As food scares have hastened the growth of safety and quality standards around the world, certification schemes to assure various attributes of foods have proliferated in the global marketplace. High-value food commodities produced in the global south for export have been the subject of such schemes through third-party environmental certifications, providing regulatory and verification mechanisms welcomed by global buyers. As certification becomes more common, re-localization in the current global context can also mean the projection of place onto a food commodity to highlight its origin or attributes secured by transparent verification mechanisms. However, environmental food certification is often criticized for its inapplicability in the context of the global south, due to the extensive documentation requirements and high costs. The key question here is the process for small-scale producers in the global south to navigate increasing international regulation of food safety and quality. This dissertation examines (1) how the environmental standards (as defined by the global north) were translated in the rural global south through international certification schemes, and (2) what the implications are at the local level, especially where producers had not yet integrated into conventional global markets before the introduction of certification. The dissertation also analyzes the influence of such certification in determining the development trajectories of rural society in the global south. A case study is used to examine newly-introduced certified organic shrimp production in Ca Mau Province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. The selected shrimp production site is the first pilot organic shrimp project in Vietnam working with an international third-party certification scheme. It is located in rural Vietnam where, as in other parts of Southeast Asia, an accelerated process of agrarian transition is underway. Whereas elsewhere the trend with intensified regulation has been the consolidation of large-scale farms and the exclusion of small-scale farms from international agrofood markets, this case study demonstrates comparative advantages of small-scale farms over large-scale farms in producing sensitive high-value crops. This dissertation employs two main analytical approaches. The first approach is to examine the network of actors and the flow of information, payment and shrimp at the production level using environmental regulatory network (ERN). In contrast to chain analyses, which can be useful in identifying linear structure of supply chains for global commodities, ERN can capture the interrelatedeness of actors in the network built around environmental certification for agrofood products. The second analytical lens is that of agrarian transition. Countries experiencing agrarian transition at present are doing so in a very different international context from countries that accomplished their transitions in the past. Results of this research indicate that technical and financial constraints at the time of initial certification are not the primary obstacles to farmers getting certified, since the extensive farming method employed at the study site is organic by default. In spite of this, many farmers unofficially withdrew from the organic shrimp project by simply shifting their marketing channel back to a conventional one. Inefficient flows of information and payments, and a restrictive marketing channel within the environmental regulatory network that does not take into account local geographical conditions and farming practices, all contributed to limiting the farmers’ capacity and lowering their incentives to get involved in the network. The analysis also indicates that, by influencing those agrarian transition processes, food standards and certification based on values developed in the global north may modify, reshape and/or hold back agrarian transition processes in agricultural sectors of developing countries. The potential benefits of environmental certification are enhanced rural development, by generating opportunities for small-scale farmers to connect to global niche markets. The findings of this dissertation highlighted that such certification schemes or their environmental regulatory networks need to ensure information sharing and compensation for farmers. As an empirical finding, this dissertation also captures where ecological credibility and market logic meet: the success of this kind of certification depends on finding a balanced point where standards are ecologically (or ethically) credible to the level that does not attract too much criticism for being green washing, but not too unrealistic to become a disincentive for farmers to participate.

<p>In recent years the aviation industry is moving towards the use of programmable logic devices in airborne safety critical systems. To be able to certify the close to fail-safe functionality of these programmable devises (e.g. FPGAs) to the aviation authorities, the aviation industry uses a guideline for design assurance for airborne electronic hardware named RTCA DO-254. At the same time the PLD industry is developing ever more complex embedded system-on-chip solutions integrating more and more functionality on a single chip.</p><p>This thesis looks at the problems that rise when trying to certify system-on-chip solutions according to RTCA DO-254. Used as an example of an embedded FPGA, the Actel Fusion FPGA chip with integrated analog and digital functionality will be tested according to the verification guidance. The results show that for the time being, the examined embedded system-on-chip FPGAs can not be verified to be used in airborne safety critical systems.</p>

This thesis summarizes the results from several studies with connection to sustainability in construction and management of real estate. Here, the concept sustainability includes environmental, social and economic dimensions and focus is on the actors with the best possibilities to impact real estate, namely the real estate owners and the developers. The thesis consists of six papers. Real estate owners’ perception of and incentives and strategies for sustainability was studied in four ways: incentives for energy efficiency and other sustainability issues in connection to renovation (papers I and II), factors that characterize firms with an ambitious approach to energy efficiency (paper V) and economic incentives for energy efficiency (paper VI). Developers’ behavior and impact on sustainability was studied in two ways: how developers’ planning and construction methods may influence energy consumption for future residents (paper III) and how developers relate to requirements for building environmental certification levels (paper IV). The first paper aims to clarify how housing firms see and treat energy efficiency matters in connection to renovation of multi-family buildings constructed during the 1960’s and 70’s. Interviews with housing firms resulted in four ideal housing firm types illustrating that housing firms have more or less incentives to improve energy efficiency. The second paper aimed to study a model for renovation of buildings in a residential area in peripheral Stockholm and to assess how it considers environmental, social and economic sustainability as well as technical concerns. Paper V builds on the results in paper I and aims to identify factors, on a firm level as well as in the surroundings of the firm, that characterize housing firms who own multi-family buildings from the 1960’s and 70’s and who have an ambitious approach to energy efficiency. Paper VI uses information from energy performance certificates to study whether better energy performance increases the selling price of single-family homes, which would increase owners’ incentives to improve energy efficiency. Paper III takes its starting point in an indicated shift in developers’ planning and construction practices for laundry facilities in owner-occupied multi-family buildings. The paper aims to clarify whether a shift has actually occurred from communal laundry rooms to in-unit laundry appliances and to illuminate the impact this could have on residents’ energy consumption for laundry. Paper IV reports the study of how developers who have adopted the environmental certification system LEED relate to the requirements for specific certification levels and how updated requirements risk undermining developers’ incentives for sustainable construction. / Den här avhandlingen sammanfattar arbetet från flera studier med koppling till hållbarhet inom bygg och förvaltning av fastigheter. Begreppet hållbarhet omfattar här tre dimensioner: miljömässig, social och ekonomisk hållbarhet, och fokus ligger på de aktörer som har mest möjlighet att påverka fastigheterna, nämligen fastighetsägare och projektutvecklare. I avhandlingen ingår sex uppsatser. Fastighetsägares uppfattning av och incitament och strategier för hållbarhet undersöktes på fyra olika sätt: incitament för energieffektivisering och andra hållbarhetsfrågor i samband med renovering (uppsats I och II), faktorer som karaktäriserar företag med ett ambitiöst förhållningssätt i energieffektiviseringsfrågor (uppsats V) samt ekonomiska incitament för energieffektivisering (uppsats VI). Projektutvecklares beteende och påverkan på hållbarhet undersöktes på två sätt: hur projektutvecklares planering och byggmetoder kan påverka energianvändningen för framtida boende (uppsats III) och hur projektutvecklare förhåller sig till kravnivåer i miljöcertifiering av byggnader (uppsats IV). Den första uppsatsen syftar till att belysa hur bostadsföretag ser på och behandlar energieffektiviseringsfrågor i samband med renovering av flerbostadshus byggda under miljonprogrammet. Baserat på intervjuer med bostadsföretag resulterade den explorativa studien i konstruktionen av fyra idealtyper av bostadsföretag med mer eller mindre incitament för att energieffektivisera. Den andra uppsatsen syftade till att undersöka en modell för renovering av miljonprogramshus i ett bostadsområde i Stockholms ytterområden och bedöma hur den tar hänsyn till miljömässig, social och ekonomisk hållbarhet tillsammans med tekniska överväganden. Uppsats V bygger på resultaten i uppsats I och syftar till att urskilja faktorer, såväl på företagsnivå som i företagets omgivning, som karaktäriserar bostadsföretag som äger flerbostadshus från miljonprogramsåren och som har en ambitiös hållning i energieffektiviseringsfrågor. Uppsats VI använder information från energideklarationer för att undersöka om bättre energiprestanda ökar försäljningspriset på småhus, något som skulle öka ägarens incitament för energieffektivisering. Uppsats III utgår från en indikerad förändring i projektutvecklares planering och byggmetoder av tvättinrättningar i flerbostadshus med bostadsrätt. Uppsatsen syftar till att klarlägga om en förändring har skett från gemensam tvättstuga till tvättmöjligheter i den egna bostaden och belysa vilken effekt det skulle kunna ha på de boendes energianvändning för tvätt. I uppsats IV klarläggs hur projektutvecklare som bygger enligt miljöcertifieringssystemet LEED förhåller sig till kraven för att uppnå nivåerna för att klassificeras och hur uppdaterade kravnivåer riskerar att undergräva projektutvecklarnas incitament för att bygga hållbart. / <p>QC 20141218</p>

This study investigates certified and non-certified teachers in Sweden and how they themselves view the status of their profession. Teacher certifications were introduced to Sweden in 2011, under the assumption that it would raise the status of qualified teachers. Recent results from international studies showed that Swedish students have fallen in rank compared to other countries around the world, and one of the proposed solutions proposed to this was to raise the status of teachers, as well as their pay. A higher status would then solve other issues, such as the low number of applications to university courses related to teaching. This study asked high school teachers, through an online questionnaire, what their views were on the status change the reform was supposed to create. The status changes were measured via questions regarding if they felt their students and their students parents viewed certified teachers differently than those without a teaching certificate, if the teachers felt that the certification had changed their status since it was introduced, and how important the teachers felt the certification was for the future. The teachers were sorted into groups based on what subjects they taught, how long they had worked as teachers, and what the focus of their high school was. Based on their answers the study showed that most teachers felt that students did not see a difference between teachers regarding certification while their parents did. It also showed that few teachers experienced their status had changed, but thought that the certification was important for the future of the profession even if a large number of teachers were disappointed with the implementation of the certifications. The study also showed that the teachers whom had worked for a long time in the profession had a more positive outlook on certifications as a whole but felt that it should only apply to younger teachers.

This thesis contains five chapters dealing with different aspects of the social relations of aquaculture development in South and Southeast Asia. This analysis is presented with reference to a series of qualitative empirical studies conducted in Vietnam, Bangladesh and Thailand, and challenges conventional narratives relating to the causes, effects and significance of different forms of aquaculture development. Chapter 1 compares the impacts associated with projects intended to promote pro-poor forms of fish culture with the impacts of commercial forms of aquaculture originating in the private sector, and examines complementarities between the two forms of development. It finds that the latter form of aquaculture development, which it terms ‘immanent’, has generally resulted in far more significant economic impacts that the former, which it terms ‘interventionist’. Impacts occur particularly through the creation of employment in associated value chains, although some caution must be exercised in equating these effects with reductions in poverty. The conditions under which immanent aquaculture development is able to take place are elaborated. Chapter 2 provides a critical evaluation of the private sector development (PSD) discourse adopted under the post-Washington consensus. This is achieved with reference to a detailed comparative study of the establishment of hatcheries for mono-sex tilapia in Thailand and Pangasius catfish in Vietnam. This exercise shows the transfer of technical knowledge from public institutions to actors in the private sector to have been largely informal in both cases. The subsequent establishment of hatchery enterprises has also been shaped by culturally specific patterns of economic behaviour that go unrecognised by champions of PSD. The chapter cautions against taking the existence of causal links between increased economic activity and reductions in poverty for granted. Chapter 3 examines patterns of development associated with the extraordinary expansion of the Pangasius catfish industry in Vietnam. It concludes that the ability of catfish producers to access a range of key production factors including land and credit has been mediated by relationships between individuals and the state and its associated institutions, as has access to some markets and services. As a result, the integration of producers into global markets has tended to reinforce existing class relations rather than radically transforming the rural class structure. Chapter 4 evaluates the likely outcomes of governance by third party certification for Pangasius producers in Vietnam and Bangladesh. Widespread insistence on compliance with emerging standards by Northern retailers will have little impact on Bangladeshi producers at present given their domestic orientation, but will probably involve severe consequences for smaller Vietnamese producers who will struggle to comply due to their unfavourable organisation of production and lack of integration. Although Pangasius production in Bangladesh appears more ecologically sustainable than its Vietnamese counterpart, the manner in which standards are formulated means that these advantages are unlikely to be recognised or rewarded. It is also concluded that standards will have limited impact on the industry’s environmental performance in Vietnam. With reference to the literature on agricultural growth and two case studies of aquaculture in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, Chapter 5 argues that commercially oriented quasi-capitalist forms of aquaculture have far greater capacity to alleviate poverty and enhance food security at the national level than the quasi-peasant forms traditionally promoted by development projects. The majority of poverty impact associated with aquaculture is demonstrated to derive from employment in associated value chains and service provision, with likely horizontal benefits also created in the rural non-farm economy via consumption linkages. By contrast, forms of aquaculture traditionally considered ‘small-scale’ and ‘pro-poor’ are shown to be beyond the reach of the majority of the rural poor, and to yield limited positive social externalities, although their role in countering the seasonal financial pressures associated with irrigated rice cultivation is shown to be significant. The conclusion of the thesis summarises key findings presented in preceding chapters, elaborates appropriate methodologies to guide future research on aquaculture development, and sets out a research and policy agenda which identifies work in a number of key areas as priorities for further attention.

With growing levels of organic food consumption in the retail sector and government municipality goals to increase consumption of organic foods at public schools and institutions, private, independant food service businesses in Sweden risk slipping under the radar when it comes to understanding how they are responding to the global problem of industrialised, fossil fuel intensive and highly unsustainable agriculture. In Sweden, KRAV, an incorporaed association that develops standards for organic agriculture, governs certification for a range of industry actors, including restaurants. From the perspective of corporate social responsibilty (CSR) in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), independant, owner-managed food-service businesses become the subjects of a study into motives for engaging in CSR through environmental certification. Guided by an explorative case study research approach, qualitative data in the form of semi-structured interviews were conducted with management representatives of a number of food service businesses in Uppsala and Stockholm, Sweden. Supported by a thorough literature review, the motives of these persons were identified and explored with the help of a conceptual framewrk based on profitability, legitimacy and sustainability motives. Additionally, the political view of CSR, using the concept of global corporate citizenship, was considered with regard to these commincated motives. Lastly the findings were reflected upon with respect to previous research specifically related to CSR in SMEs. As it turns out, it was found that the motivating factors for certifying with the KRAV restaurant certification were difficult to demarcate from broader ethical guiding principles related to supporting the organic movement. However, it was clear that legitimacy, specifically moral legitimacy, as well as profitabilty are critical elements to consider in understanding what motives restarant owner-managers to obtain KRAV restaurant certification. Finally, it was also concluded that in reacting to globalisation, the behaviour of the restaurants can be considered as global corporate citizenship inasmuch as they are providing a channelling role with regard to citizens’ political rights to actively participate in the global space and collective will formation.

No description available.

In recent years the aviation industry is moving towards the use of programmable logic devices in airborne safety critical systems. To be able to certify the close to fail-safe functionality of these programmable devises (e.g. FPGAs) to the aviation authorities, the aviation industry uses a guideline for design assurance for airborne electronic hardware named RTCA DO-254. At the same time the PLD industry is developing ever more complex embedded system-on-chip solutions integrating more and more functionality on a single chip. This thesis looks at the problems that rise when trying to certify system-on-chip solutions according to RTCA DO-254. Used as an example of an embedded FPGA, the Actel Fusion FPGA chip with integrated analog and digital functionality will be tested according to the verification guidance. The results show that for the time being, the examined embedded system-on-chip FPGAs can not be verified to be used in airborne safety critical systems.

fair trade is a business model approach that pretends to enhance the access to progress opportunities for rural populations through an empowering framework that supports small producers’ organizations and encourages investment decisions that improve welfare and sustainable development in their own communities. The values and practices underlying fair-trading emphasize a greater sensitivity on the conditions of small growers. The model integrates good agricultural practices, environmental stewardship, organizational transparency, empowerment, participative democracy, economic incentives and technology transfer in an alternative trade framework with the specific purpose of improving the income of rural producers of agricultural goods in developing countries. The most distinctive mechanism fair trade models use to improve the income of these producers is the direct payment of a minimum sales price to the farmer, which is at least equal to the market price. In exchange for this price security, the farmer commits to environmentally sound and socially responsible production practices. The main objective of this document is to provide a model for a handbook for small producers and organizations in Colombia interested in fair trade certification schemes. The paper collects relevant information for producers and organizations starting from an introduction of the fair trade system and the different labeling alternatives available in the market. It also provides general information about the background of the rural population in Colombia, useful for other audiences like researchers, and project leaders. In addition to explaining how the world’s leading fair trade labeling organization works and the procedure to obtain a certificate from them, the paper suggests screening and organizational-fitness tests intended to help interested producers and organizations to identify the suitability of the system to their own needs and detect internal strengths and weaknesses in relation to the specific certification requirements. The core of the document is a detailed analysis and compilation of the relevant compliance criteria producers and organizations must meet in order to become certificate holders and retain the certificate successfully. The standards set by the labeling body chosen for this work are paired to the compliance requirements of the respective auditing organization, local legal demands and practical guidance for compliance. The analysis is based on fair trade certification case studies, literature review and interviews with fair trade certified producers and experienced certification consultants in Colombia. Relevant local legislation and further informative documents for applicants are included in the Annexes. Its productive and demographic structure makes of fair trade schemes a relevant model for Colombia, a net producer and exporter of agricultural products. Production and trade patterns in Colombia, in combination with relentless land ownership concentration and inequality call for the implementation of alternative strategies with the potential of improving income in the short term; and strengthening capacity building, enhancing negotiation power of small farmers’ organizations and developing their skills for agro-business management in the long term.

No description available.