Increasing cycling and making it safer has been a policy at the national level in Sweden for nearly two decades. However, the policy has yielded limited success. Insufficient funding for safe and attractive bicycle infrastructure have been singled out as a key factor. The aim of this study is to examine the intersection where the policy at the national level in Sweden is to be translated into transport planning budgeting and the impediments for the allocation of funds. The method consists of analysing key texts and performing 28 interviews with government officials and national and regional planners to examine professionals’ views on budgeting prac-tices. Actor-network theory (ANT) is applied for the analysis. Impediments are found in disappearing funds, responsibility-delegation to municipalities, unbeneficial cost-benefit methods and organisational hypocrisy. The national transport planning system, as it is enacted in terms of legislation, objectives and practices, is in some aspects rigged in disfavour of cycling investments.

This study investigates what factors impede women's ability to be included in politics in Kenya in light of reforms such as decentralization and electoral gender quotas. The Kenyan case highlights a paradox: reforms are progressive in reaching a more gender-balanced representation, including women from more levels of the country in the political sphere. Despite this, women in Kenyan politics face several barriers when aiming for a position in office and partaking in political activities on equal terms as men. The material was collected through a three-week field trip to Nairobi, interviewing female politicians either elected through the number of votes or nominated through quota in the National Parliament and the devolved level of Nairobi City County Assembly. Findings suggest that women on both levels face several barriers when attaining a political position and performing their roles in the office. Women face unattainable financial requirements, violence and threats, voters' biases towards their capacity, and parties favoring men. Patriarchal structures also hinder women's political inclusion, where non-governmental organizations play an important role by offering different venues for political training to build aspiring female politicians from the bottom-up. More work is needed to ensure women's political inclusion in Kenya, starting with implementing the two-thirds gender rule in National Parliament and pressuring political parties to be gender-inclusive. To reach women's political inclusion, educating people on women's equal rights to gain political representation and be included in political work on similar terms as men is vital.

<p>Att bevarandet av biologisk mångfald är en grundpelare för att nå en hållbar utveckling enades världens länder om i Konventionen om biologisk mångfald (CBD) som upprättades under toppmötet i Rio de Janeiro 1992. I konventionen förespråkas den s.k. ekosystemansatsen (EA), vilket är en strategi som innebär en helhetssyn på ekosystem. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka i vilken grad EA tillämpas på nationell och regional nivå. Frågan är också om EA är en bra utgångspunkt för att upprätthålla biologisk mångfald på landskapsnivå samt vad som kan öka tillämpningen av EA på regional nivå. På nationell nivå analyserades två delar i miljömålspropositionen och på regional nivå analyserades de landskapsstrategier som sju län har fått i uppdrag av regeringen att upprätta i ett pilotprojekt. Min teoretiska utgångspunkt har varit ekosystemansatsen och dess principer och vägledande punkter. Metoden bestod av främst en kvantitativ innehållsanalys med kvalitativa inslag och som komplement utfördes fyra intervjuer.</p><p>Resultatet visade att de delar av miljömålspropositionen som analyserades i hög grad följde ekosystemansatsen. En brist i propositionen var dock att det saknades riktlinjer om att det behövdes involvering av olika aktörer när den ursprungliga definitionen av landskapsavsnittet i strategierna skulle bestämmas. Att denna aspekt var implicit ledde troligtvis till det faktum att den även var implicit i landskapsstrategierna. Tillämpningen av EA i landskapsstrategierna skedde, trots att länsstyrelserna endast tillämpade den indirekt, i ganska hög grad och särskilt togs hänsyn till sociala aspekter som involvering av olika aktörer i själva processen och kontakt med vetenskapliga discipliner. Det som däremot var bristfälligt gällde tillämpningen av komplexa aspekter, vilka inte klart hade uttryckts i riktlinjerna till länsstyrelserna från regeringen. Dessa faktorer var beaktande av förvaltning av ekosystem inom ramen för dess funktion, processer i ekosystem samt adaptiv förvaltning. Alla intervjupersoner var överens om att EA är övergripande och ganska luddig, men det måste den vara för att gälla globalt. Av vikt är att konkretisera den på nationell och regional nivå. Ett förslag är att Naturvårdsverket i detta projekt ger tydliga riktlinjer angående tillämpningen av EA i landskapsstrategierna och att det är en tvåvägskommunikation mellan Naturvårdsverket och länsstyrelserna så att det blir en iterativ process. Genom en konkretisering kan tillämpningen av EA öka och därmed ett steg tas mot en hållbar utveckling.</p> / <p>The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) promotes the Ecosystem Approach (EA), which is a strategy that endeavours to take a comprehensive approach to managing ecosystems. The aim of this report is to study to what degree the EA is being followed on a national and regional level. A key question of the research is whether EA is conceptually sound and whether it has been operationalised effectively at both national and regional scale. Using articulated EA principles and operational guidelines from the CBD this study analyzed the Government's national environmental directive concerning biodiversity. The same approach was also applied to an analysis of several regional landscape strategies that are being developed as part of a pilot project. The results show that the national biodiversity directive is largely consistent with an EA. Although one area of inadequacy was the level of involvement by different stakeholders in the original decision about defining the landscape area in the pilot studies. This was also a weakness in the landscape strategies- perhaps because communication on this issue was not explicit in the directive from the government.</p><p>The implementation of EA in the landscape strategies at the regional level was also found to be good, especially the participation from different stakeholders (especially local stakeholders) in the process and scientific institutions. However inadequate factors not represented in these strategies were complex ecological aspects such as principle 6 (ecosystem must be managed within the limits of their functioning) and operational guideline 1 (focus on the functional relationships and processes within ecosystems). Adaptive management (operational guideline 3), a relatively new approach in Sweden, was also found to be deficient. All the respondents agreed that the EA needed to be made more concrete on a national and regional level. A suggestion from the research to improve the development and adoption of the EA would be to develop iterative mechanisms between regional and national authorities to ensure national guiding principles are informed by more concrete regional experience. When the EA is implemented more effectively we will take one step further on the way to reaching a sustainable development.</p>

The aim of this study is to describe and explain (individual level) public political participation, with particular focus on the significance of the local, geographical context. Studies of political participation have traditionally focused on individual level explanations. Here, however, the question of the significance of place, is also raised i.e. does place have an effect on the probability of the individual to take political action? Such causal relationships are known as contextual (or neighbourhood) effects. These occur when contextual factors affect individual behaviour so that it varies systematically between different contexts, even after controlling for individual level predictors. Although empirical research has been lacking, there is a widespread assumption that place of residence can have both positive and negative effects on outcomes at the level of the individual. This is the case especially with regard to urban residential segregation, which is believed to cause self-generating, negative effects on the political engagement of citizens. My line of argument is that contextual effects cannot be taken for granted; rather they must be tested empirically in a systematic way, using individual level data and appropriate techniques. Political participation is operationalised in terms of: voting in local elections, contacting local officials, and participating in manifestations. The local, geographical context is operationalised in two ways; as Swedish municipalities and as city districts. The latter is done using case studies of two Swedish cities; Umeå, a medium-sized town with moderate socioeconomic segregation, and Göteborg, a large city with extensive polarisation. Survey data is used and analysed by means of multilevel analysis, a technique developed especially for hierarchical data and contextual analysis of individual level outcomes. The results do not provide strong support for the hypothesis of contextual effects on public political participation. There are, in several cases, strong, bivariate relationships between socioeconomic composition and political participation at the aggregate level. However, this is not confirmed in analyses of individual level data. The variation between individuals residing in different places is significant in only one case; when the context is operationalised as municipalities and the dependent variable is participation in manifestations. This variation cannot, however, be explained neither by individual level SES/political engagement nor by socioeconomic composition at the municipal level. An analysis of crosslevel interactions shows that employed persons residing in affluent districts of Göteborg have a higher probability to vote and to participate in contacting than employed persons living in poor neighbourhoods. Similarly, individuals with an immigrant background living in affluent districts in Göteborg are more likely to vote than those living in poor areas. These results give some support for the hypothesis of contextual effects on political participation. However, as the number of observations in this particular analysis is very small, the results are not robust and, consequently, must be interpreted with caution. In order to identify relevant individual level predictors, the SES and CV-models are applied. The results indicate that socioeconomic variables such as employment status and education are important predictors of voting. However, when it comes to contacting officials and participating in manifestations, socio-political resources such as political engagement and organisational membership are better as predictors of political participation.

Att bevarandet av biologisk mångfald är en grundpelare för att nå en hållbar utveckling enades världens länder om i Konventionen om biologisk mångfald (CBD) som upprättades under toppmötet i Rio de Janeiro 1992. I konventionen förespråkas den s.k. ekosystemansatsen (EA), vilket är en strategi som innebär en helhetssyn på ekosystem. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka i vilken grad EA tillämpas på nationell och regional nivå. Frågan är också om EA är en bra utgångspunkt för att upprätthålla biologisk mångfald på landskapsnivå samt vad som kan öka tillämpningen av EA på regional nivå. På nationell nivå analyserades två delar i miljömålspropositionen och på regional nivå analyserades de landskapsstrategier som sju län har fått i uppdrag av regeringen att upprätta i ett pilotprojekt. Min teoretiska utgångspunkt har varit ekosystemansatsen och dess principer och vägledande punkter. Metoden bestod av främst en kvantitativ innehållsanalys med kvalitativa inslag och som komplement utfördes fyra intervjuer. Resultatet visade att de delar av miljömålspropositionen som analyserades i hög grad följde ekosystemansatsen. En brist i propositionen var dock att det saknades riktlinjer om att det behövdes involvering av olika aktörer när den ursprungliga definitionen av landskapsavsnittet i strategierna skulle bestämmas. Att denna aspekt var implicit ledde troligtvis till det faktum att den även var implicit i landskapsstrategierna. Tillämpningen av EA i landskapsstrategierna skedde, trots att länsstyrelserna endast tillämpade den indirekt, i ganska hög grad och särskilt togs hänsyn till sociala aspekter som involvering av olika aktörer i själva processen och kontakt med vetenskapliga discipliner. Det som däremot var bristfälligt gällde tillämpningen av komplexa aspekter, vilka inte klart hade uttryckts i riktlinjerna till länsstyrelserna från regeringen. Dessa faktorer var beaktande av förvaltning av ekosystem inom ramen för dess funktion, processer i ekosystem samt adaptiv förvaltning. Alla intervjupersoner var överens om att EA är övergripande och ganska luddig, men det måste den vara för att gälla globalt. Av vikt är att konkretisera den på nationell och regional nivå. Ett förslag är att Naturvårdsverket i detta projekt ger tydliga riktlinjer angående tillämpningen av EA i landskapsstrategierna och att det är en tvåvägskommunikation mellan Naturvårdsverket och länsstyrelserna så att det blir en iterativ process. Genom en konkretisering kan tillämpningen av EA öka och därmed ett steg tas mot en hållbar utveckling. / The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) promotes the Ecosystem Approach (EA), which is a strategy that endeavours to take a comprehensive approach to managing ecosystems. The aim of this report is to study to what degree the EA is being followed on a national and regional level. A key question of the research is whether EA is conceptually sound and whether it has been operationalised effectively at both national and regional scale. Using articulated EA principles and operational guidelines from the CBD this study analyzed the Government's national environmental directive concerning biodiversity. The same approach was also applied to an analysis of several regional landscape strategies that are being developed as part of a pilot project. The results show that the national biodiversity directive is largely consistent with an EA. Although one area of inadequacy was the level of involvement by different stakeholders in the original decision about defining the landscape area in the pilot studies. This was also a weakness in the landscape strategies- perhaps because communication on this issue was not explicit in the directive from the government. The implementation of EA in the landscape strategies at the regional level was also found to be good, especially the participation from different stakeholders (especially local stakeholders) in the process and scientific institutions. However inadequate factors not represented in these strategies were complex ecological aspects such as principle 6 (ecosystem must be managed within the limits of their functioning) and operational guideline 1 (focus on the functional relationships and processes within ecosystems). Adaptive management (operational guideline 3), a relatively new approach in Sweden, was also found to be deficient. All the respondents agreed that the EA needed to be made more concrete on a national and regional level. A suggestion from the research to improve the development and adoption of the EA would be to develop iterative mechanisms between regional and national authorities to ensure national guiding principles are informed by more concrete regional experience. When the EA is implemented more effectively we will take one step further on the way to reaching a sustainable development.

The Earth consists of approximately 70 percentage of water, but only 1 percent is at present suitable to drink with no sanitation. Water is vital for human life and should be accessible to all human beings, stated even through its legal definition. Reviewed in this paper is that globalization has over the years brought both stunning benefits and openings for many individuals in regards to water and sanitation. However, these opportunities are yet not available for all, since currently approximately 2.5 billion of the world’s population lack access to sanitation, and for about 1 billion individual’s access to safe drinking water is absent. Harmed health leading to death is a crucial consequence of this enormous lack. International coherence and acknowledgement for this challenging situation is at present part of the global agenda, and through this, water and sanitation have been recognized as a fundamental human right by the United Nations (UN) and implemented in its legal framework. However, its definition can be questioned. The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) declare that water shall be available and accessible for all human beings. Within several of the UNs adopted documents, water shall additionally be sufficient, affordable, safe and acceptable, and contain a certain standard of quality. Nevertheless, obstacles occur regarding these requirements through its interpretation. The question arises if the right within its classification can guarantee the fundamental right to water and sanitation to be incorporated, compatible and functional in human rights law.  Besides this, the role of sustainable development and, regional and national legislations in the implementation process is additionally addressed to acknowledge how the right is ensured and protected.

Text in Afrikaans / lnternasionale erkenning van die konsep van kinderregte skep die grondslag vir state om op nasionale vlak inisiatiewe te loads wat op die kweek van 'n kinderregtekultuur gerig is, wat sal meebring dat 'n sensitiwiteit vir kinderregte ontwikkel en prioriteit aan die beskerming van daardie regte verleen word. Dit is 'n omvattende taak wat grondwetlike bepalings raak en wetgewing en administratiewe programme vereis ten einde 'n balans te vind tussen ouers se aansprake op gesinsoutonomie en die strewe om in gepaste gevalle aan kinders die bevoegdheid te verleen om self besluite oar hul lewens te neem. Die belangeatweging vind plaas teen die agtergrond van die primere oorweging van die beste belange van kinders ten opsigte van aspekte wat hulle raak . . / International recognition of the concept of children's rights lays the foundation for states to launch initiatives on national level which are aimed at developing a culture of children's rights. This will lead to an increased sensitivity to children's rights and the fact that priority will be given to the protection of those rights. It is a wide·ranging task which affects constitutional provisions and requires legislation and administrative programmes in order to strike a balance between parents' claims to the autonomy of the family and the attempt to enable children, in suitable instances, to make decisions about their lives themselves. This weighing up of interests takes place against the background of the primary consideration of the best interests of children with respect to aspects which affect them. / Constitutional, International and Indigenous Law / (LL.M)

Text in Afrikaans / lnternasionale erkenning van die konsep van kinderregte skep die grondslag vir state om op nasionale vlak inisiatiewe te loads wat op die kweek van 'n kinderregtekultuur gerig is, wat sal meebring dat 'n sensitiwiteit vir kinderregte ontwikkel en prioriteit aan die beskerming van daardie regte verleen word. Dit is 'n omvattende taak wat grondwetlike bepalings raak en wetgewing en administratiewe programme vereis ten einde 'n balans te vind tussen ouers se aansprake op gesinsoutonomie en die strewe om in gepaste gevalle aan kinders die bevoegdheid te verleen om self besluite oar hul lewens te neem. Die belangeatweging vind plaas teen die agtergrond van die primere oorweging van die beste belange van kinders ten opsigte van aspekte wat hulle raak . . / International recognition of the concept of children's rights lays the foundation for states to launch initiatives on national level which are aimed at developing a culture of children's rights. This will lead to an increased sensitivity to children's rights and the fact that priority will be given to the protection of those rights. It is a wide·ranging task which affects constitutional provisions and requires legislation and administrative programmes in order to strike a balance between parents' claims to the autonomy of the family and the attempt to enable children, in suitable instances, to make decisions about their lives themselves. This weighing up of interests takes place against the background of the primary consideration of the best interests of children with respect to aspects which affect them. / Constitutional, International and Indigenous Law / (LL.M)

In the Sustainable Development Goal’s (SDG) decade of action, research from various disciplines focuses on the proper pattern of SDG implementation and the role of partnership to ensure balance between economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Yet, there is a lack of clarity in the empirical understanding of it. This thesis aims to unravel the potential of Triple Helix Model cooperation and the EU's Principle of Partnership in the multilevel governance system in Sweden for the proper realization of such goals. Relying on the perspectives of the Triple Helix Model and the EU's Principle of Partnership, the thesis examines potential synergies across SDGs, the pressing need for cooperation in multilevel governance systems, and meta-governance instrumental strategies for SDGs’ proper implementation. Moreover, it identifies partnership as innovative governance in SDG implementation. The study complements the existing body of knowledge and literature with relevant findings that reveal the proper functioning of implementing the SDGs. Firstly, the findings indicate interlinkages between the goals using triple helix model cooperation in the Vaxjo case. Triple Helix Model cooperation has proved to be soft governance for the SDGs' implementation. Secondly, the EU's Principle of Partnership in the multilevel governance system indicates potential challenges in harnessing synergies in implementing the SDGs. That the thesis finds these results in the case of Sweden, which is among the leading countries for SDG interaction, highlights the importance of effective cooperation at different levels of government to localize SDGs and ensure synergies. Lastly, this thesis highlights how important sub-national units are to the localization and realization of the SDGs. These findings suggest that the Triple Helix Model is a main driver of the achievement of SDGs in Sweden that may also be applicable in all countries with current triple helix model potential. However, the findings provide a new understanding of the importance of cooperation across different sectors and tiers of governance systems. The present study offers the first comprehensive assessment of cooperation in a multilevel governance system to implement SDG properly.

This master thesis is a case study that deals with the concept of multilevel governance and its applicability in the regulation of the modern trend in shared economy - the digital platform Airbnb. The base resource for the study is the territory of the capital city of Prague, where this phenomenon has a massive impact on the problems in legislative issues. The political debate on this agenda fills the headlines of media news and tends to lead to major changes or mobilization of the electorate in the upcoming years. The enormous rise of developing this service has put politics at all levels of government ahead of serious legislative and political challenges. Application of the Airbnb service example on our theory forms the core of the empirical part of the research. The aim of this thesis is to examine the importance and role of each individual level based on the concept of multilevel governance in relation to the regulation of the Airbnb phenomenon. The main part of the thesis is devoted for processing semi-structured interviews with the main representatives of each individual level, media monitoring and analysis of available resources. Based on research is obvious that the basic postulates of the multi-level governance approach can be considered as valid because they are displayed at all selected...