This project is an exploration of practices around the critical raw materialcobalt, it’s history, and current relevance in Swedish discourse. Critical raw materials are identified by the European Commission as materials of high importance to the EU’s economic system as well as the high risks related to their supply and production. As the demand for cobalt grows due to it’s usefulness in rechargeable batteries in for example smartphones, laptops and electric cars, the metal is predicted to become scarce in a near future. In Sweden there is a discourse on whether or not to mine for cobalt, among other earth elements, locally, and the industry is lookingfor ways to recycle old rechargeable batteries at larger scales to secure the resource. The criticality of cobalt does not only concern supply and economic importance however. In Congo some mines have been reported to still be dug by hand, under extremely poor conditions and risking the health and safety of the workers, as well as the surrounding societies. Through a critical research and design process these topics are explored alongside the more locally known use of cobalt oxide as a vibrant blue colour pigment for ceramics and glass. With the process I aim to create a design that engages with the criticality as well as a designerly fascinationwith the material. The end result being a speculative design fiction of the mythological creature cobelt, and how complex narratives can be unearthed in craft based practice.

Die wesentlichen Eigenschaften eines technischen Systems werden bereits in der Konzeptphase durch die Auswahl von Lösungsprinzipien vorbestimmt. Bei der Entwicklung automatisierter Produktionsanlagen stehen dabei die vier Zielgrößen Qualität, Zeit, Kosten und Flexibilität im Fokus. In der Literatur wird angenommen, dass zwischen diesen Anforderungen ein Zielkonflikt besteht, der von den Eigenschaften eines technischen Systems herrührt und die gleichzeitige Optimierung einer Anlage bzgl. aller vier Zielgrößen unmöglich macht. In diesem Beitrag wird deshalb ein methodischer Ansatz zu Diskussion gestellt, der die Untersuchung des Zielkonfliktes im konkreten Anwendungsfall ermöglicht und eine Entscheidungshilfe bei der Auswahl von Lösungskonzepten bieten kann. Ausgangspunkt ist ein dynamisches Systemmodell der Wechselwirkung zwischen Produkt und Produktionsanlage, sowie ein Ansatz zur Konzeptauswahl auf Grundlage der Polyoptimierung. Mit Hilfe parametrischer Modellbildung und Simulation kann die Entwicklungsaufgabe als mehrkriterielles Optimierungsproblem formuliert werden.

The thesis aims to unravel the relationship between the EU's enlargement strategies and democratization in the Western Balkan countries by looking on the impact of the strategies on changing democracy levels in two empirical cases: the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia. Over more than a decade, the effect of the conditionality tool on democratization has been curbed by an insufficient emphasis placed on pro-democratic reforms and by the role of security concerns which were often prioritized over aims directly linked to democracy promotion. Grounded in the conflicting objectives theory, the thesis demonstrates that the recently employed strategy appropriately sequencing goals while prioritizing democratic transition over security concerns is more effective in inflicting domestic democratic change. Subsequently, the following necessary and sufficient conditions for a successful sequencing strategy were defined: strong emphasis on democracy-related goals combined with clearly outlined temporal perspective, and corresponding action of international actors.

During the spring of 2020, COVID-19 rapidly started to spread within Sweden, causing a crisis that affected the entire society, and in particular, the health care sector. What makes the COVID-19 pandemic a unique crisis is that it did not appear as a complete surprise when it reached Sweden. Partly because pandemics are expected to happen and therefore anticipated, partly because reports of COVID-19 and its effects were available before the disease caused a crisis in Sweden. This makes the phase before the crisis, known as the pre-crisis phase, quite long. For this study, it is argued that the pre-crisis phase encompasses actions taken before COVID-19 was known, predominantly in the form of the development of pandemic preparedness plans, as well as the actions taken when COVID-19 was known before it reached Sweden. However, due to the decentralisation of the Swedish political system, the twenty-one regions being responsible for the health care sector, and the uneven geographical transmission of the virus, the pre-crisis phase most likely differed across the country. In this study, it is the pre-crisis phase of Region Östergötland which has been examined and evaluated as a part of the Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology’s general evaluation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Östergötland. The study has aimed to answer the research questions related to how the pre-crisis phase was conducted, and how three different theories can contribute to the understanding of the pre-crisis phase. The theories used were Conflicting Objectives Perspective, High Reliability Organisation, and Resilience Engineering. To answer the research questions, semi-structured interviews with eight employees of Region Östergötland involved in the pre-crisis phase were conducted. The interviews were analysed using the thematic analysis approach. The thematic analysis showed that the pre-crisis phase was mainly characterised by organisational changes within the regular organisational structures, different challenges predominately related to acquiring personal protective equipment, a lack of information from the national agencies, and a slight underestimation. These themes were used to answer the first research question. To answer the second research question, the aforementioned theories were applied to the themes. This application showed that there are aspects of the three theories that can contribute to the understanding of the pre-crisis phase. These aspects can also be used during future pre-crisis phases. Furthermore, based on the contributions of the three theories and the thematic analysis, a new model was developed which can be used to describe the different phases of the pre-crisis phase. The application of the theories and the new model resulted in general guidelines highlighting the important processes during a pre-crisis phase, including the processes of monitoring, anticipating, planning, and preparing.