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In some aspect gender equality could be considered threatened by a growing backlash all around the world and without commitment to achieve what has been agreed so far it will continue to remain an unachievable goal. The objective of this research is to look into the fifth of the Sustainable Developmental Goals, which strives to promote gender equality and empowerment of women and girls. Further, this thesis is done through qualitative research with abductive reasoning by doing a single case study looking at Bangladesh in order to try and make sense of the research gap that was found through the literature review. In addition, the theory used throughout this research is Steven Lukes´s and his three dimensions of power which will be used in order to try and answer the research questions. Lastly, this research is relevant to the subject of peace and development since it is connected to sustainable development which is important for future development.    Bangladesh has been comparatively more successful than its neighbouring states at implementing gender equality. But as the main result of this thesis showed they still struggle in many aspects and power structures and power relations are one of the main reasons for the problems that have occurred when trying to implement the fifth goal. The lack of data that is prevailing all over the world in this field also plays a huge role in making it difficult the implementation of the SDG. The research also found that the theory used in the research was not as fully applicable as first thought however it could be used in order to discuss the findings in some ways and in order to answer the research question asked in the research.

This is a study of how two companies from different countries construct and communicate their Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The companies are from the confectionery industry with a similar size, sales, and number of factories. The only difference is the origin of the companies. One is from a developed country (Cloetta based in Sweden) and another is from a developing country (Roshen based in Ukraine). The combination of critical discourse and comparative analysis is used in the study to explain the contexts of countries and companies. The analytical categories are based on Triple Bottom Line Theory and the value-based concept of Sustainability.   The study shows the differences in the constructs of Sustainability and CSR of companies from Sweden and Ukraine. Cloetta's communication is used as a form of legitimization and a tool of green marketing (for enhancing the image and its repair in case of a crisis). Roshen's communication is less developed and used as a self-promotion tool (sustainability understood as philanthropy). The findings add the knowledge in Sustainability and CSR traditions in developing and developed countries.

This dissertation includes four papers— two conceptual and two empirical— on universal health coverage introduced in global health as a policy concept to improve access to health care. The conceptual papers review the selection process for the Sustainable Development Goal indicator on universal health coverage and propose parameters to guide an evaluation framework for universal health coverage. The first two papers show that including participants from as many sections of the health sector and policy community is recommended in policy formulation and evaluation, and recognize that decision-making might be slower as a result. While the first two papers focus on the third Sustainable Development Goal to achieve universal health coverage, the following two empirical papers focus on the sixth Millennium Development Goal which committed to provide universal access to treatment and care for people living with HIV. The first empirical paper shows how physicians in six Eastern Caribbean countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines) cope with the lack of resources for treatment and care. Access was implemented broadly emphasizing the availability of HIV treatment and care while ensuring that everyone who needed antiretrovirals did not incur out-of-pocket costs. In most cases, this meant receiving care in the public system which was mostly centralized and where people living with HIV had concerns about their privacy being compromised in societies where HIV stigma was prevalent. The second empirical paper shows that in St. Lucia, third-line antiretrovirals could be unaffordable to as much as 98 % of the population, depending on how affordability is measured. The papers collectively demonstrate how the Millennium Development Goals provided an opportunity for policy learning by comparing the implementation of universal access for HIV treatment and care with universal health coverage in the Sustainable Development Goals. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The dissertation recognizes the challenges with defining and measuring universal health coverage and with providing access to treatment and care for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the Eastern Caribbean. The first conceptual paper documents the process of selecting indicators for universal health coverage in the Sustainable Development Goals. The second conceptual paper advances recommendations for evaluating universal health coverage. The following two studies then empirically assess the challenges with access to health care for people living with HIV in the Eastern Caribbean. The third paper shows how physicians cope with the lack of appropriate resources and highlights the issue of privacy for patients. The fourth paper uses data from St. Lucia to assess the affordability of antiretrovirals and highlights the difficulties of measuring financial affordability.

Although businesses have extended their efforts towards addressing their environmental responsibilities, there are still substantial gaps, especially in their approach to biodiversity loss. It is one of the biggest threats to humankind and corporate activities are known to contribute substantially to the deterioration of ecosystems which makes these omissions particularly worrisome. The voluntary global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework has the potential to bring about the transformative change needed to improve biodiversity reporting (BDR), but this connection is rather understudied. This work therefore wants to bridge this literature gap by exploring the role SDGs 14 and 15 play in biodiversity reporting. To that end, the sustainability reports of large German companies were evaluated. A mixed-method approach was applied consisting of statistical testing an assumed association between using SDGs and the quality of BDR and a content analysis of SDG and BDR practices. One main finding is, that increased utilisation of SDG 14 and/or 15 goes hand in hand with better BDR but developed independently and rather as a result of increased biodiversity awareness within corporations. This might be the result of a combination of normative and coercive pressure. The second main finding is that overall, there are tendencies to integrate SDG 14/and or 15 but those are marginal, far from the transformational change needed and overshadowed by misleading reporting practices that fall under the greenwashing umbrella. These findings contribute to our understanding of voluntary frameworks like the SDGs on corporate governance by highlighting how they are currently underutilised.

Yes / Citizens play a crucial role in attaining the United Nations 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs). There is growing awareness of the importance of understanding citizen perspectives on environmental issues, in relation to developing and maintaining sustainable lifestyles, and in addressing perceived threats to protection and restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity. This analysis sought to understand people’s attitudes towards environmental conservation, how they relate to perceived threats to the countryside, and to determine how attitudes and perceived threats vary demographically and between countries. A survey was administered to citizens (quota sampled on age, gender, education, and split between rural and urban residency) across five countries representative of differing biogeographical regions (N = 3,190): Czech Republic (n = 649) (Continental); Spain (Mediterranean) (n = 623); Sweden (Boreal) (n = 645); Switzerland (Alpine) (n = 641); United Kingdom (UK) (Atlantic) (n = 632). Attitudes were measured using the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI-24) on 2 factors (utilization; preservation) and perceived threat to the countryside on 1-factor (15 items). Multigroup regression analysis indicated that preservationist attitudes were associated with greater perceived threat to the countryside in all five countries. Higher perceived threat was associated with activities linked to environmental degradation, socio-economic uncertainty and risks in agri-food supply chains in all countries. The “bad behaviour of visitors” was the greatest perceived threat in the Czech Republic, Switzerland and the UK, while “lack of young farmers taking over farming” was the greatest perceived threat in Spain and Sweden. To promote pro-environmental attitudes and obtain greater public support for policies and interventions targeting environmental conservation, communication about environmental threats is needed, together with threat mitigation measures. Raising peoples’ awareness of threats to the countryside through targeted communications could promote pro-environment attitudes and potentially result in pro-environmental behaviours. / The SUPER-G project (Grant Agreement No.: 774124) has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme.

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Yes / The blockchain has received significant attention from technology focussed researchers, highlighting its perceived impact and emerging disruption potential, but has been slow to engender any significant momentum within the Information Systems (IS) and Information Management (IM) literature. This study approaches the subject through an IS/IM lens developing the key themes from the blockchain based research via a comprehensive review. This analysis of the body of literature highlights that although few commercial grade blockchain applications currently exist, the technology demonstrates significant potential to benefit a number of industry wide use cases. This study expands on this point articulating through each of the key themes to develop a detailed narrative on the numerous potential blockchain applications and future direction of the technology, whilst discussing the many barriers to adoption. The study asserts that blockchain technology has the potential to contribute to a number of the UN Sustainability Development Goals and engender widespread change within a number of established industries and practices.

Yes / The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present the emerging need to explore new ways of AgriFood production and food security as ultimate targets for feeding future generations. The study adopts a Design Science methodology and proposes Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques as a solution to food security problems. Specifically, the proposed artefact presents the collective use of Agricultural Technology (AgriTech) drones inspired by the biomimetic ways of bird swarms. The design (artefact) appears here as a solution for supporting farming operations in inaccessible land, so as unmanned aerial devices contribute and improve the productivity of farming areas with limited capacity. The proposed design is developed through a scenario of drone swarms applying AI techniques to address food security issues. The study concludes by presenting a research agenda and the sectoral challenges triggered by the applications of AI in Agriculture. / European Union's H2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant (agreement No. 746667)

Yes / The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) bring together environmental, social and economic concerns. They therefore have the potential to move society away from the dominant model of prosperity as purely economic toward a more holistic and ‘sustainable’ prosperity. But, the success of such a transformative agenda rests on its implementation. At the heart of planned implementation of the SDGs is a set of 230 indicators. Indicators have been strongly critiqued in a range of literatures. However, in the context of the SDGs, indicators have been described as ‘essential’ with little critical assessment of their role in implementation. Therefore, this chapter aims to provide this critical voice. To do this, the chapter reviews critiques of indicators from sustainability science, anthropology and sociology and provides illustrative cases of indicators implementation. From this review we are able to draw lessons for the use of indicators in SDG implementation. Specifically, the chapter argues that indicators are reductionist and struggle with contested concepts. Nevertheless, by making the operationalisation of concepts visible and enabling quantified analysis, indicators can have a useful role in SDG implementation. However, this requires that indicator critiques are taken seriously and inform indicator use. / ESRC Research Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity, Grant Number ES/M010163/1