The Social dimension of Sustainability and SCM (supply chain management) are two concepts that have been discussed over the last decade. Nowadays, the increasing integration of social sustainability into SCM becomes an evolving area. The main purpose of this master thesis is to gain better understanding of what are the drivers and barriers for implementing social sustainability inthesupply chainin the context of SMEs. In order to get a deep understanding of how these practices are implemented, we proposed asecondresearch questionto understand the efforts that companieshave made on implementing social sustainability and how far are their implementations of different social sustainability practices.The study involves four different organizations with operations in three different countries, respectively: Romania, Sudan and Namibia. As for the choice of theories for this thesis, we have chosen relevant concepts, such as Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM), Social Sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and thestakeholder theory.After systematically review of current literature in social sustainabilitysupply chain management, we discoveredthat there is a gap in research sincethere are limited studies concerning thedrivers and barriers for the adoption of social dimension inSSCM,and also how social sustainability managerial practices are actually implemented in SMEs.In order to fulfil the purpose of the thesis, a qualitative method study has been conducted. By using a qualitative research method, we aim to get comprehensive information related to the perceptions of different organizational employees, such as CEO(chief executive officer), supply chain managers, legal advisers, or executive directors. Through the semi-structured interviews, we gained a deeper understanding of the drivers and barriers that organizations face when trying to implement social sustainability in the supply chain. Our interview guide was divided into four major themes, respectively: Social Sustainability in Supply Chain Management, Stakeholders, Drivers and Barriers, and Implementation.The findings of the study revealed that there are numerous motivators for and barriers to social SSCM implementation. Stakeholders such as customers, community and NGOs were reported by respondents as driving forces for the integration of social sustainabilitypractices in their companies. We also found that government influence is a strong driver for improving socialsustainable practices for companies. The government can also use tools such as market incentives (e.g. grants and incentives) or direct regulations to strengthen SSCM adoption. However, the lack of regulation may reduce the pace of social SSCM adoption. We believe that building health and sustainable relations with all kinds of internal and external stakeholders is important when implementing social sustainable in supply chainin SMEs.

In this paper, the intention is to analyze the role of the European Union (EU) in the projects which aim towards urban social sustainable development. The city of Malmö and its district of Fosie serve as an example of a concrete geo-political entity. The study presents facts concerning the EU urban policy and data regarding the EU´s influence in the area of urban social sustainability in Malmö and the district of Fosie. The data are analyzed with use of the concept of urban social sustainable development and the theory of actorness. The results disclose that by applying ‘soft politics’ based on partnership, encouragement and support, the EU established itself as an important local actor in the area of social sustainability, and suggest that the validity of this claim may be EU wide. The EU will likely continue to develop further as an actor in this field; it is the intention of the EU as well as the ambition of the city of Malmö.

Sustainable development consists of three different dimensions, social, economic and ecological sustainable development. Social sustainability focuses on social factors such as human rights, democracy, health, education and gender equality. Economic sustainability can be understood as economic development which does not adversely be at the expense of ecological or social sustainability. Ecological sustainability focuses on the environment where production of goods and services does not compromise the ability of ecosystems. The different dimensions concerns different issues in sustainability work and there are different ways of wiewing their relationship.   Moreover, the issue of the study is to develop an understanding of sustainable development's dimensions from a holistic perspective. The aim is also to highlight the geography teaching in today's school, where the scope of the different dimensions is prioritized. This study is of a qualitative nature. The result is based on semi structured interviews with three teachers in geography. They show that the participant's views on sustainable development differ. Two of the teachers have a view that is based in the ecological dimension while one teacher sees sustainable development from a holistic perspective. The result also shows that teacher's perceptions of sustainable development affect the scope of the dimensions of their teaching. Common to the three teachers is that the social dimension gets the least space in the teacher's teaching.

In the shift towards a sustainable society, there have been varying interpretations of what this will mean for the social sphere. Using the parameters for social sustainability presented in the framework for strategic sustainable development (FSSD), this research sought to assist sustainability practitioners in identifying and eliminating the creation of or contribution to barriers that undermine the individual’s capacity to meet their needs. In doing so, the researchers explored the processes of social systems and employed a systems thinking perspective to examine how an organization could, through the intentional structuring of its processes, work to eliminate their contributions to arriers. From this research, characteristics of processes that move an organization towards socially sustainable development were identified as cooperation, transparency, openness, inclusiveness and involvement, around which a guidebook was developed to promote organizational reflection and examination of processes in regards to these characteristics and fundamental human needs. / This thesis aims to provide useful guidance for transforming organizational processes to better reflect a consideration of human needs. It seeks to address structures which act as barriers to the capacity of people to actualize their needs, and proposes a set of characteristics of processes that help to eliminate these barriers. / <p>andbenaim@yahoo.com.br - Andre Benaim acollins01@gmail.com - Amber C. Collins lraftis@gmail.com - Luke Raftis</p>

Syftet med studien är att öka kunskaper kring lärares tankar om hur utomhuspedagogik kan bidra till lågstadieelevers måluppfyllelse och lärande för socialt hållbar utveckling, samt kunskaper kring hur elever interagerar när lärare använder utomhuspedagogik. Syftet undersöks med hjälp av sex kvalitativa intervjuer av lärare som arbetar aktivt med utomhuspedagogik samt tre observationer av elevers interaktioner i lärarnas utomhusundervisning. Studiens resultat visar att lärarna eftersträvar att kombinera teoretiska och praktiska erfarenheter som de menar kan bidra till en ökad måluppfyllelse för eleverna. I resultatet framkommer det att lärarna anser att utomhuspedagogik kan vara en inkluderande arbetsmetod för elevers lärande när språket är begränsat, eftersom den autentiska lärmiljön tillåter eleverna, med hjälp av sina sinnen, att kommunicera genom sitt kroppsspråk. Observationerna av elevernas interaktioner i utomhusundervisning visar att de får träna sina sociala förmågor genom att samarbeta och kommunicera med hjälp av utomhuspedagogikens praktiska inslag. Lärarna beskriver att utomhuspedagogik tillåter elever att lära genom en friare undervisning i en social gemenskap, där aktiviteter som sker i grupp är kärnan i lärarnas undervisning mot socialt hållbar utveckling. En slutsats är att det är viktigt att lärare får utbildning och kompetensutveckling för att bedriva utomhuspedagogisk undervisning som kan bidra till elevers kunskapsutveckling mot en hållbar framtid. / The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge about teachers’ thoughts on how outdoor pedagogy can contribute to primary students’ goal achievementsand learning for social sustainable development, as well as knowledge about how students interact when teachers use outdoor pedagogy. The purpose has been achieved with the help of six qualitative interviews of teachers that actively work with outdoor pedagogy and three observations of students’ interactions in outdoor education. The results of the study show that the teachers aim to combine theoretical and practical experiences that they believe can contribute to an increased goal achievement for students. The results also show that the teachers believe that outdoor pedagogy can be an inclusive working method for students’ education when language skills are limited, as the authentic outdoor environment allowthem to communicate through gestures and visual communication. The outdoor observations of student’s interactions show that they can practice their social skills with the help of the practical elements of outdoor pedagogy through collaborations and communication. Finally, the study’s respondents describe that outdoor pedagogy allows students to learn through a social and unconfined teaching environment, where group work is the core of the teachers’ educational teachings towards social sustainable development. In conclusion, it is essential that teachers receive the education and skills needed to implement outdoor pedagogy that can contribute to students’ developmental knowledge towards a sustainable future.

Social sustainability is high on the agenda both internationally and nationally, but even though the work has been going on for over 30 years, Sweden has long to go before becoming equal. There are currently gaps in the Swedish research of social sustainability within urban planning. The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of strengthening the work of integrating social sustainability aspects into municipal urban and spatial planning in Sweden. In order to examine what the work on social sustainability looks like in Sweden, the study is applied to Gävle municipality. The study was conducted through a literature study and an interview study. The literature study shows that although there is no unanimous definition of social sustainability, several authors have tried to define the concept. A summary is that social sustainability can be divided into: Justice, Social Capacity, Holistic View, Collaboration and Participation, Access and Accessibility, Mixing and Variation, Affinity and Identity, as well as Well-being and Safety. The results of the interview study show that Gävle municipality has no unified definition of social sustainability and that they do not have an established working method to improve social sustainability although the interviewees identify several measures they use. / Social hållbarhet står högt på agendan både internationellt och nationellt, men även om arbetet har pågått i över 30 år har Sverige långt kvar innan samhället blir rättvist. Det finns idag stora kunskapsluckor i den svenska forskningen om socialt hållbar samhällsutveckling. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka möjligheten att stärka arbetet med att integrera aspekter av social hållbarhet i kommunal samhällsplanering och fysisk planering i Sverige. För att få kunskap om hur arbetet med social hållbarhet ser ut i Sverige utförs en studie på Gävle kommun. Studien utfördes genom en litteraturstudie och en intervjustudie. Resultatet från litteraturstudien visar att även om det inte finns någon enhällig definition av social hållbarhet har flera författare försökt definiera begreppet. En sammanfattad bild är att social hållbarhet kan delas in i: Rättvisa, Samhällskapacitet, Helhetssyn, Samverkan och delaktighet, Tillgång och tillgänglighet, Blandning och variation, Samhörighet och identitet samt Välmående och säkerhet. Resultatet från intervjustudien visar att Gävle kommun inte har någon enhällig definition av social hållbarhet. Kommunen har inte heller något utarbetat arbetssätt för att förbättra den sociala hållbarheten men intervjudeltagarna identifierar ett antal åtgärder de använder sig av för att förbättra den sociala hållbarheten.

Genom integrering av jämställdhet kan medborgarnas intressen och rättigheter tillgodoses och beaktas. Ett jämställdhetsperspektiv är ett brett begrepp och fångar in flera olika aspekter och bidrar till ökad social hållbarhet. Jämställdhet uppnås när kvinnor och män, flickor och pojkar har lika rättigheter, villkor och möjligheter att forma sina liv. Det inkluderar även rättvis makt och inflytande av samhällsutvecklingen. I ett urbaniserat samhälle krävs det att markanvändningen effektiviseras. Här kan ett hållbart transportsystem bidra till ett hållbart samhälle med god livsmiljö. För att uppnå de nationella och globala hållbarhetsmålen kommer cykeln få större betydelse för samhället. I Sverige är cykelplaner ett relativt nytt strategiskt dokument för kommuner att arbeta med. I nuläget finns det inga nationella riktlinjer och strategier för hur detta arbete ska gå till. Det är upp till kommunerna själva att arbeta fram ett sådant strategiskt cykeldokument. Syftet med detta arbete var att med hjälp av en innehållsanalys ta reda på om jämställdhetsperspektivet är integrerat i cykelplaner, där sex svenska kommuners planer granskats. Arbetets målsättning är att skapa ett underlag som kan användas för att säkerställa jämställdheten i cykelplaner. Jämställdhet är komplext och genom litteraturstudien har begreppet brutits ner till åtta aspekter för att göra begreppet mer konkret. För att genomföra innehållsanalysen utformades en checklista. Checklistan baserades på två befintliga checklistor från SKL och Alingsås kommun, som sedan utvecklades succesivt genom abduktion mellan cykelplanerna och checklistan. Resultatet av studien visar att jämställdhet kan vara svårt att integrera i cykelplaner. Studien har bidragit med en analysmetod som möjliggör en granskning av jämställdhet i plandokument på ett kvalitativt sätt. För att kommuner ska kunna öka jämställdheten i plandokument har denna studie gett ett förslag på ett verktyg, en jämställdhetkonsekvensbeskrivning. Detta verktyg ska fungera som ett stöd till kommuner för att integrera jämställdhet tidigt i arbetsprocesser och användas kontinuerligt under utvecklingen av samhället. / By implementing gender equality, citizens' interests and rights may be met by considering various aspects of its perception. A gender equality perspective captures different aspects of the notion and contribute to an increase in social sustainability. Gender equality is achieved when women, men, girls, and boys have equal rights, conditions and opportunities to shape their lives in accordance to their own free will. This also includes a fair power balance between the genders and their ability to actively influence on social development. In an urbanized society, the use of land needs to be optimized and effective. Therefore, a sustainable and optimized transportation system, can contribute to a sustainable society. In the long-term perspective, this could mean a better day to day living situation for the future urban citizen.  To achieve national and global sustainability goals, the bicycle will be more important for the society. Regarding the bicycle as means of a more active and modern way of transportation, strategic planning for bicycles is a relatively new phenomena in Swedish municipalities. Currently there are no national guidelines or strategies for how such planning and development should be executed. Today the municipalities themselves are responsible to develop their own strategic documents regarding how the bicycle could be implemented into their future local community. The purpose of this study was to find out if gender equality is integrated into bicycling transportations plans from six Swedish municipalities, using a content analysis. The aim of the study was to create a basis of analysis that can be used to ensure equality in bicycle transportation plans. Gender equality is a complex issue and through the literature study, the term have been broken down to eight aspects to create an easier understanding. To perform the content analysis, a checklist was created. The checklist was based on two existing checklists from SKL (Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting) and Alingsås municipality, which subsequently was developed by abduction between bicycle transportation plans and the checklist. The results of the study show that gender equality is difficult to integrate into bicycle transportation plans. The study has contributed to an analytical method that enables a qualitative review of gender equality in strategic planning documents. For municipalities to increase gender equality in planning documents, this study has provided a proposal for an instrument, a gender equality impact report. This instrument will serve as a support for municipalities to integrate gender equality early in work processes and be used continuously in the development of society.

With a grant from Sida I went to Odisha, to learn about women’s local conditions and try to find out how a building could somehow ameliorate it. Through Architects Sans Frontières I got in touch with Urban and Development Resource Centre, working with upgrading slum areas. They had a budget for a new Community Centre in Nayapalli in Bhubaneswar, but no architect. The Community Centre includes a playschool, a medical centre and community meeting spaces. The building permit for this is currently with the municipality of Bhubaneswar. Today alcoholism is a major problem among the Nayapalli men. Most of them are unemployed and the young men lack alternatives. The women are the main providers for their families, working as house maids. My second proposal is a merely theoretical addition – a Launderette. It will not cure alcoholism, but it will employ a few people and give them possibility to support their families. It will relief some women from time-consuming hand wash and give them time to do something they find more interesting.  And maybe it can give some repute to the area, and make its community proud of it. / Med ett stipendium från Sida åkte jag till Odisha för att studera kvinnors situation och försöka komma på hur den kunde förbättras genom en byggnad. Genom Arkitekter utan gränser kom jag i kontakt med Urban and Development Resource Centre som arbetar med uppgradering av slumområden. De hade en budget för ett nytt Community center i Nayapalli i Bhubaneswar, men ingen arkitekt. Community centret innehåller förskola, medicinsk mottagning och möteslokaler, och bygglovet behandlas nu av kommunen. Idag är alkoholism utbrett bland männen i Nayapalli. De flesta är dessutom arbetslösa och de unga saknar alternativ. Kvinnorna försörjer familjerna. Mitt andra förslag är ett rent teoretiskt tillägg – ett tvätteri. Det kommer inte att bota alkoholism, men det kommer att kunna anställa några personer och ge dem möjlighet att försörja sina familjer. Det kommer att befria åtminstone några kvinnor från mödosam och tidskrävande handtvätt och ge dem tid att göra något de hellre vill. Och kanske kan det göra området mer känt och dess invånare stolta över det.