Understanding how humans and ecosystems interact across landscapes is an importantchallenge for the development of sustainable societies. Human dominated landscapes arefrequently heterogeneous in their distribution of ecosystems and the associated goods andservices. It can be difficult to create management strategies that cater to diverse demandsfrom different resource managers, while at the same time promoting healthy functioningof ecosystems held in common. I use a social network perspective to analyze howmunicipal management units connect to each other with regards to a water resource intwo watersheds in Québec, Canada. I test the importance of collaborative network ties formunicipalities’ engagement in water quality management activities. I assess ifmunicipalities with different ecosystems, namely agriculture and tourism, engagedifferently in water quality management activities and if they have different socialnetworks. I assess the role of third party actor groups such as Government Ministries andNon-Governmental Organizations that connect municipalities across the diverselandscape. Third party actor groups are instrumental in connecting municipalities acrossa diverse landscape. Municipalities with ecosystems facilitating tourism have morecollaborative ties in the water quality management network and are more engaged inwater quality management activities than municipalities managing for agriculturalproduction. An asymmetry in collaborations and activity engagement for water qualitymanagement has implications for the capacity of the region to encourage basin scalewater management.

This paper explores a case study of a Swedish tool steel company undergoing a transition from traditional environmental management practices to an enterprise identifying its place as part of a social-ecological system. The Corporate Ecosystem Services Review (ESR) was utilized by the company to begin this process by focusing on ecosystem services to determine how an ESR approach contributes to environmental management in practice. What resulted moved beyond the ESR to a tailored methodology, the internalization of a systems perspective, and a proposed new environmental management system. The results of the study provide a concrete, effective method for internalizing a systems perspective through a focus on ecosystems and presents a case for further analysis into what made it successful. It also provides an example of translating theory into practice, illustrating how a company can engage in sustainable development by valuing and managing the resilience of social-ecological systems through identifying their place in that system. The value of the results can be high for the case study company as well as for business in general.

Integration of knowledge has become a contentious issue in an age where increasing specialisation creates boundaries and division. Yet, there is an identifiable need for integration across social, ecological and economic understandings if we are to address ever more threatening crises and alarming potential scenarios. This paper relates to the work of K. William Kapp and in so doing raises questions about how integration might be achieved. A core idea that arises is the role of common denominator concepts. (author's abstract) / Series: SRE - Discussion Papers

La menace représentée par le changement climatique, et en particulier l’élévation du niveau de la mer, sur les pays entièrement composés d’atolls est largement médiatisée. La République de Kiribati est un pays atollien situé dans l’océan Pacifique, peuplé par 100 000 habitants. Au cours des derniers siècles, les communautés atolliennes de Kiribati ont développé un système de gestion des ressources naturelles qui a assuré leur survie. Depuis quelques décennies, la mondialisation est cause de mutations rapides, en particulier dans le mode de vie et dans la relation des communautés atolliennes à leur environnement naturel. Étant donné le caractère fortement intégré du système sociétal et de l’écosystème dans les atolls, cette thèse aborde la question de l’avenir des pays atolliens dans le contexte du changement climatique par l’étude de la résilience de leurs systèmes socio-écologiques. La résilience d’un système correspond à sa capacité à absorber des perturbations et à se réorganiser tandis qu’il subit des changements tout en conservant la même fonction, structure, identité et les mêmes rétroactions. Cette thèse postule qu’une estimation de la résilience des systèmes socio-écologiques aux perturbations d’origine météo-marine nécessite au préalable une analyse de leur résilience générale. De telles estimations s’appuient sur des modèles conceptuels réalisés à partir de résultats d’entretiens et d’enquêtes menés à Kiribati, et sur l’analyse d’images aériennes. L’avenir des pays atolliens est discuté en envisageant différents scénarios : l’adaptation, la transformation, la migration et l’effondrement. / The threats to states entirely composed of atolls from climate change and associated sea-level rise have been widely publicized. The Republic of Kiribati is an atoll country situated in Pacific Ocean settled by 100,000 inhabitants. Over the past centuries, the atoll communities of Kiribati have developed natural resource management systems that have enabled their survival. Over the past decades, globalization has caused rapid changes, especially regarding lifestyles and relationships of atoll communities to their natural environment. Given the highly integrated nature of the societal system and the ecosystem in the atolls, this thesis addresses the question of the future of atoll countries in the context of climate change by studying the resilience of their social-ecological systems. Resilience is the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and feedbacks. This thesis postulated that an assessment of social-ecological resilience of climate- and marine-related disturbances required a preliminary analysis of their general resilience. Such assessments are based on conceptual models made from interviews and surveys and from the analysis of aerial imagery. The future of atoll countries is discussed considering different scenario: adaptation, transformation, migration and collapse.

Syfte Syftet med studien var dels att kartlägga stillasittandet hos högskoleanställda lärare under arbetsdagen. Vidare syftade studien till att undersöka faktorer som bidrog till att vara stillasittande. Metod I studien användes en blandad metodansats. Datainsamling genomfördes via 4 enskilda intervjuer samt en enkät med 49 lärare på Högskolan Dalarna. Resultat Medelvärdet för deltagarnas tid i stillasittande per arbetsdag var 6,62 (±1,97) timmar och antal avbrott i stillasittandet var i genomsnitt 1,6 (±0,89) per timme. Det fanns ingen statistiskt signifikant skillnad i stillasittande tid ( p= 0,22) eller antal avbrott i stillasittandet (p= 0,21) under arbetsdagen mellan kvinnor och män. Relationsvärdet (r= -0,34) indikerade att det fanns ett svagt samband som visade att deltagare som var mer stillasittande också gjorde färre avbrott i sitt stillasittande. Den främsta anledning som angavs till att sitta ner var att stillasittandet förbättrade koncentrationsförmågan vid arbetsuppgifter som krävde mycket fokus. Andra framträdande faktorer som påverkade ett intagande av stillasittande var tidspress och hög arbetsbelastning. Individen själv uppgavs vara det största hindret för att minska sitt eget stillasittande, där det invanda beteendet att sitta vid vissa arbetsmoment hade stor påverkan. Deltagarnas kunskap kring stillasittandets konsekvenser var bristfällig och det var inte heller ett samtalsämne som diskuterades i större utsträckning på arbetsplatsen. Slutsatser Högskoleanställda lärare är en riskgrupp för stillasittandets negativa hälsoeffekter. Engagemang och ökad kunskap på individ-, interpersonell- och organisationsnivå krävs för att uppnå förändringar i det stillasittande beteendet. / Purpose The purpose of the study was to map the sedentary behavior of college-faculty teachers during the working day. Furthermore, the study aimed at investigating factors that contributed to being sedentary. Method The study used a mixed method approach. Data collection was conducted through 4 individual interviews and a questionnaire with 49 teachers at Högskolan Dalarna. Results The average of the participants' sedentary time per working day was 6,62 (±1.97) hours. The number of interruptions from being sedentary was in average 1,6 (±0.89) per hour. There was no statistically significant difference in sedentary time (p= 0,22) or number of interruptions (p= 0,21) during the working day between men and women. Relationship value (r= -0,34) indicated that there was a weak relationship that showed that participants who were more sedentary also made fewer interruptions in their sitting time. The main reason for being sedentary was that sitting improved the ability to concentrate on tasks requiring a lot of focus. Other prominent factors that affected the intake of sedentary behavior were time pressure and high workload. The individual himself was said to be the biggest obstacle to reducing his own sedentary behavior, where the habitual behavior of sitting when doing certain tasks in the workplace had a major impact. Participants' knowledge of sedentary behavior and consequences was inadequate, and it was not a discussion topic that was discussed in greater detail at the workplace. Conclusions Higher education teachers are a risk group for negative health effects caused by sedentary behavior. Engagement and increased knowledge at individual, interpersonal and organizational levels are required to achieve changes in sedentary behavior.

Study 1 - Individual - The purpose was to determine whether a 12-week behavioural risk reduction intervention caused self-reported MVPA to increase and to identify associated Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) constructs. Three hundred twenty-four physically inactive (<150 minutes/week moderate-vigorous PA) participants were included. Intervention participants were significantly more likely to meet PA guidelines at 12-weeks (OR=3.54, 95% CI 2.22-5.63, p<.001), which was significantly correlated with increases in TPB constructs. // Study 2 - Family - Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 36 participants to elicit perceptions of factors that influence PA. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, coded and analyzed. Spouses were more likely to engage in PA with their spouse after the CHD event; however this may be limited by their partners’ capabilities. The data suggests awareness of an increased susceptibility to CHD is not stimulating participants to increase their own PA to prevent future risk, particularly among offspring, but they may take other actions. The shared family environment can promote PA, although intensity may be limited. // Study 3 - Neighbourhood - Self-reported PA from a prospective behavioural risk reduction intervention was explored in the context of objectively measured Walk Scores and neighbourhood walkability in Ottawa, Canada. Participants in the intervention arm had significantly higher odds of meeting PA guidelines at 12-weeks compared to the standard care control group. This was not influenced by Walk Scores or walkability. This individual-level intervention was effective in assisting participants to overcome potential structural barriers presented by their neighbourhood to meet PA guidelines at 12-weeks.

Active school transport (AST; e.g. the use of non-motorized modes such as walking and cycling to travel to/from school) is an inexpensive, accessible and environmentally-friendly source of physical activity (PA). This dissertation addresses two overarching objectives: 1) to measure the relationships of AST with PA and health-related outcomes; and 2) to examine the correlates of AST immediately before and after the transition from primary to secondary school (the “school transition”). First, a systematic review revealed increasing evidence showing that AST is associated with greater daily PA levels, and that cycling to/from school is associated with higher cardiovascular fitness. Cycling for transportation (not only for school trips) was also associated with lower values for total cholesterol and total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio in the nationally-representative 2007-2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Moreover, the present dissertation provides preliminary evidence suggesting that AST may help attenuate the decline in PA across the school transition. However, the relationship between AST and body composition indicators remains unclear. With respect to the correlates of AST, distance was the strongest barrier to AST at both time points, but several road safety concerns, and the perception of having too much stuff to carry were also associated with engagement in motorized travel. At follow-up, AST was more common in children whose parents owned less than 2 cars. In contrast, children were more likely to engage in AST if their parents reported that they chose to live in their current neighbourhood so that their children could walk or bike to school. The associations of neighbourhood walkability (as measured with the Walk Score® application) with AST and PA were generally stronger after the school transition. While AST may improve health among children and youth, an ecological approach targeting multiple levels of influence will likely be needed to alleviate current barriers to AST.

Residents of informal settlements (slums) are vulnerable to various disturbances; e.g. diseases spreading and fluctuations in food prices and local access to credits. The lack of credits derives from the continuous outflow of money from communities. This study examines a financial innovation called Sarafu-credits (SC) implemented in Kenyan informal settlements by the organization Grassroots Economics (GE). SC is a community currency (CC), more particularly vouchers only used within a network of micro-businesses, which aim to complement scarcity of conventional money. In addition, GE have initiated community activities, e.g. tree planting, trash collection, food gardens and cultural events, where residents can be paid in SC to improve the community socially and environmentally. This study examines the design and practice of SC, and the activities, using mainly semi-structured interviews with SC-network-members and GE key persons, to understand how a CC can contribute to sustainable livelihood. The concepts specified and general resilience are used to understand the links between SC and the various social-ecological disturbances facing slum-dwellers. The results suggest that SC-members who are actively trading with SC are able to increase their sales, savings and access to basic goods and services thanks to SC. The results also suggest the networks and community activities are strengthening social contacts in the neighbourhood, and constitute examples of how a CC can help finance management of local environmental problems, where SC paid for community services also support local trade. The identified challenges are related to local leadership, where trust, communication and consistency of rules are lacking. In one of the networks, the confidence in the usefulness of the currency is lacking, due to these challenges. GE have experimented with different designs where one successful innovation is the ability to exchange SC to conventional money at certain occasions, which seem to strengthen the confidence in SC.

abstract: Cities are in need of radical knowledge system innovations and designs in the age of the Anthropocene. Cities are complex sites of interactions across social, ecological, and technological dimensions. Cities are also experiencing rapidly changing and intractable environmental conditions. Given uncertain and incomplete knowledge of both future environmental conditions and the outcomes of urban resilience efforts, today’s knowledge systems are unequipped to generate the knowledge and wisdom needed to act. As such, cities must modernize the knowledge infrastructure underpinning today’s complex urban systems. The principal objective of this dissertation is to make the case for, and guide, the vital knowledge system innovations that coastal cities need in order to build more resilient urban futures. Chapter 2 demonstrates the use of knowledge systems analysis as a tool to stress-test and upgrade the Federal Emergency Management Agency flood mapping knowledge system that drives flood resilience planning and decision-making in New York City. In Chapter 3, a conceptual framework is constructed for the design and analysis of knowledge co-production by integrating concepts across the co-production and urban social-ecological-technological systems literatures. In Chapter 4, the conceptual framework is used to analyze two case studies of knowledge co-production in the Miami Metropolitan Area to better inform decisions for how and when to employ co-production as a tool to achieve sustainability and resilience outcomes. In Chapter 5, six propositions are presented – derived from a synthesis of the literature and the three empirical cases – that knowledge professionals can employ to create, facilitate, and scale up knowledge system innovations: flatten knowledge hierarchies; create plural and positive visions of the future; construct knowledge co-production to achieve desired outcomes; acknowledge and anticipate the influence of power and authority; build anticipatory capacities to act under deep uncertainty; and identify and invest in knowledge innovations. While these six propositions apply to the context of coastal cities and flood resilience, most can also be useful to facilitate knowledge innovations to adapt to other complex and intractable environmental problems. Cities must move swiftly to create and catalyze knowledge system innovations given the scale of climate impacts and rapidly changing environmental conditions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Sustainability 2020

Drinking water supply insecurity is globally on the rise, and prevalent in most low and middle-income urban areas. Multiple responses have emerged to cope with the lack of a reliable and equitable supply of safe and sufficient drinking water in cities, which presents a wide range of social-ecological implications. Yet, many of the analyses to date are focused on predominantly technological, ecological, and economic perspectives, overlooking broader cultural and political dimensions. What are the elements and the interrelationship between them that sustain the lack of drinking water supply security at an urban scale? The empirical case study is located in Mexico City, the capital city of one of the most drinking water-insecure countries globally and among the world’s five largest metropolitan areas. Qualitative data is elicited from a literature review and semi-structured interviews with key experts and urban stakeholders. The results provide an integrated understanding of the proposed system structure that created and maintain the water supply problem in the long-term. Hindrances include knowledge lock-ins and critical dynamics that inhibit the political support to transition towards a drinking water security scenario. This study shows that drinking water supply crisis in the study area and other cities with similar conditions need to be understood as multi-dimensional and from a system perspective, by challenging underlying assumptions and embracing interconnectedness. Key feedback mechanisms are presented in causal loop diagrams, allowing the exploration of higher-order leverage points to reduce existing path-dependencies as one increasingly important research area, and potentially relevant for decision-makers.