Transportation and mobility are important components in the organisation and structure of people´s daily activities, but the transport sector has considerable environmental impacts, e.g. greenhouse gas emissions and land use. Governance of the sector is difficult, as there is an ongoing a shift in governance structures away from hierarchical towards more collaborative governance. Given these challenges, it may be necessary to shift the focus from mobility to accessibility and to adopt a new paradigm in transport planning. This thesis critically investigates what a paradigm shift might mean for the Swedish national and municipal transport, housing and parking planning context and examines what a Social Practice Theory framework could contribute in analysing such a paradigm shift. This is done by investigating three different policies that are arguably in line with a shift in planning paradigms. All three policy measures open up decision making to different stakeholders or even citizens, reflecting a shift in governance, and all highlight the need to shift the focus from physical infrastructure to accessibility, through collaboration with a range of stakeholders. However, in each case, current conditions and practices render a transition more difficult. The Swedish Transport Administration (STA) states the importance of reducing the need to travel and of using existing infrastructure more efficiently, and stipulates that these types of measures should be considered before new infrastructure investments. However, the STA has a limited mandate to finance these measures, resulting in ambiguous signals and frustration among regional STA officials. This thesis shows that making the STA’s mandate more function-oriented would facilitate a transition in line with the sustainable mobility paradigm. Another policy measure discussed in the thesis is a shift from minimum parking requirements, where developers are required to build a minimum number of parking spaces, to flexible parking requirements, where the number of parking spaces provided depends on the local context and where other mobility services may replace the need for physical parking spaces. In this thesis, people who have bought apartments in developments with flexible parking requirements were surveyed in order to understand their practices and how they perceive and plan to use the mobility services provided. The feasibility of using a new parking management tool, Parking Benefit Districts, in a European context (Stockholm, Sweden) was assessed. In a Parking Benefit Districts system, parking charges are implemented, increased or extended to curb parking, with the revenues being returned to the area where the charges are imposed and with citizens, or other stakeholders, participating in decisions on how to use the revenues. The underlying intention is to increase acceptance of parking charges, as on-street parking charges may be deemed necessary by planners, but are unpopular among citizens and other stakeholders. This thesis shows that there are no legal barriers to implementing a Parking Benefit District programme in Sweden, but there are some limitations on how revenues can be used. Moreover, Sweden does not have this planning tradition and the programme may not be perceived as legitimate. Another important issue is equity and participation, e.g. it is important to consider who to include and how to include them. Overall, the policy measures studied involve a shift away from an infrastructure-centred to a people-centred approach. However, other planning practices and institutions may push in different directions. This thesis shows that a Social Practice Theory framework can be useful as a lens through which researchers and policymakers view possible changes needed to achieve a sustainable mobility paradigm. / Transport och mobilitet är viktiga komponenter i organiseringen och strukturen av människors dagliga aktiviteter. Transportsektorn ger emellertid upphov till stor miljöpåverkan, exempelvis växthusgasutsläpp och markanvändning. Governance av sektorn är komplicerad och det har skett ett skifte från en hierarkisk styrning mot en större delaktighet och samarbete mellan olika aktörer. Givet dessa utmaningar kan det finnas behov av att flytta fokus från att palnera för rörlighet till tillgänglighet samt att ändra planeringsparadigmer. Syftet med avhandlingen är dels att kritiskt undersöka vad ett paradigmskifte skulle kunna innebära i det svenska nationella och kommunala transport-, bostads- och parkeringsplaneringssammanhanget, dels att undersöka hur ett Social Practice Theory ramverk skulle kunna bidra till förståelsen av ett sådant paradigmskifte. För att göra detta har avhandlingen undersökt tre policys som är i linje med ett paradigmskifte. Alla policys som diskuteras i avhandlingen öppnar upp beslutsfattande för olika aktörer eller medborgare. Vidare lyfter alla diskuterade strategier fram behovet av att flytta fokus från fysisk infrastruktur till tillgänglighet och att samarbete mellan olika intressenter är nödvändigt. I varje fall finns dock förhållanden och praktiker som försvårar omställningen. Trafikverket framhåller exempelvis vikten av att minska behovet av att resa och av att använda befintlig infrastruktur mer effektivt, och de menar att dessa åtgärder bör övervägas innan nya infrastrukturinvesteringar. Samtidigt har Trafikverket begränsat mandat att finansiera dessa åtgärder, vilket ger upphov till tvetydiga signaler och frustration bland regionala planerare på Trafikverket. Papper I argumenterar för att ett mer funktionsorienterat mandat skulle kunna underlätta en ett paradigmskifte i linje med en ’sustainable mobility paradigm’. I paper II diskuteras en förändring från miniminorm för parkeringsplatser vid bostäder, där byggherrarna måste bygga minst ett visst antal parkeringsplatser, till flexibla parkeringstal, där antal parkeringsplatser som ska byggas beror på den lokala kontexten och där andra mobilitetstjänster kan ersätta behovet av parkeringsplatser. I detta paper studeras personer som har köpt lägenheter i flerbostadshus med flexibla parkeringstal. Målet är att förstå dessa människors praktiker och hur de använder och uppfattar de mobilitetstjänster som tillhandahålls. I papper III diskuteras möjligheten att använda ett nytt parkeringsverktyg, Parking Benefit Districts, i en europeisk kontext. Parkering Benefit Districts är ett koncept där parkeringsavgifter på gatan införs, höjs eller utökas. Intäkterna från parkeringsavgifterna återförs därefter till det område där de togs ut, och medborgare, eller andra intressenter i området, deltar sedan i beslutet om hur intäkterna ska användas. Syftet med denna åtgärd har traditionellt varit att öka acceptansen för parkeringsavgifter, eftersom parkeringsavgifter på gatan kan anses vara fördelaktiga av planerare, men impopulära bland medborgare och andra intressenter. Paper III nämner i analysen att det inte finns några legala hinder för att genomföra ett Parking Benefit District program i Sverige, men det finns vissa begränsningar för hur intäkterna kan användas. Planerare i Stockholms stad hävdar dock att Sverige inte har den här planeringstraditionen och påpekar att ett sådant åtgärd kanske inte uppfattas som legitim. En annan viktig fråga att diskutera är jämlikhet och deltagande. Det finns en risk att vissa grupper i samhället inte deltar i samma utsträckning och det är därför viktigt att överväga vem som ska involveras samt hur det ska ske. I slutet diskuteras resultaten i relation till forskningsfrågorna. Alla de studerade policys skiftar fokus från fysisk infrastruktur till människors behov. Samtidigt finns det andra planerings praktiker och institutioner som drar samhällsutvecklingen i motsatt riktning. I avhandlingen diskuteras även hur ett Social Practice ramverk kan hjälpa både forskare och beslutsfattare att se de förändringar som behövs för att nå en ’sustainable mobility paradigm’. / <p>QC 20181228</p>

The enormous amount of household food waste in developed countries is a global environmental and climate threat. To reduce household food waste, various behavior change campaigns and interventions are conducted. Most conventional behavior change interventions designed to reduce household food waste are based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and are information heavy. These have shown, however, to not be effective enough to result in a fast and sizable enough decrease of household food waste in developed countries, thus reducing climate and environmental impact in a timely and sizeable enough way. The more systemic, holistic and practically oriented Social Practice Theory (SPT) theoretical framework is proposed by different authors as an alternative to the conventionally used TPB theoretical framework to design (behavior) change interventions. SPT is thought to lead to greater and faster reduction of food waste at the household level and to a general change in the food supply system. Nevertheless, interventions are oftennot created according to their proposed theoretical framework and no “direct” comparison between both theoreticalframeworks at the intervention level has been conducted. This thesis compares two case studies describing food waste reduction interventions, one with a TPB theoretical framework and the other with a SPT theoretical framework. The results show that when considering food waste reduction interventions at the household levels in developed countries the SPT might be a more effective theoretical framework for an intervention design compared to a TPB theoretical framework. Specifically, the SPT theoretical framework includes more relevant system stakeholders in the intervention creation leading to a more context specific design. Additionally, the emphasis of actual “doing” in an intervention based on an SPT theoretical framework createsa potential for more long-term change, compared to a TPB theoretical framework. However, this thesis also suggests that merging of the two theories should be further research and discussed, because of the potential greater effectiveness in actual food waste reduction.

The thesis shows how practice theory can be applied in different ways when exploring how daily life can be supported to become more environmentally sustainable. Ultimately the thesis aims to contribute to new knowledge on how to design policies and interventions that aim at facilitating environmentally sustainable practices.  This thesis argues that practice theory is useful in the field of sustainability research since it offers as point of departure a perspective on human everyday life which decentres focus from individual behaviour and instead looks at how social practices are constructed by integrating and combining material, bodily and mental elements. The thesis discusses the following questions: i) How can the role of ICT in everyday life be conceptualized from a practice perspective?, ii) How can practice theory be used in order to describe and assess second order environmental effects? and iii) What are the key considerations from a practice perspective when designing social/physical interventions for sustainable mobility? The papers in this thesis all use practice theory as point of departure but with different outcomes. Practice theory is thus used conceptually, methodologically and analytically. The main conclusions of the thesis are:  Changes in practices due to ICT usage will inevitably have environmental impacts, both negative and positive, and for policy-makers it is imperative to take this into consideration when planning for the future and actively support and facilitate sustainable social practices. Looking at changes in practices due to new ICT usage can be one way to include second order effects in environmental assessments, in this way contributing to a discussion of potential environmental impacts from implementing a new product, application or service. Interventions, such as a cargo bike pool or restrictive work travel policies, have the potential to change existing practices. However, the potential of these changes, depend on a variety of different factors which are more or less difficult to influence for the individual practitioner such as work location, time schedules, availability of transportation means and modes. Further, it is difficult to foresee exactly how such changes will look and if they sustain in the long run. Finally, it is not necessarily so that an intervention will have the desired outcome that was intended, the outcome might be something else, consequently this means that interventions need to be analysed and assessed from other perspectives, one being a practice perspective. / Denna avhandling visar hur praktikteori (practice theory) kan tillämpas på olika sätt när man ska utforska hur det dagliga livet kan bli mer miljömässigt hållbart. Ytterst syftar avhandlingen till att bidra till ny kunskap om hur man kan utforma strategier och åtgärder som syftar till att stödja miljömässigt hållbara praktiker. Denna avhandling hävdar att praktikteori är användbart inom hållbarhetsforskning eftersom den utgår från de vardagliga praktikerna. Detta ger ett perspektiv på människors vardagsliv som lyfter fokus upp från individens beteende och istället undersöker hur praktiker skapas och omskapas genom de element (material, färdigheter och symbolisk innebörd) som utgör en social praktik. Avhandlingen behandlar följande frågor: i) Hur kan IKT: s roll i det dagliga livet begreppsliggöras?, ii) Hur kan praktikteori användas för att beskriva och andra ordningens miljöeffekter i miljöbedömningar? och iii) Vilka är de viktigaste överväganden utifrån ett praktikteoriperspektiv vid utformningen av sociala och/eller fysiska åtgärder för hållbar mobilitet? Artiklarna i denna avhandling utgår från praktikteori, men det teoretiska ramverket används på ett konceptuellt, metodologiskt eller analytiskt vis i de olika artiklarna. De viktigaste slutsatserna i avhandlingen är: Förändringar i till följd av IKT-användning kommer oundvikligen ha miljöpåverkan som kan vara både negativ och positiv.  För beslutsfattare är det viktigt att ta hänsyn till detta när man planerar för framtiden och aktivt stödja och underlätta för hållbara sociala praktiker. Miljöbedömningar behöver kunna hantera och inkludera så kallade effekter av andra ordningen för att kunna bedöma potentiell miljöpåverkan som en ny produkt, program eller en tjänst kan ha. Ett sätt att inkludera andra ordningens effekter i miljöbedömningar kan vara att titta på förändringar i vardagliga praktiker som uppstår vid användning av IKT. Interventioner och andra typer av åtgärder har potential att förändra befintliga mobilitetspraktiker. Men dessa potentiella förändringar, beror på en rad olika faktorer som är mer eller mindre svårt att påverka för den enskilde utövaren så som arbetsplatsens lokalisering, scheman, tillgång till transportmedel och transportsätt. Vidare är det svårt att förutse exakt hur sådana förändringar kommer att se ut och om de håller i sig i det långa loppet. Slutligen är det inte nödvändigtvis så att en intervention eller annan åtgärd kommer att ha det önskade resultatet som avsågs, utan resultatet kan snarare vara något annat. Detta innebär att insatser och åtgärder måste analyseras och bedömas ur andra perspektiv, till exempel ett praktikteoretiskt perspektiv. / <p>QC 20151023</p>

Food production has been shown to have considerable negative impacts on the environment. A means to reduce this is to choose organic products when shopping for food. Through the case of the EcoPanel, a web application prototype that visualises the organic proportion of the household’s food shopping, the thesis explores the intersection between design, reflection and sustainable food shopping practices. In order to contextualise the role of the EcoPanel, the text discusses the concept of food shopping practice, both from the perspective of social practice theory (SPT), and the more focused food choice perspective. The studies show that it is fundamental to understand the complexity of choosing food, and the habitual aspect of practice, in order to understand the role of reflection in food shopping practice, and consequently the role of a tool for reflective decision-making, like the EcoPanel. We have used a research through design approach to develop the EcoPanel prototype. In an iterative process we probed how the EcoPanel could be designed to be as relevant and accessible for the users as possible. Essential in the process were the iterative user feedback sessions. The way in which the users answered the questions from the sessions formed the guiding principles for the development of the design. A central question in the thesis is to explore in what ways the users’ access to their individual sustainable grocery data provided by the EcoPanel affects their food shopping practices. The studies include monitoring sixty-five users of the EcoPanel over five months, a survey regarding aspects of lifestyle and attitudes to food, and interviews with ten of the users. The long-term study shows an increased organic purchase level (17%) for the EcoPanel users in comparison to the reference group. We also see that when the users receive feedback on their organic food purchases through the EcoPanel, they can make more reflective decisions. This is shown to be highly relevant and creates meaning for the users in several different ways. From this result, in combination with the result of the long-term study, we can conclude that the EcoPanel contributes with support for more sustainable food practices. The last question in the thesis is to understand how SPT can be useful for design practice. SPT shows a view that goes beyond the traditional interaction perspective, and points to the importance of approaching complex issues, such as sustainability challenges, with an awareness that also includes social and cultural aspects of the context. As well as this view being pertinent when approaching sustainability issues, it also provides value to designers in their emerging roles of dealing with more socially embedded concerns, such as social innovation and design for public policies. / <p>QC 20160311</p>

Consumption of everyday products is an unintentional behavior most individuals act out without thinking of it. These products can end up as litter discarded in nature. Littering is an important field to study in order to achieve a sustainable future. Littering has large consequences on the environment, animals, and humans as it contributes to pollution, biodiversity loss and unsafe environments. Municipalities in Sweden have large expenses from cleaning up wrongfully placed litter. It is illegal to litter in Sweden and despite this, many municipalities struggle with high amounts of litter. Strängnäs municipality, Sweden, have acknowledged this problem and are looking for new strategies to change the current behaviors of their residents. Residents in Strängnäs answered a questionnaire regarding their current littering behaviors, their attitudes towards the field and how communication can influence their behaviors to understand which influences are important regarding littering. The aim of this study was to understand what behaviors individuals currently have, what influences these behaviors and how Strängnäs municipality can work more with communication towards the residents. The background and theoretical approach provided and understanding of previous studies on littering, but also the importance of social norms and social environment. The theories used in this study was Social Practice Theory and Cognitive Dissonance Theory. The results from this study were that social norms influence the respondents’ behaviors; however, their current social environment did not tend to have the same influence as their upbringing. Younger residents also tended to litter more than older. The key results were that the individuals who participated in the study were very unhappy with the current situation and the work that Strängnäs municipality currently are doing regarding littering. The respondents thought the city center to be very littered and unsafe, and there was a norm not to tell others not to litter if seen. However, many of the participants did not know what strategies the municipality already used which implies that the communication from the municipality could be improved. This study highlights the importance of communication and information and how these affect individuals littering behaviors through social norms.

This thesis departs from an understanding that humanity stands on the cusp of a global crisis, caused to a large degree by the lifestyle choices of humans. Therefore, posing the argument that it is changes in human action, behaviour and lifestyles that are needed to ensure that the development doesn’t continue on its current path. This thesis therefore aimed to explore the new green wave lifestyle, which pertains to people who are choosing to face these challenges head on by actively changing and adopting a self-sustainable lifestyle. To explore this aim, the study utilised a theoretical framework consisting of two main concepts, social practice theory and the concept of lifestyles. The thesis used semi-structured interviews to gather data from individuals who actively made the active choice to change their way of living and adopt a self- sustainable lifestyle. The results show that the new green wavers rely heavily on inspiration from others to make their lifestyle change. This meant that being able to see and be inspired by other people’s alternative ways of living was integral for them to even comprehend the possibility of living a different lifestyle. The results also show that in enacting their new green wave lifestyle the participants chose to partake in alternative practices or enacting practices in a different way compared to how they conventionally might be enacted. Additionally, the results show that the new green wavers encounter challenges in enacting their lifestyle, which relates to a lack of available knowledge of how alternative practices are to be enacted but also the challenges posed by society in terms of legislation and bureaucracy.

This study identifies enabling factors for a circular business model that focuses on use-oriented services in the fashion industry. The objective is to provide an overview of the possibilities of use-oriented services for sustainability and to determine motives for renting everyday clothes from a consumer perspective.The clothing industry is one of the most polluting and unsustainable business industries (Leal Filho et al., 2019). It starts to move towards the wider movement of circular economy and use-oriented service businesses, which some scholars see PSS as a sustainable business option due to its reduced environmental impact of economic activity (Baines et al., 2007). With the concept being tested on less quality-focused fashion retailers, the concept's real strength can be slowly analyzed. This study focuses on incentives and obstacles for conscious consumers to participate in a fashion renting program as well as the possibilities for sustainability from a consumer perspective. A multidisciplinary literature review was conducted to get insights into the topics of sustainable business models, circular businesses in particular, and product service systems, especially in the fashion industry. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect empirical data that were analyzed and related to the concept of social practice theory. The results show that renting everyday garments appears as a new concept that has not been considered yet. There is a general interest in renting special occasion clothes. Identified obstacles are the own lack of interest in fashion styles, no need for new clothes, quality, as well as logistic and transportation concerns.Sustainability was an overall important aspect for all respondents and, therefore, the concept of renting was mainly discussed in the sense of providing a sustainable purpose. Participants agreed that the business model could contribute to sustainability when the lifetime of garments is significantly extended. However, they questioned if renting can really decouple economic success from material consumption.

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Using portraiture methodology and social practice theory, this study examined the identity work of young people engaged in a teen arts internship program at a contemporary arts center in post-Katrina New Orleans. This research asked four interrelated questions. Through the lens of a teen arts internship at a contemporary arts center in post-Katrina New Orleans, 1) How do contextual figured worlds influence artist identity work? 2) How does artist identity work manifest through personal narratives? 3) How does artist identity work manifest in activities? 4) What are the consequences of artist identity work? The findings of the study highlight how sociocultural factors influence dis/identification with the visual arts in young people and provoke considerations of in/equity in the arts.