humans to satisfy their needs with strategies that reduce current levels of pressures and impacts on ecosystems. Building on this notion of agency, we develop a framework prototype that captures the systemic relation between individual human needs and collective social outcomes on the one hand (microlevel) and social-ecological impacts in the global resource system on the other hand (macro-level). The BIO-SES framework emphasizes the role of responsible consumption (for physical health), responsible production (to reduce stressors on the environment), and the role of autonomy and selforganisation (to protect the reproduction capacity of social-ecological systems). In particular, the BIO-SES framework can support (1) individual and collective agency in high income country contexts to reduce global resource use and related ecosystem impacts with a bioeconomy strategy, (2) aligning social outcomes, monitoring efforts and governance structures with place-based efforts to achieve the SDGs, as well as (3), advancing the evidence base and social-ecological theory on responsible bioeconomy transitions in the limited biosphere.

The 21st century is marked by the forecast of a frightful set of crises caused by anthropogenic activities. Among them, an emerging water crisis threatens the existence of life on the planet. It is mainly triggered by a lack of good water governance. The concept of water governance refers to a range of different societal systems that are involved in the management of water resources, and the delivery of water services. However, these systems are threatened by several problems causing a mismanagement of water resources, involving corruption, deficits of democratization, or inequalities. This study examines commitments to improved water, sanitation, and hygiene provided by the Sanitation and Water for All partnership through a qualitative content analysis in order to allow an insight in current goal-setting for improved water governance. In this study, we show that even though stakeholders across geographical regions and constituencies aim at efficient governance measures, they neglect the importance of the procedural factors of good governance, for instance participation or adaptiveness. Instead they mostly focus on the outcome. Further, the study reveals that the commitments lack timely and measurable components and often do not include allocation of budgets. Although stakeholders show their intention to commit to action and work collaboratively, they often lack long-term thinking. Against the background of emerging global challenges in the water sector, most stakeholders are not yet prepared to work efficiently with new forms of governance in order to establish sustainable and resilient systems. Nevertheless, multi-stakeholder partnerships provide a basis to start a learning journey and can help to facilitate capacity development and future literacy. This thesis reveals starting points for improvement, gives practical recommendations for action and further research directions, that are necessary to explore the differences between regions and constituencies further and improve the goal-setting process in the following years.

As the world becomes more connected, issues surrounding sustainable development are coming to the fore of global discussions. This is exemplified in strategies such as the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), released in 2015, which created a framework for global development that defines specific goals for issues like poverty, climate change, and social justice. To complement the analysis that went into defining the SDGs, capital allocations around the world are becoming more impact focused so that the paradigm of development is shifting from donations to impact investments. The push for impact, however, has led to a homogenization of global challenges like reproductive health and poverty. This, in turn, has led to a standardization of information resulting in agencies designing interventions based on data and information that is misguided because of incorrect assumptions about a specific context. This paper explores how the decision-making mechanisms of global development agencies and investors could apply more anthropological processes to mitigate negative impact. As the development sector becomes more and more standardized, anthropologists can act as translators between affected communities and the institutions deciding how best to help them.

This is a study of how three national newspapers in Indonesia frame and build the frames of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reportage. Indonesia is one out of the 193 countries who signed the SDGs, which is a form of a globalization project. Using the Critical Discourse Analysis, several articles from Kompas, The Jakarta Post (the JP), and Media Indonesia (MI) are analyzed. By using Lecheller and de Vreese’s stages of framing model, findings of the CDA are then explained and put into the context of frame-building. CDA is also applied through interviewing the editors-in chief to apprehend the professional ideology of media institutions which influences the frame-building and the form of frames in the news.     The study finds that frame in the news of the SDGs reportage in Kompas, MI, and the JP thematizing Indonesia’s achievements within three main themes namely gender equality, partnership, and environment. The introverted domestications with domestic outlook dominate the SDGs reportage. According to the editorial policy makers in the newspapers, the frame-building of frequent absence of the global outlook and extraverted domestication are influenced by the target readers  (Kompas), reader’s occupation and limited human and financial resources (the JP), and the editorial policy of supporting the government (the JP and MI).

The present thesis explores the impact of SDG 12 on corporate sustainable reporting as way to show the impact of the global governance on the private sector. It is based on the up to date debates on the difficulty of global governance, the usual corporate motives behind sustainable actions, as well as the issues which relate to the use of quantitative indicators to evaluate in the SDGs. The data used in the analysis was produced through the use of qualitative content analysis applied to twelve corporate reports from years 2016 and 2017/18 of companies that participated in the “Reporting on the SDGs Action” platform. The thesis makes a new contribution to the field of IR by transposing state-centered conceptual tools to the private sector and demonstrating that SDG 12 is making classical CSR strategies change towards CS, hence showing the new shifts in current global governance towards a stronger involvement of stakeholders.

Measuring levels of childhood mortality is important for low and middle-income countries to monitor overall development and progress towards improved child health. The overall aim of this research is to estimate the level and trend of childhood mortality in South Africa over time, and to examine the factors associated with and the determinants of childhood mortality. The study discovered that significant progress has been made to reduce the levels of childhood mortality in the country. The estimates derived through direct estimation using the 2016 South African Demographic and Health Survey (SADHS) for the period between 2012-2016 revealed age-specific mortality rates were: Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) was 22.0 per 1 000 live births, Post-neonatal Mortality Rate (PNMR) 13.1, 1q0 34.9, 1q4 5.5 and 5q0 40.2 per 1 000 live births. Investigation of the factors associated with childhood mortality revealed significant differentials in age group, sex, population group, province, socio-economic status and household characteristics. Overall, children aged less than one month and those aged between one to two months had a higher mortality risk than the other age groups; male children had an increased risk of dying than females; Black and Coloured children had an increased risk of dying compared to children in other population groups; children in Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and North West had a higher risk of dying compared to children in other provinces; children whose mothers had below secondary education had higher risks of mortality; and children with poor water source and toilet facility were more likely to die than other children with better facilities. The results were generally in agreement with the existing literature. Although the study found significant improvement in the level of childhood mortality over the period 1996-2016, further progress is achievable as many children still continue to die of preventable or treatable causes. The findings of this study may assist government, policymakers and researchers to plan, and implement targeted interventions that will further reduce the levels of childhood mortality in South Africa.

Sustainability is becoming more of a strategic tool in many companies today and will become even more important in the future. Hemfrid is today looking at many new business areas and has realized the importance of including sustainability in its new businesses. However, the link between sustainability and business development has not been researched in a larger extent and therefore there are no good methods to use. Therefore, the aim of this report is to provide a method and tool for Hemfrid to integrate sustainability aspects into their business development processes. To fulfil this aim, an analysis of current scientific literature and models within the areas of sustainability and business development was done. Based on those models, with a foundation in the Sustainable Development Goals, a model was created. To be able to weigh different impact area against each other, an MCA was conducted. Finally, the model was assessed through external feedback and through a SWOT analysis. The model is based on 14 of the 17 SDGs with specific impact categories for all of them. A tool was created in Excel to easily assess the impact of the new business development projects. Lastly a seminar was held with Hemfrid’s management team facilitating the model. / Hållbarhet håller idag på att utvecklas från ett område som de senaste åren varit en operationellt fokuserad verksamhet till något som mer och mer närmar sig strategiarbete. Som en del av den här utvecklingen börjar många företag konstatera att integrationen av hållbarhet i deras affärsutvecklingsarbete blir en fråga som blir allt viktigare. Hemfrid har de senaste 20 åren växt fram till ett marknadsledande företag inom hushållsnära tjänster där hemstädning för privatpersoner är den dominerande tjänsten. Hemfrid har valt att fokusera på att ge sina anställda kollektivavtal och trygg anställning och fokusera på sina anställda och kunder och i dagsläget tittar man på många nya affärsutvecklingsmöjligheter för att fortsätta erbjuda sina kunder hjälp i sina hem. I och med Hemfrids fokus på hållbarhet med schyssta arbetsvillkor och miljövänliga produkter har de även insett vikten av att även på ett tidigt stadium få in hållbarhetstänk i sitt affärsutvecklingsarbete. Denna rapport syftar därför till att skapa en modell och verktyg för Hemfrid för att integrera hållbarhetsaspekter i deras affärsutvecklingsarbete. Hemfrid-modellen är framtagen med de globala hållbarhetsmålen som utgångspunkt där olika kriterier identifierades inom varje mål som Hemfrid sedan kan utvärdera sina affärsutvecklingsprojekt utifrån. En litteraturstudie är även gjord där det identifierats nio ytterligare modeller inom hållbarhet respektive affärsutveckling som på olika sätt varit användbara för att skapa kriterier och övergripande användning av Hemfrid-modellen. Varje mål är viktat utifrån Hemfrids nuvarande verksamhet och strategi för att spegla företagets hållbarhetsprioriteringar. Verktyget är framtaget i Excel, baseras på en Multikriterieanalys och ger Hemfrid ett enkelt sätt att på en 5-gradig skala, för varje mål, utvärdera om kriterierna förändras från en skala mycket sämre till mycket bättre jämfört med dagens produkter eller tjänster. Verktyget visualiserar sedan om projektet som helhet är bra eller dåligt hållbarhetsmässigt samt vilka mål man har väldigt positiv påverkan på och bör kommunicera mot sina kunder samt vilka man bör se över och förbättra. Vidare har verktyget testats på två olika affärsutvecklingsprojekt där representanter från hållbarhetsavdelningen och affärsutvecklingsenheten fått ge feedback på användning och modellen har även presenterats och diskuterats tillsammans med Hemfrids ledning för att förankra modellens användande inom bolaget. Slutligen gjordes även en SWOT-analys där modellen visade vara över lag positiv. De negativa delarna med modellen ligger i att den är en förenkling av verkligheten och inte kommer kunna ta upp alla hållbarhetsaspekter som finns samt att det i användandet av modellen finns risk att man gör subjektiva bedömningar och ger sig själv bättre poäng än vad man egentligen borde. Modellen kommer dock kraftigt förenkla integrationen av hållbarhet i affärsutvecklingsprocesserna på Hemfrid och kommer användas för att försäkra att Hemfrid fortsätter vara starka inom hållbarhet och att erbjuda sina kunder smarta lösningar.

This dissertation explored how humanitarian organisations have supported Georgia to achieve the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of 2015, in particular the Planet Goals. It has proven difficult for Member States to turn the SDGs into national policy. Middle-income countries face challenges to focus on all goals simultaneously, while balancing economic development needs and environmental protection ambitions. Humanitarian organisations play a prominent role supporting the implementation of the SDGs. Therefore, this dissertation aims to answer the research question: How has humanitarian organisations been effective in supporting the implementation of the SDGs, particularly the Planet Goals, in Georgia?The theoretical backing to the research is based Arhin (2016), who studied humanitarian organisations and SDGs in Ghana. Arhin outlined three main roles of organisations in SDG work namely, implementation, advocacy, and facilitation. In addition, theories concerning the operational space of organisations as well as the SDGs as a system was used. A conceptual framework was created to guide the data collection and the analysis.The research was conducted as a qualitative case study, through interviews and documents. Nine interviews were conducted, along with a review of external aid reports, Voluntary National Reviews for 2016 and 2020 and the European Union-Georgia Association Agreement. The material was analysed using critical discourse theory, using a programme called ATLAS.ti.The results found that Georgia’s development agenda has an explicit focus on economic growth rather than environmental sustainability. There is a large disparity in society with substantial urban-rural divides. A part of the population needs basic necessities, typically in rural areas, whereas cities are more developed. The European Union-Georgia Association Agreement has had a large influence on the development focus and agenda in Georgia, and the Government prioritises policies to meet the requirements under this agreement to advance its European Union aspirations. The research concluded that there is no organised work towards implementing the SDGs in Georgia. Organisations designing and implementing projects align with the obligations under the European Union Association Agreement, and subsequently align project objectives and impact with the SDGs, as long as there is a natural fit between the set project objectives and the SDGs. Thus, SDGs do not guide the objective setting for projects. There is barely any advocacy of the 2030 Agenda in Georgia. In terms of facilitation, the SDGs are addressed at institutional level, which is somewhat politicised. The adoption of the SDGs can be considered a political manoeuvre to confirm Georgia’s commitment as a member of the global order, whereas the true focus of Georgia’s development agenda focuses on economic growth under the European Union-Georgia Association Agreement.

The aim of this study is to explore how Catalan primary teachers perceive the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the Catalan curriculum, as well as their experiences into teaching about sustainability issues. The study uses a qualitative research design, characterized by semi-structured interviews with twelve Catalan teachers. The teachers were working in primary schools in Catalonia both in public and private schools and in urban and rural areas. Through this approach, the research aims to explore teachers' perceptions, experiences, and challenges related to the integration of the SDGs within the curriculum. The qualitative data revealed both challenges and opportunities when integrating the SDGs in the classroom. The challenges especially concerned the initial and permanent teacher training and the overload that most teachers experience, while the opportunities focused on the great outdoor and environmental tradition that Catalonia has and the small changes in the curriculum, opening the path for a quality education in sustainability. This study complements already conducted research as it focuses on active teachers with experience working in Catalonia. The participants have been working for more than a year and trained in Catalonia, with its very specific context. This thesis provides a significant overview of the current situation of SDGs in the Catalan system, offering valuable insights for educational practitioners, policymakers, and researchers alike.