Sustainable Development was conceived as a visionary idea to have society meet the needs of the today while also considering those of future generations. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development was developed to provide an operational planning methodology to move society towards ecological and social sustainability. While abundant scientific research and project work have been completed in the ecological issues area - a significant gap remains regarding Social Sustainability. This research project sought to identify leading Actions of Social Sustainability that might strategically remove the systemic conditions (barriers) to Social Sustainability. Reducing the complexity of Social Sustainability for sustainability practitioners can be helpful for working within Strategic Sustainable Development. Using an assessment tool based on Social Sustainability Actions Criteria, leading Actions of Strategic Sustainable Development emerged from case studies and interviews research with social sustainability practitioners and experts. Although this research process was successful, the study of Social Sustainability Actions also resulted in two aspects of proposed discovery: a means to identify systems barriers within a Social Sustainability Actions Criteria Tool and a model of Core Characteristics of Social Sustainability Actions. Additionally proposed, 3 potential Universal Categories of Social Sustainability Actions. / Actions speak louder than words - It means a lot more if we act on our beliefs than if we just talk about them. In this research project, the Action Level of The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development is researched with regards to possible leading actions, a strategic planning model for grass roots sustainability work, and 3 potential universal categories for Social Sustainability actions.

The social phenomenon of children without parental care and those at risk of separation from their parents has gained considerable global attention in recent years. A key concern is the over-reliance on institutional care mainly in Africa, Asia and Latin America as the default form of alternative care for such children. Extensive research points to mostly negative impact of separation of children from families and institutionalization of children which affects their health outcomes and development. In response to this global crisis, the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children were developed in 2010. Kenya domesticated the guidelines in 2014 and is in the process of implementation. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development and more specifically the Social Sustainability Principles are used in this study to assess the extent to which the UN Guidelines, Kenya Guidelines and implementation of alternative care of children in Kenya align to Social Sustainability. This research finds that the guidelines are highly aligned to social sustainability although their implementation points to major structural obstacles that if minimized will promote social sustainability of alternative care in Kenya. A coherent well-coordinated approach that takes a systems perspective and links to the mainstream social development agenda is recommended.

The urban population has rapidly grown in recent years, consequently creating challenges for sustainable development. To achieve sustainability, economic, ecological, and social sustainability are required to be in balance. However, social sustainability is often argued to be challenging and complex that lacks a common definition, creating a de-prioritization of social sustainability in urban development. This master’s thesis aimed to provide a higher prioritization and establish a common definition of the concept through the development of a framework for measuring social sustainability of urban space in a Swedish context. This framework aimed to benefit the spatial planning practice when developing urban spaces socially sustainable.    Through a literature review, a policy analysis, and interviews conducted with spatial planners from Stockholm and Gothenburg, a foundation of a framework was created based on a set of indicators and sub-indicators. The research resulted in one main indicator creating the foundation of Swedish social sustainability, followed by two categorizations of physical respective non-physical factors each containing several indicators and sub-indicators for social sustainability. The result indicated that Swedish social sustainability partly differed from the general approach of the concept through its emphasis within a few indicators, but generally approached similar indicators as within existing research. Further, the research redirected the stated challenge regarding the lack of a common definition of social sustainability towards the suggested main challenge regarding a lack of a common understanding. The proposed foundation of a framework was argued to meet the stated challenge through the understanding of different aspects of importance within social sustainability.    Lastly, the master’s thesis questioned the practice of measuring social sustainability and the consequences that would follow such measures. The research showed that social sustainability could be measured but the question remained whether it should. However, the research indicated that the implementation of such framework would benefit the spatial planning practice to a certain extent.

Fashion apparel industry has been connected to detrimental social consequences, particularly in developing countries. In this case, tier one suppliers are in a unique position to play a critical role in addressing these concerns because they are the key in between brand and rest tiers and can apply sustainable practices that promote ethical/responsible production as tire one suppliers are conduction their production operation with the help of a huge human force. By collaborating with first/tier one suppliers to prioritize social sustainability, fashion apparel firms can strike a balance between their own ambitions, social goals and, while also reducing the dangers of exploitation and unfavorable publicity.

Syfte: Syftet är att få en förståelse för hur ledare använder sociala hållbarhetsfaktorer, samt hur detta påverkar arbetsmotivationen hos medarbetarna. Metod: Studien tillämpar en kvalitativ metod utifrån den hermeneutiska vetenskapstraditionen. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom 13 semistrukturerade intervjuer. För att fånga båda perspektiven har dessa intervjuer utförts med både ledare och medarbetare. Under transkriberingen av detta material identifierades teman och kategorier vilka legat till grund för utformningen av empirin och analysen. Resultat & slutsats: Studien visar att samtliga ledare i undersökningen arbetar med både de grundläggande motivationsfaktorerna och de sociala hållbarhetsfaktorerna. Det framkommer hur utförandet av detta arbete utförs skiljer sig åt mellan de olika ledarna, vilket innebär att det finns flera olika metoder för varje enskild faktor. Examensarbetets bidrag: Det har visat sig att uppfattningarna angående vilka faktorer som leder direkt till ökad arbetsmotivation skiljer sig åt. Detta gäller både mellan ledare och medarbetare, men även för individerna inom samma grupp. Resultatet vi fått fram utifrån detta är även något som inte helt stämmer överens med tidigare forskning. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: För fortsatt forskning rekommenderar vi att det utförs en studie med en fördjupning i varför vissa faktorer leder till arbetsmotivation medan andra enbart är förutsättningar för arbetsmotivationen. Ytterligare några faktorer är dessutom en kombination av de båda. En förståelse bakom detta mönster skulle bidra till att utöka forskningsområdet. / Aim: The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of how leaders work with social sustainability factors, and how this affects the employees’ work motivation. Method: This study applies a qualitative method which proceeds from the hermeneutic science tradition. The empirical material has been collected through 13 semi structured interviews. To capture both perspectives, we've interviewed both leaders and employees. During the transcription we identified themes and categories which founded the empirics and analysis. Result & conclusions: Our study indicates that all leaders work both with the fundamental motivation factors and the factors of social sustainability. It appears that how the leaders work with the factors differs, which imply that there are several different methods for achieving each factor. Contribution of the thesis: It has been shown that the interpretation differ of which factors leads to an increased work motivation. This refers both between the leaders and the employees, but also to the individuals within the same group. The result from this does not agree with previous research. Suggestions for future research: For further research, we recommend a study to investigate on why certain factors lead to work motivation while others solely are prerequisites to achieve it. Other elements are in addition to that a combination of both. An understanding behind this pattern would contribute to expand the current research field.

Considering the lack of clear guidance regarding the way business could include social sustainability into their operations, the objective of this research project was to study the functionality of social sustainability tools which are used worldwide by business practitioners and assess how useful these tools are to overcome barriers related with social aspects of sustainability as they are described in the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD): health, influence, competence, impartiality and meaning-making. A qualitative method analysis was selected, based upon direct content analysis. Elements from the 5 Level Framework (5LF) and the FSSD were used for designing two review processes to analyse selected social sustainability tools. The 5LF is useful for planning in complex systems, while the FSSD is designed to address complex challenges and recognize opportunities which aim to sustainability. The findings from the research show which tools, based on their functionality, can help a company move towards sustainability and illustrate how they address different social sustainability aspects. Based on these findings, recommendations were developed which included key features of the selected social sustainability tools. These recommendations could help business practitioners to choose the most appropriate tool for specific business context depending on the company’s needs.

The purpose of this paper is to visualize how vital the concept of social sustainability is to secure a sustainable society. To answer this, two surveys have been made. One study examines and compares how selected concepts are highlighted in the curricula Lgy 70, Lpf94 and GY11, in order to answer how the concept of social sustainability changed over time. The second survey analyzes the positive effects that may arise with increased social sustainability in the school. In order to answer this question, an interview has been made with a teacher who has been working for all three curricula. The choice of subject is based on the latest Friends-report, which states that every fourth child in school is exposed to abusive treatment and every tenth child is subjected to bullying. The essay is based on a hermeneutic theory whose purpose is to interpret collected material to bring in a deeper understanding. In order to create a deeper understanding, the essay has used a qualitative method that stands out to give an overall picture. The essay also contains a comparative method for analyzing similarities and differences between the different curricula Lgy70, Lpf94 and GY11. The results of the essay show that the concept of social sustainability has undergone a major change from the 1970s to today. The results also show that if social sustainability is given more space in education, hopefully we can see a reduction in discrimination in school. This would in turn result and contribute to a stronger society.

Companies are increasingly pressed to consider sustainability aspects when making decisions during product development. However, the methodological support for doing so is immature. The immaturity is particularly pronounced regarding the social dimension (or pillar) of sustainability and regarding strategic sustainability considerations. The overall aim of this thesis was to explore how the social dimension of sustainability and a strategic sustainability perspective could be better included in methodological support for product development. This was pursued in two ways.   Firstly, a two-staged review of the literature was conducted. Stage one focused on summarizing the state of the art of integration of social sustainability aspects in product development and stage two focused on critically analyzing and evaluating these efforts. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development was used to guide the analysis of the current integration efforts and the evaluation of their potential for supporting sustainable product development and strategic sustainable development in general. Secondly, a recently published principled definition of social sustainability was used to enhance two approaches for including sustainability considerations in product development. One of these approaches is focused on decision-making support at concept selection, based on assessment and comparison of sustainability implications of the considered product concepts. The other approach is focused on developing sustainability criteria and a related sustainability compliance index in support of concept development.   In the literature review, social life cycle assessment methods (Social LCA) were found to represent a large part of the current efforts, and several challenges with those methods were identified. From a decision support perspective, they were found to have weaknesses regarding applicability and robustness: results from the assessment, usually performed by scientists to evaluate a scientific question, may be too complex to interpret from a business standpoint; the impact perspective may be too narrow, missing important aspects of social sustainability; and generally they lack a strategic perspective. The use of a strategic sustainable development perspective in the approaches prototyped in this thesis is a way of tackling these challenges. The use of backcasting from visions framed by sustainability principles can: help organize and make sense of the general field of sustainability, highlighting where overlaps between objectives exist; provide the long term perspective needed for sustainability; allow for product developers to gain awareness of potential impacts of a product’s life cycle phases within existing knowledge, time and resource constraints; help build a roadmap in order to reduce a product’s contribution to unsustainability (including social unsustainability).   Future research will focus on further testing and development of the suggested approaches and specifically on further development of tactical design guidelines that provide support for the fulfilment of long-term sustainability criteria and clarify the connection between decisions taken during product development and a product’s sustainability profile.

Frågeställning 1  Bakgrund: Kunskapen om att kunna hantera och åtgärda brister inom social hållbarhet i leverantörsledet utgör grunden i denna studie. Social hållbarhet blir allt viktigare för företag för att kunna behålla sin plats på marknaden. Genom att implementera sociala hållbarhetsstrategier och säkerställa den sociala hållbarheten kan de dessutom skapa en konkurrenskraft. Det finns verktyg som verksamheter kan använda sig av, så som hållbarhetskonsulter som sammanställer rapporter om den sociala hållbarheten hos en leverantör. Däremot råder det brist på modeller att tillämpa för att åtgärda bristerna som eventuellt påvisats.          Syfte: Studien syftar till att ta fram en modell som företag kan tillämpa för att säkerställa social hållbarhet hos sina leverantörer i Kina med hjälp av hållbarhetskonsulter.         Metod: Det har genomförts en kvalitativ fallstudie för att undersöka hur ett företag arbetar med social hållbarhet, deras utmaningar i syfte för att ta fram en passande modell. Studien har främst använt sig av semistrukturerade intervjuer för att samla in empiriskt material för att få en djupgående analys.  Slutsats: Resultatet i forskningen illustreras i figur 12 på sidan 88 som är en utvecklad modell för företag som de kan använda för att säkerställa social hållbarhet. Modellen är indelad i fyra steg, följt av flera understeg som vägleder företag hur de går tillväga vid olika scenarion. De fyra olika stegen benämns: medvetenhet, kravspecifikationer, kommunikation och samarbete samt slutligen uppföljning.  Frågeställning 2 Bakgrund: På senare år har många företag valt att använda leverantörer som är lokaliserade i Kina, på grund av flera positiva aspekter. Dock finns det utmaningar, bland annat den låga lönenivån och sociala hållbarhetsbrister på fabrikerna. Det är känt att arbetarna har det sämre än i andra länder kopplat till lön och arbetsförhållanden. Det finns idag begränsad information om huruvida de olika variablerna är sammanlänkade.       Syfte: Forskningen har i syfte att undersöka ett eventuellt samband mellan den geografiska platsen i Kina, arbetarens lön och sociala hållbarhetsbrister.  Metod: Studiens andra forskningsfråga är främst baserad på en tvärsnittsdesign för att kunna jämföra och identifiera potentiella samband mellan olika variabler. För att kunna visa resultatet i siffror är den utförd utifrån den kvantitativa forskningsstrategin. Det empiriska materialet består av rapporter utformade av företagets hållbarhetskonsult, vilket innebär att det är en sekundärkälla. Slutsats: Forskningens resultat påvisade ingen korrelation mellan de olika variablerna: geografisk plats, lön och sociala hållbarhetsbrister. Indikationen - 0,07183 var så pass svag att inga samband kan dras. / For question 1 Background:The knowledge of being able to manage and remedy deficiencies within social sustainability in the supply chain forms the basis of this study. Social sustainability is becoming increasingly important for companies in order to maintain their place in the market. By implementing social sustainability strategies and ensuring social sustainability, they can create a competitive edge. There are tools that businesses can use, such as sustainability consultants who compile reports on the social sustainability of a supplier. On the other hand, there is a lack of models to apply to remedy the deficiencies that may have been identified.          Purpose: The study aims to develop a model that companies can apply to ensure social sustainability of their suppliers in China with the help of sustainability consultants.          Method: A qualitative case study has been carried out to investigate how a company works with social sustainability, their challenges in order to develop a suitable model. The study has primarily used semi-structured interviews to collect empirical material in order to obtain an in-depth analysis. Conclusion: The result of the research is illustrated in figure 12 on page 88 which is a developed model for companies that they can use to ensure social sustainability. The model is divided into four steps, followed by several sub-steps that guide companies how to proceed in different scenarios. The four different steps are named: awareness, requirement specifications, communication and collaboration and finally follow-up.  For question 2 Background: In recent years, many companies have chosen to use suppliers located in China, due to several positive aspects. However, there are challenges, including the low wage level and social sustainability deficiencies at the factories. It is known that the workers are worse off than in other countries linked to wages and working conditions. There is currently limited information on whether the various variables are linked.      Purpose: The research aims to investigate a possible connection between the geographical location in China, the worker's salary and social sustainability deficiencies.          Method: The study's second research question is primarily based on a cross-sectional design to be able to compare and identify potential relationships between different variables. In order to be able to show the result in numbers, it is carried out based on the quantitative research strategy. The empirical material consists of reports designed by the company's sustainability consultant, which means that it is a secondary source.      Conclusion: The results of the research showed no correlation between the different variables: geographic location, salary and social sustainability deficiencies. The indication - 0.07183 was so weak that no connections could be drawn.

Social sustainability is increasingly recognized as a pressing concern in Sweden today, not only for politicians but also for the business sector and citizens alike. Its significance is particularly pronounced in the real estate sector, perhaps even vital given its connection to societal well-being. While Swedish real estate companies might not be new to considering this perspective, there has not been such a collective concern before. Therefore, there is not a common way to view or tackle this. Some companies have begun to include sustainability reporting in their annual report and the number is increasing every year. However, current systems and processes lack vital information since companies do not know what data to collect and how to analyze and assess it. The available information may be questioned for its reliability since each company decides what to report, complicating informed decision-making. This leads to inefficient social sustainability efforts. Furthermore, the absence of a standardized framework hinders stakeholders and investors from evaluating the performance of different companies, thereby leaving them unaware of sustainability-related risks. Additionally, comparing sustainability performance across companies proves challenging, undermining the credibility of the sustainable investment market. To achieve a positive transition Swedish real estate industry needs to decide on how to measure social sustainability. In this study, a German model for scoring social initiatives called SI Scoring 2.0 was examined, and it was investigated whether the model can be adapted for use in the Swedish real estate industry. The findings indicate that the model cannot be adopted in its entirety, but with adjustments, it can serve the Swedish market. By considering previous research within the subject, Swedish stakeholders’ opinions and Swedish law, recommendations, and certifications an adapted model is presented, called Socialt HållbarhetsIndex, SH Index. The index consists of 31 key performance indicators, KPIs, categorized into “property level” and “community level”. Each KPI is evaluated using a five-point scoring scale, and the achieved score is then adjusted according to Maslow hierarchy of needs to derive a total score. The thesis, the social sustainability index and its careful research aim to contribute to the discussion regarding how to measure social sustainability in Sweden. To overcome previous mentioned challenges, stakeholders must prioritize transparent and reliable reporting to enable accurate assessments of social impact. Only with robust reporting practices can funds be directed towards long-term sustainable investments, fostering a more socially sustainable society. / Social hållbarhet uppmärksammas i allt högre grad som en brådskande fråga i Sverige, inte bara för politiker utan även för både näringsliv och medborgare. Dess inverkan är än mer påtaglig i fastighetsbranschen på grund av dess tydliga koppling till samhället och dess välbefinnande. Även om svenska bolag inte är främmande för social hållbarhet har det inte funnit någon gemensam diskussion eller företeelser för hur man bör förhålla sig till det. De senaste åren har en handfull bolag rapporterat sitt hållbarhetsarbete i årsredovisningen och det blir fler och fler. Dock saknar nuvarande system och processer viktig information eftersom företagen inte vet vilken data de ska samla in och hur de ska analysera den. Den tillgängliga informationen kan ifrågasättas för sin tillförlitlighet eftersom varje företag bestämmer vad de ska rapportera, vilket försvårar jämförbarheten och välgrundade beslut. Dessutom försvårar avsaknaden av en standardiserad ram för intressenter och investerare att utvärdera olika företags prestationer, vilket lämnar dem ovetande om hållbarhetsrelaterade risker. Att jämföra hållbarhetsinitiativ mellan företag visar sig också vara utmanande, vilket underminerar trovärdigheten för marknaden för hållbara investeringar. Det krävs därmed en stor förflyttning och systemförändring för att man ska kunna enas om hur man ska arbeta med social hållbarhet framåt. För att uppnå en positiv omställning behöver den svenska fastighetsbranschen enas om hur man ska mäta social hållbarhet. I denna studie granskades en tysk modell för att bedöma sociala initiativ, kallad SI Scoring 2.0, för att undersöka om modellen kan anpassas för användning på den svenska marknaden. Resultatet visar att modellen inte kan antas i sin helhet, men att den med justeringar skulle kunna användas i Sverige. Genom att beakta tidigare forskning inom ämnet, svensk lagstiftning, rekommendationer och certifieringar samt svenska intressenters åsikter presenterar denna studie en ny anpassad modell, kallad Socialt HållbarhetsIndex, SH Index. Indexet består av 31 indikatorer, KPIer, uppdelade i fastighetsnivå och samhällsnivå. Varje KPI utvärderas på en 5-gradig skala, och den uppnådda poängen viktas sedan enligt Maslows behovshierarki för att få fram en totalpoäng. Denna avhandling med det modifierade sociala hållbarhetsindexet och dess noggranna forskning syftar till att bidra till diskussionen om hur man mäter social hållbarhet i Sverige. För att övervinna de tidigare nämnda utmaningarna måste intressenter vara transparenta och tillförlitliga i rapportering för att möjliggöra korrekta bedömningar av social påverkan. Endast med omfattande standarder för rapportering kan medel riktas mot hållbara investeringar, vilket på sikt främjar ett mer socialt hållbart samhälle.