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.