Yes / Beverley Lucas and her colleagues give us a big green welcome to the Ecoversity of Bradford In 2005, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) stated that ‘the greatest contribution a university can make to sustainable development is through the education of their graduates’. The University of Bradford took up the gauntlet, embedding sustainable development in all areas of its campus whilst also transforming the curriculum across the university to educate for sustainable development. This led to them coining themselves an ecoversity. / The authors would like to thank the National HE STEM Programme for funding this project.

Plastic waste management has become a global concern due to its adverse effects on the environment and human health and Sweden is no exception. Through this dissertation, the researchers intended to make a descriptive study regarding the mainstream introspection of plastic management and the outreach of current systems and strategies in Sweden. To review the matter in a detailed manner, the researchers formulated two research questions in which the first one stated the effectiveness of existing systems and strategies for managing plastic waste in Sweden and the other one was the social impacts of plastic mismanagement in terms of three pillars of sustainability. The researchers used the framework of risk society theory, theory of social practices and actor network theory to understand the matter in a more fruitful way. The dissertation was mainly developed through quantitative research methodology. As the thesis was focussed on socio-environmental sustainability, the researchers intended to collect the response from the public through survey questionnaires with the help of Google platform. The collected responses must be analysed through descriptive statistical method. The findings revealed that Sweden has implemented several effective systems for plastic management. Furthermore, collaboration between various actors like human and non-human agencies were needed to improve the successful implementation of sustainable plastic management systems. The conclusion of the study stated to integrate education, awareness programs, good sustainable choices like paper bags or biodegradable materials should be integrated into the system and strategies to foster behavioural change in consumers along with the improvement of other technological measures in handling plastic waste.

In a context of increasingly ambitious climate objectives after the Paris Agreement in 2015, this thesis investigates a scenario for sustainable development in Sweden in 2050 in terms of greenhouse gases emissions. The scenario is built around the idea of a development of collaborative economy in a context of low growth or degrowth. The concept of “collaborative economy” encompasses the sharing of services and underused and unwanted goods between individuals, a focus on the access to services rather than the ownership of products, and new ways of sharing space and time (cohousing, time banks, etc). The present study focuses on the implications of the Collaborative Economy scenario for transports and the built environment at a municipal scale, and aims at modeling the corresponding greenhouse gases emissions. A literature review was carried out to identify the main aspects of the scenario and exemplify the changes it entails. Two spreadsheet models were then developed for transports and the built environment, estimating greenhouse gases emission levels based on a range of assumptions elaborated from the literature review. The municipality of Malmö was used as a case study. Overall, the results of the models and the sensitivity analysis indicate a rather weak influence of collaborative economy strategies on greenhouse gases emissions. Strategies related to changes in the energy mix for heating, materials used in construction, fuels, etc seem to be much more impactful. However, such strategies only impact greenhouse gases emissions, whereas collaborative economy strategies can have other benefits. In particular, cohousing can increase social capital and foster sharing, which in turn could decrease energy and material use for the production of goods. Ridesharing, remote working among others, can decrease congestion and the daily distance traveled. Most of these strategies also provide energy savings, improving the resilience of the system and freeing the energy supply for other purposes. / Bortom BNP-tillväxt

Introduction: In many construction projects, significant amounts of construction waste are generated, requiring efficient management. Construction waste is an important aspect of the construction industry, and it is common for Swedish projects to strive for what is known as material recycling. This means attempting to recycle materials to reuse them instead of buying new ones. Managing construction waste with a circular mindset involves considering waste as a resource and aiming to maximize reuse and material recycling. An important aspect of implementing a circular approach is to carefully plan and execute effective sorting of construction waste on the construction site. The aim of this report is to highlight the importance of managing construction waste using a circular mindset, which can, in turn, contribute to a more sustainable society in the future.  Method: The study has been conducted using a qualitative methodology and has primarily relied on semi-structured interviews and literature reviews from various databases. To achieve the desired results, different stakeholders within the construction industry, who possess knowledge on the subject of circular management of construction waste, were invited to participate in the interviews. The interviews served as primary data in this study, as it is based on the experiences and perspectives of the participants. The literature review was used as secondary data to examine similarities with previous studies. Results and analysis: According to the results, it was revealed that actors within the construction industry share an overarching perspective on the circular management of construction waste. For most, this entails striving to reuse and recycle materials to the greatest extent possible. The findings also demonstrated positive effects of circular management of construction waste, such as reduced carbon dioxide emissions and potential future economic profitability. Furthermore, it was also evident that there are challenges, such as a lack of knowledge in the field and difficulties with collaboration. Discussion: The study has confirmed the problem formulation by interviewing entrepreneurs within the industry. The study's achieved results consist of several proposals to promote circular construction waste. By utilizing impressions, opinions, and feedback from the entrepreneurs, the study has been able to address its research questions.  Keywords: Waste, Waste Hierarchy, Construction Waste, Circular Construction, Circular Economy, Sustainable Future, Environmental Goals. / Introduktion: I många byggprojekt uppstår betydande mängder byggavfall som kräver effektiv hantering. Byggavfall utgör en viktig aspekt inom byggbranschen, och det är vanligt att svenska projekt strävar efter att uppnå så kallad materialåtervinning. Detta innebär att man försöker återvinna material för att kunna återanvända det i stället för att köpa nytt. Att hantera byggavfall med ett cirkulärt tankesätt innebär att man betraktar avfallet som en resurs och strävar efter att maximera återanvändning och materialåtervinning. En viktig aspekt vid implementeringen av ett cirkulärt tankesätt är att noggrant planera och genomföra en effektiv sortering av byggavfallet på byggarbetsplatsen. Målet med rapporten är att belysa vikten om hur man hanterar byggavfall med hjälp av ett cirkulärt tankesätt som i sin tur kan leda till ett mer hållbart samhälle i framtiden Metod:  Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ metodologi och har huvudsakligen baserats på semistrukturerade intervjuer samt litteraturstudier från olika databaser. För att uppnå resultatet tillfrågades olika aktörer inom byggbranschen, som har kunskap inom ämnet cirkulär hantering av byggavfall att delta i intervju. Intervjuerna användes som primärdata i denna studie eftersom det är aktörernas erfarenheter och uppfattningar som studien grundar sig på. Litteraturstudien användes som sekundärdata för att undersöka om det fanns likheter med tidigare studier eller inte. Resultat och analys: Enligt resultaten framkom det att aktörerna inom byggbranschen delar en övergripande syn på cirkulär hantering av byggavfall. För de flesta innebär det att man strävar efter att återbruka och återanvända material i så stor utsträckning som möjligt. Resultaten visade även positiva effekter av cirkulär hantering av byggavfall, såsom minskade koldioxidutsläpp och att det kan vara mer ekonomiskt lönsamt i framtiden. Vidare framkom det också att det finns utmaningar, exempelvis brist på kunskap inom ämnet och svårigheter med samarbete. Diskussion: Studien har bekräftat problemformuleringen genom att intervjua entreprenörer inom brunchen. Studiens resultat som har åstadkommit består av flera förslag till att främja cirkulärt byggavfall. Genom att använda intryck, åsikter och synpunkter från entreprenörerna har studien kunnat besvara dess frågeställningar. Nyckelord: Avfall, Avfallstrappa, Byggavfall, Cirkulär byggande, Cirkulär ekonomi, Hållbart framtid, Miljömål.

This thesis aims to understand the method of strategic choice (MSC, Sw. metodik för åtgärdsvalsstudier) in Swedish transport planning as a planning phenomenon. Based on a normative interpretative approach and critical theory, underlying ideas and thinking that surround the context of MSC and how they are expressed in practice, in the guidelines and in concrete planning situations were investigated. The starting point was that changing conditions in society have necessitated reform of the transport sector and a new method has been introduced. It aims to enable a broader grip on transport issues by opening them up together with other actors, thus increasing scope and spreading responsibility for more sectors and activities, enabling new and unconventional solutions to transport problems for a sustainable future. MSC is described and interpreted here as a manifold phenomenon that reveals a tension between different perspectives and mindsets, but also leads to certain aspects being more often expressed which complicates wider and deeper perspectives on complex societal problems. More concretely, it was found that the collaboration in MSC is limited prematurely and is often limited at an early stage of the process, and that this leads to a more narrow understanding of the problem to be solved than would otherwise be the case. Furthermore, one specific perspective, namely the transport system perspective, is proposed explicitly as the basis for assessments. The study has also identified challenges related to the consideration of conflicting and contradictory knowledge claims in the process. Assessments of the effects of actions are assumed to be based upon logical premises, and not on judgments in dialogue and argumentation. However, the analysis suggested that the functional instrumental reasoning of success-oriented action does not seem to take normative and political issues into consideration in order to better address sustainable development issues in the complex, democratic and pluralist society. In conclusion, the analysis identifies the need for these processes in addressing a sustainable future to be kept open in a more inclusive and diverse way, drawing on more and different possible futures. / <p>QC 20170515</p>