Orientador: Enrique Amayo Zevallos / Banca: Samuel Alves Soares / Banca: Petronio de Tilio Neto / O Programa de Pós-Graduação em Relações Internacionais é instituído em parceria com a UNESP/UNICAMP/PUC-SP em projeto subsidiado pela CAPES, intitulado "Programa San Tiago Dantas" / Resumo: A Organização das Nações Unidas para a Educação, Ciência e Cultura (UNESCO) é estruturada de forma multidisciplinar atuando nas diversas áreas do saber e conhecimento. Uma delas é a questão ambiental, que ganha cada vez mais destaque no cenário internacional. Atualmente está em desenvolvimento e execução a Década da Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável, que vai de 2005-2014 (DEDS) e conta com diversas parcerias e busca ampliar ações em prol da Sustentabilidade Ambiental. Este projeto é estruturado de forma a pensar e discutir a Governança Global Ambiental (GGA) - sua origem, processos e problemas (conceituais e práticos) - e entender como a UNESCO contribui para a GGA através da Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (EDS). Embora a UNESCO seja uma Instituição de atuação global, enfocaremos as ações e debates desenvolvidos na Bacia Amazônica relacionados principalmente com o Programa Latino-Americano e Caribenho de Educação Ambiental (PLACEA), no âmbito da Iniciativa Latino Americana e Caribenha de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ILAC), proposta pela Venezuela em 2003 e o Plano Andino-amazônico de Comunicação e Educação Ambiental (PANACEA), proposto pelo Peru em 2005 / Abstract: The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is structured in a multidisciplinary way acting on several areas of knowledge. One of that is the environmental that gain more space in the international scene. The United Nations Decade of the Education for the Sustainable Development from 2005 to 2014 is an initiative in progress that has many partnerships and seeks to expand actions toward Environmental Sustainability. This project is structured in a way that allow us to think and discuss the Environmental Global Governance (EGG) - its origins, process and problems (conceptual and practical) and understand how the UNESCO contribute to the EGG throughout the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Although it is an Institution of global scale, our focus will be in the actions and debates on the Amazon Region specially those that are related with the Latin American and Caribbean Program of Environmental Education (PLACEA), part of the of the Latin American and Caribbean Initiative for Sustainable Development (ILAC), proposed by Venezuela in 2003 and the Andean-amazonic Plan of Environmental Communication and Education (PANACEA), proposed by Peru in 2005 / Mestre

O estudo de impacto ambiental (EIA), diante da concepção de avaliação de impacto ambiental (AIA), determina, em seus objetivos, a necessidade de se demonstrar a viabilidade ambiental não só de projetos, mas também de políticas, planos e programas (PPP). Considerado atualmente como instrumento ambiental essencial a qualquer processo decisório, conceitualmente distingue-se por necessidades e respostas diferentes para PPP, daquelas previstas para projetos. No Brasil, a prática associada somente a projetos e desvinculada das decisões que ponderem as alternativas locacionais, tem demonstrado distorções de uso do instrumento EIA no que se refere a respostas e também à sua credibilidade. Esta prática se refletirá no estabelecimento de responsabilidades distintas quanto à geração e disponibilidade das informações, no entendimento do conceito de EIA, como também no universo de exigências a serem requeridas. No que se refere à articulação com outros instrumentos da PNMA, cabe ao zoneamento ecológico econômico (ZEE) um grande papel, qual seja, o de articulador ambiental das diferentes escalas da AIA e gerador do diagnóstico ambiental com cenários e possibilidades de prognóstico. Conceitualmente o ZEE indica, ambientalmente e de maneira prévia, todas as alternativas de localização, ao contemplar os fatores ambientais diante da capacidade de suporte do meio em relação a uma determinada atividade, além de ser mais adequado para delimitar a área de influência e/ou os conflitos. Portanto, o estabelecimento de universos mais claros para cada escala de abordagem do instrumento AIA e a possibilidade de articulação com o ZEE desobrigarão o EIA de respostas e compromissos de implicações relacionadas a políticas públicas ao subsidiar os empreendimentos públicos e privados. O presente trabalho avalia o instrumento AIA e a possibilidade de aproveitar a implementação do ZEE para melhorar o alcance e eficiência do EIA, e se configurar como mais um instrumento de contribuição à sustentabilidade ambiental / The environment impact statement (EIS), facing the concept environment impact assessment (EIA), settles, in its objectives, the need to demonstrate not only the environment viability of projects, but also of policies, plans and programs (PPP). Currently considered as essential environment instrument to any decision making process, conceptually EIA marks presence for necessities and different answers for PPP. In Brazil, the practice associated only to projects and out of the decisions that ponder the localization alternatives, has demonstrated distortions in the use of the EIS instrument in relation of its answers and also to its credibility. This practice will be reflected on the establishment of distinct responsibilities considering the generation and availability of information, in the agreement of the EIS concept, and also in the universe of requirements to be met. In relation to the joint action with other instruments of the PNMA, it gives to the economic ecological zoning (ZEE) an important role, which is, being the environmental articulator of different scales of the EIA and generator of environmental diagnosis with scenes and possibilities of prognostic. Conceptually the ZEE indicates, environmentally and previously way, all environmental factors facing localization alternatives, when contemplating the carrying capacity in relation to a determined activity, besides being more adjusted to delimit the area of influence and/or the conflicts. Therefore, the establishment of clearer universes for each scale of approaching the instrument EIA and the possibility of joint action with the ZEE will liberate the EIS from giving answers and commitments of related implications to public policies and subsidizing the enterprises. The present work evaluates the EIA instrument and the possibility and advantage of the implementation of the ZEE to enlarge the range and to improve the EIS efficiency, and to configure it as an additional contribution instrument to environmental sustainability

A automação já é utilizada como ferramenta para se obter a eficiência energética. Este trabalho apresenta e quantifica a potencialidade desta ferramenta com objetivo de diminuir picos de energia, diminuindo também a necessidade de construir rapidamente novas usinas geradoras de energia elétrica, regulando a transmissão e distribuição desta energia, aproveitando recursos renováveis e sustentáveis, tudo isso através de um sistema que já existe implantado em vários países do mundo e tem todas as condições de ser implementado no Brasil. Este sistema é a rede inteligente de energia ou smart grid. Analisa, também, a matriz energética brasileira, apresenta anomalias ocorridas, como apagões regionais e nacionais, verifica a necessidade de energia elétrica para o crescimento do País, propõe soluções para o sistema energético nacional utilizando inovações tecnológicas, como a implantação do sistema smart grid na matriz energética, sempre objetivando melhor eficiência e qualidade da energia, levantando o comportamento dos usuários em busca da implementação destas inovações tecnológicas. A partir de idéias que rompam os paradigmas atuais de busca de energia através de grandes obras propõe este trabalho a mudança de hábito e procedimentos da população, das próprias empresas e dos órgãos públicos brasileiros buscando a diminuição da utilização da energia especialmente nos horários hoje considerados como picos, ou seja, aqueles que demandam a maior geração, transmissão e distribuição da energia utilizada. Apresenta também a necessidade de energia elétrica para desenvolvimento econômico do Brasil, agregando todas as inovações tecnológicas aos processos atuais, buscando minimizar a possibilidade da ocorrência de apagões, ocasionados por ineficiência técnica da matriz energética ou por racionamento de energia. / Automation is already used as a tool to achieve energy efficiency. This paper presents and quantifies the potential of this tool in order to reduce power surges, reducing the need rapidly build new electricity generating plants, transmission and regulating distribution of this energy, using renewable and sustainable resources, all through a system that is already deployed in several countries worldwide and has all the conditions to be implemented in Brazil. This system is the intelligent network of energy or "smart grid". It also analyzes the Brazilian energy matrix, has deficiencies occurred as a regional and national blackouts, there is need of electricity for the growth of the country, proposes solutions to national energy system, using technological innovations such as the deployment of the "smart grid" energy source, always aiming for better energy efficiency and quality, raising the behavior of users seeking the implementation of these technological innovations. From ideas that break current paradigms of seeking power through great works this paper proposes changes in the habits and procedures of the population, own businesses and public agencies are looking to decrease energy use especially in times like now considered "peaks", ie, those that demand the greatest generation, transmission and distribution of energy used. It also shows the need for electricity to Brazils economic development, adding all the technological innovations to the current processes in order to minimize the possibility of the occurrence of blackouts, caused by technical inefficiency of the energy or energy shortages.

Submitted by Cássia Santos (cassia.bcufg@gmail.com) on 2015-02-03T09:20:26Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Claudia Bueno Alves - 2014.pdf: 4444685 bytes, checksum: e658ba7d06afa845c5f9ed19c3305111 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-02-05T12:28:47Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Claudia Bueno Alves - 2014.pdf: 4444685 bytes, checksum: e658ba7d06afa845c5f9ed19c3305111 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-02-05T12:28:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Claudia Bueno Alves - 2014.pdf: 4444685 bytes, checksum: e658ba7d06afa845c5f9ed19c3305111 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-06-27 / Biosafety can be defined as the actions taken to prevent, reduce or eliminate risks inherent in activities that could endanger human health and the environment. Especially on veterinary environments, there is not much information on the subject. Moreover, the habit of neglecting the adoption of containment measures is not uncommon, which can exacerbate the potential hazards present. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify the types of risks present in each section of the laboratory, prepare risk maps with graphical representations of intensity and types of risks, disclose these maps to workers as well as to recognize the types of waste generated in the laboratory and the management adopted to the wastes to elaborate and implement a Waste Management Plan. The study was conducted at an official laboratory for veterinary diagnosis from October, 2013 to March, 2014. In this research, a check list was conducted based on the current legislation on good laboratory practices, risk mapping and waste management. The results showed that all risks and degrees of intensity were present in the laboratory with predominance of biological risk, which had severe intensity in most departments. On the other hand, chemical risk was the least frequent, although it showed the highest coefficient of variation. Regarding intensity, the highest and the lowest amount of riskwere observed in the departments of microbiological diagnosis and equine infectious anemia, respectively. As for waste management, failures were observed in all stages, especially segregation, internal transportation, handling and temporary storage, despite the generation of all types of RSS, but radioactive waste. The risk assessment in the laboratory facilities contributed to the preparation of risk maps in each sector, representing the potential hazards identified and containment measures recommended. Furthermore, a waste management plan was developed and implemented, seeking correction of nonconformities observed and, consequently, minimizing workers exposure to hazards present in the laboratory. With this study, it was possible to evidence that the physical structure as well as material and human resources influence directly the success of a biosafety plan. Thus, it is essential the adoption of a continuing education program to maintain the adherence to preventive measures indicated to minimize risks in the laboratory studied. / A biossegurança pode ser definida como um conjunto de ações destinadas a prevenir, diminuir ou eliminar riscos inerentes às atividades que possam comprometer a saúde humana, animal e o meio ambiente. Particularmente, sobre estabelecimentos veterinários, não há muitas informações a respeito do assunto. Aliado a isso, o hábito de negligenciar as medidas de contenção não é situação incomum, o que, por sua vez, pode agravar os potenciais riscos presentes nesses ambientes. Neste contexto, objetivou-se com este estudo, identificar os tipos de riscos presentes em cada setor de um laboratório de análises e diagnóstico veterinário, elaborar os mapas de riscos com representações gráfica da intensidade e tipos de riscos, divulgar estes mapas junto aos trabalhadores, diagnosticar os tipos de resíduos gerados no laboratório e o manejo adotado para elaboração e implementação do Plano de Gestão dos Resíduos. O estudo foi realizado no período de outubro de 2013 a março de 2014, por meio de check list baseado na legislação vigente, sobre boas práticas laboratoriais, mapeamento de riscos e gestão dos resíduos. Os resultados demonstraram que todos os riscos e graus de intensidade foram observados no laboratório avaliado, com predominância do risco biológico e intensidade grave na maioria dos setores. O risco químico foi o de menor ocorrência, apesar de apresentar maior coeficiente de variação. A maior e menor intensidade de risco foram observadas nos setores de microbiologia e diagnóstico de anemia infecciosa equina, respectivamente. Quanto ao manejo dos resíduos, foram observadas falhas em todas as etapas, especialmente, na segregação, transporte interno, tratamento e armazenamento temporário, apesar da geração de todos os tipos de resíduos, exceto rejeito radioativo. A identificação dos riscos existentes no estabelecimento contribuiu para a elaboração dos mapas de riscos em cada setor, representando os potenciais riscos identificados e as medidas de contenção preconizadas. Além disso, foi elaborado e implementado o plano de gestão dos resíduos, visando correções das não conformidades observadas e, consequentemente, a minimização da exposição dos trabalhadores aos riscos presentes no laboratório. Com este estudo, pôde-se evidenciar que a estrutura física e os recursos materiais e humanos exercem influência direta para o sucesso de um plano de biossegurança, sendo também imprescindível a adoção de um programa de educação continuada para manutenção da adesão às medidas preventivas indicadas para minimização dos riscos existentes no laboratório em estudo.

Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur modeföretag jobbar med hållbar produktutveckling och design och vad det finns för vidare utvecklingsmöjligheter. Genom en kvalitativ intervjustudie ska studien bidra med en sammanställning och diskussion kring hur företag kan implementera hållbarhet i produktutvecklingsprocessen. Uppsatsen skrivs på svenska.   Metod: Genom en kvalitativ och deduktiv ansats har empiriska data samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra produktutvecklande modeföretag. Metoden valdes för att ge rum för utvecklade svar från informanterna vilket skapade förutsättningar för en sammanställning och diskussion kring hur modeföretag kan implementera hållbarhet i produktutvecklingsprocessen och design. Teoretiskt perspektiv: Den tidigare forskningen involverar forskning kring tre övergripande ämnen. Det första ämnet är begreppet hållbarhet med fokus på det ekologiska perspektivet. Det andra ämnet är hållbara designstrategier, som inkluderar teorierna “Cradle to Cradle”, Eco-Design, Life Cycle Assessment samt de hållbara designstrategierna inom Design for Environment. Det tredje och sista ämnet rör designens funktion i relation till hållbarhet. Resultat och slutsatser: Resultatet visar att samtliga företag uppfattar hållbarhetsbegreppet som brett och delvis abstrakt. Detta visar sig genom företagens olika sätt att tillämpa hållbarhet via de hållbara designstrategierna. Denna skillnad är däremot också ett resultat av företagens olika identiteter och produkter. Däremot, de strategier som generellt implementerades var materialval, val av produktionsland, kvalitetsfokus och tidlös design. Studien har även undersökt vilka utvecklingsmöjligheter som finns, vilket visat att företagens tillämpning av hållbara designstrategier i högre grad borde grunda sig i en mer noggrann ekologisk utvärdering. Detta för att ge ett tydligare resultat kring vad som är “mest” hållbart för varje individuellt företag, samt hur hållbarhet kan appliceras på det sätt som bäst passar produktens design och egenskaper samt företagets målgrupps uppfattning av hållbarhet. / Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to investigate how fashion companies work with sustainable product development and design, and their opportunities for further development within the area. Through a qualitative interview study the investigation will contribute to a synthesis and discussion about how companies can implement sustainability in the product development process. The paper is written in Swedish.   Method: Through a qualitative and deductive approach, empirical data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with four product-developing fashion companies. The method was chosen to make room for the informants to give more complex answers, which created prerequisites for a synthesis and discussion about how fashion companies can implement sustainability in the product development process and design.   Theoretical perspective: The scientific research involves research within three general subjects. The first subject is the concept of sustainability, with focus on the environmental perspective. The second subject is sustainable design strategies, which includes the theories “Cradle to Cradle”, Eco-Design, Life Cycle Assessment and the sustainable design strategies within Design for Environment. The third and last subject concerns the function of the design in relation to sustainability.  Results and conclusions: The results show that all companies perceived the concept of sustainability as wide and partly abstract. This appears through the companies’ different ways of applying sustainability via the sustainable design strategies. However, this difference in application is also a result of the different identities and products of the companies. Yet, the strategies which were found generally implemented are choice of material, choice of production country, quality focus and timeless design aesthetic. The study has also investigated the companies’ opportunities for further development within the area, which showed that the companies’ applications of sustainable design strategies to a higher extent should be based on a more precise environmental assessment. This would give a clearer result on what is the “most” sustainable strategy for every individual company, but also how sustainability may be applied in a way that best fits the design and features of the product and the company's target group's perception of sustainability.

MSc (Botany) / Department of Botany / Understanding the uses of indigenous plants that are of economic importance to local communities is very much important in rural development strategies. The Marula (Sclerocarya birrea) Anacardiaceae family is widely used. More information on this tree species would enhance its value in agricultural landscapes, by helping farmers improve their livelihoods and ensuring environmental sustainability. Understanding how a community uses a resource and what influences the level of its use is crucial for developing a framework for its sustainable use based on local demands. Sclerocarya birrea is a species with multiple uses, which is recognized as commercially, medicinally and culturally important in Africa. Almost all parts of this species are useful. The study presented the findings of a survey of the indigenous knowledge, uses and management of S. birrea in Matshena village, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Different people of various ages were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Thirty percent of respondents indicated that they utilize the marula for beer and juice-making, the highest use category. In the sampled area the population of S. birrea is dominated by larger trees with no seedlings and juveniles. This is a sign of a population that will not be viable, since there are no younger individuals to replace the older trees when they die.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vad HRM arbetar med inom den social och miljömässig hållbarheten i organisationer samt vilka utmaningar som finns inom hållbarhetsområdet. Uppsatsen vill även undersöka om det finns konkurrensfördelar som HRM kan generera. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom tre stycken fysiska semistrukturerade intervjuer och två telefonintervjuer från två olika organisationer. De fem intervjuerna följde samma intervjuschema. Genom uppsatsen har det visat sig att HRM i större utsträckning arbetar med den social hållbarhet i jämförelse med den miljömässiga hållbarheten. Detta i relation till HRMs kompetenser, kunskaper samt humana resurser. I och med HRMs kompetenser inom den sociala hållbarheten kan de skapa konkurrensfördelar gentemot andra organisationer då de anses värdefulla och sällsynta. De slutsatser som identifierats är att HRM i dagsläget bör arbeta med den sociala hållbarheten och hållbart ledarskap. I framtiden kommer det krävas mer kompetenser och kunskaper för HRM för att kunna arbeta med den miljömässiga hållbarheten, vilket kan ses som en utmaning. En ytterligare utmaning inom HRM är tillgången till fler humana resurser. Fler humana skulle kunna öka möjligheterna för ett ännu bättre arbete med både den sociala hållbarheten samt hållbart ledarskap, men skulle även öppna upp möjligheterna för ett miljömässigt hållbarhetsarbete. / The purpose of this essay is to examine what HRM is working with within the social and the environmental sustainability in organizations and also which challenges there are within corporate sustainability. The essay also wants to examine if there are any competitive advantages that HRM can generate. The empirical materials have been gathered through three physical semi-structured interviews and two telephone interviews from two different organizations. The five interviews were conducted with the same questions. It has been found that HRM in greater occurrences works with the social sustainability in comparison to the environmental sustainability. This in relation to HRMs competencies, knowledge and human resources. As a result of HRMs competencies within social responsibility, they can create competitive advantages against other organizations as they are considered valuable and rare. The conclusions that are identified are that HRM should work with social responsibility and sustainable leadership. In the future, more competencies and knowledge will be required for HRM to be able to work with environmental sustainability, which can be a challenge. A further challenge within HRM may be the availability of human resources. More people working with HRM could increase opportunities for even better work with social sustainability and sustainable leadership and would also open up opportunities for work with environmental sustainability.

Die schnell wachsende Dynamik urbaner Räume stellt global eine große Herausforderung für die urbane und ökologische Nachhaltigkeit dar. In den Stadtregionen in Subsahara-Afrika stehen die Strategien und Instrumente der Landnutzungsplanung, die zur Steuerung der urbanen Dynamik für die urbane und ökologische Nachhaltigkeit eingesetzt werden, vor verschiedenen Herausforderungen, einschließlich der unzureichenden Verfügbarkeit von Daten. Das Ziel dieser Forschung ist es, zu einer effektiven Landnutzungsplanung zur Verbesserung der urbanen und ökologischen Nachhaltigkeit beizutragen, indem integrierte empirische Daten aus Geographischen Informationssystemen, Fernerkundung und Umfragen genutzt werden, um detaillierte und neue Einblicke in die urbane Landdynamik zu bieten. Bei der Untersuchung der Diskrepanzen zwischen der vergangenen und der aktuellen städtischen Landbedeckung und den Flächennutzungsplänen wurde die überwachte Klassifizierung (supervised classification) der Landbedeckung von LANDSAT-Daten aus den Jahren 1987, 2002 und 2017 verwendet, um die nicht-städtischen Entwicklungsflächen zu quantifizieren, die an die Stadt/Bebauung verloren gingen. Experteninterviews wurden zur Anleitung und Entwicklung von drei Szenarioalternativen zur Simulation der Landbedeckung von 2017 bis 2030 und 2050 unter Verwendung des Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network und Markov-Modellen verwendet. Die Ergebnisse zeigten eine Zunahme der städtischen/bebauten Flächen und große Unstimmigkeiten zwischen der früheren/aktuellen städtischen Landbedeckung und den bestehenden Flächennutzungsplänen. Außerdem zeigten die Ergebnisse eine hohe, geringe und keine potenzielle Beeinträchtigung der geschützten ökologisch sensiblen Gebiete durch die zukünftige urbane Dynamik unter den Szenarien "Business As Usual", "Adjusted Urban Land" und "Regionaler Flächennutzungsplan". Die Methoden und die zur Verfügung gestellten Basisinformationen, insbesondere aus dem “Adjusted Urban Land” Szenario, wären für eine effektive Flächennutzungsplanung von Nutzen. Dies würde dazu beitragen, die urbane und ökologische Nachhaltigkeit der Stadtregionen in Subsahara-Afrika und im gesamten Globalen Süden zu verbessern, wo eine unzureichende Datenverfügbarkeit die Flächennutzungsplanung erschwert. / Global urban dynamics are rapidly increasing, posing a great challenge to urban and environmental sustainability. In Sub-Saharan Africa city-regions, land use planning strategies and instruments used to guide urban dynamic patterns for urban and environmental sustainability are faced with various challenges, including insufficient data availability. The goal of this research is to contribute to effective land use planning for improving urban and environmental sustainability using integrated empirical data derived from Geographic Information Systems, Remote Sensing, and surveys to offer detailed and new insights into urban land dynamics. While investigating the mismatches between the past and current urban land cover and land use plans, the supervised classification of the land cover of LANDSAT data from 1987, 2002, and 2017 was used to quantify the non-urban development areas lost to urban/built-up. Expert interviews were applied to guide and develop three scenario alternatives to simulate land cover from 2017 to 2030 and 2050 using the Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network and Markov models. The results indicated an increase in urban/built-up areas and large mismatches between the past/current urban land cover and the existing land use plans. Also, the results indicated high, little, and no potential degradation of the protected environmentally sensitive areas by the future urban dynamics under the Business As Usual, Adjusted Urban Land, and Regional Land Use Plan scenarios respectively. The methods and the baseline information provided, especially from the Adjusted Urban Land scenario would be useful for effective land use planning. This would support improving the urban and environmental sustainability of the Sub-Saharan African city-regions and across the Global South, where insufficient data availability challenges land use planning.

Abstract  Purpose:  The purpose of the research was to define Product-Service-System (PSS) and Product-as-a- Service (PaaS), identify the challenges and match mitigations with them when closing the supply chain from a B2C retailer’s perspective. The following three research questions were defined:  RQ1: How are Product-Service-System and Product-as-a-Service defined and related to the environmental sustainability context?  RQ2: What are the challenges that B2C-retailers with a Product-as-a-Service model encounter in regard to closing their supply chain loop?  RQ3: How can the closed loop supply chain related challenges that B2C-retailers encounter be mitigated to unfold the environmentally sustainable potential of PaaS business models?  Methodology: A systematic literature review was used for defining PaaS and PSS with an environmentally sustainable focus. The second part of the research is based on a qualitative research method with the use of an interview study setup where 2 industry experts and 4 PaaS companies from the fashion, furniture, mobility and whitegoods industries were interviewed. The empirical data was collected using six semi-structured interviews over zoom.  Findings:  Both PSS and PaaS are focused on providing the product with a service. The biggest difference between PSS and PaaS is that the former is seen as a paradigm shift with regards to linear models whereas the latter is seen as a practical business model to transform a linear system. Based on the intended use, PSS and PaaS are both not inherently more sustainable than linear business models. The standardised definition was further used and integrated for the development of the framework which displays the challenges and mitigations of different levels for an environmentally sustainable PaaS model. The final framework displays 25 challenges. To those challenges, 24 mitigations could be connected. Furthermore, there were 16 challenges that had not been cross validated and a total of 19 challenges that could not be matched with any mitigation. Those unmatched challenges show the need for further research in this area.  Contributions/value:  The contribution that this thesis brings to existing literature is threefold. First, PSS and PaaS are defined and related to environmental sustainability, solving the fragmentation that was caused in prior research. Secondly, the challenges found widen the scope of existing knowledge about PSS and PaaS in a CLSC. Thirdly, mitigation horizons were elaborated on in this research, giving practical handlebars to managers for overcoming challenges in the B2C PaaS field and theoretical insights for matching challenges and mitigations. Additionally, this thesis points out possibilities for future research, with which we hope to motivate other researchers to shed light on under-researched areas.  Keywords:  Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) - Product-Service-System (PSS) - Servitization - B2C Retailer - Circular Economy - Circular Business Model - Environmental Sustainability - Challenges - Mitigations - Closed Loop Supply Chain

This study has been conducted on behalf of Vectura Consulting AB with the purpose to examine how different actors perceive the dimensions of sustainability and sustainable construction. The purpose is also to provide an understanding of existing barriers and opportunities for sustainable construction within the industry and exemplify with different directions for the actors in order to develop sustainability. The study has approach the research problem by using systems theory, developed by Checkland, to identify the relevant system. Other systems theories has been used as an theoretical framework in order to identify barriers and opportunities, which in this study are based on Hughes’s theory about reverse salients and salients. Interviews with a selection of different actors in the industry and prior research have in this study served as empirics and the perspective of the systems theory defines the necessary tools to be used. The study shows that no consistency prevails regarding the definition of sustainability among the actors. Although, the environmental aspect of sustainability is prioritized by a majority of the actors oppose to social and economic aspects. Furthermore, for some of the actors economy is governing while for others it is decisive. Sustainable construction is characterized by a long-term parallel process with incentives such as branding, recruiting, and optimized operations. Moreover, the study indicates a willingness among the actors to define the concept of sustainability in order to achieve an industry wide definition. Such a definition would be of benefit for simplifying procurement and developing sustainable construction. The study identified two barriers and two opportunities. The actors agrees on that the procurement regulations of the Swedish infrastructure authority “Trafikverket” in combination with contracts defined by multiple products, and the objectives of Trafikverket,  are the two main barriers for holding back the development of sustainability in the industry. However, Trafikverket’s goal to increase the number of contracts based on function is seen as an opportunity as it enables creativity and innovation and a possible side effect of sustainable development. In addition, side bids from different actors are considered as a driver that will accelerate Trafikverket’s work regarding sustainability and especially sustainable construction. Finally, the authors give examples of directions for the industry to enhance sustainable construction and by doing so the authors connect vision with practice.