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The WGBU (2011) calls the sustainability transition towards a net-zero Europe the biggest challenge that mankind has ever faced. Naturally, all parts of society need to take their toll. In its statement paper ‘The Great Transformation’ (2011), the WGBU highlights the innovative and trans-formative potential of civic engagement within the sustainability trans-formation, a recurring claim made within the field of transformative re-search (WGBU 2011, 2020, Göpel 2016). Yet, there are not enough of- fers for citizens to acquire the necessary skills, Futures and Transforma-tive Literacy. While more and more research and political institutions are incorporating the theories of sustainability transformation as a frame-work, the question of who will take on the task of building transforma-tive competencies among citizens remains open (EEA, 2019).

In a future vision for rail travel, trains will be designed as an activity-based whole space, with different areas for various activities, such as relaxing, socialising or family bonding. My degree project, in collaboration with SJ, proposes a concept carriage dedicated to work, analogous to spending a day at a mobile coworking space. By recognising the new ways of working, this carriage will cater for the needs of different individuals and various types of work and will include private digital meeting spaces, group compartments, collaborative open spaces and cocoon-like seating options in quiet areas. Unlike other modes of transportation, trains allow for passengers to navigate and experience different spaces. By enhancing the use of space and incorporating amenities that improve the user experience, I aim to transform the perception of long train journeys from tedious to exciting and allow a more seamless and efficient way of getting work done while travelling. Ultimately, this degree project encourages sustainable travel through user-centred design.

In this paper, the price fluctuations of Bitcoin under speculative environment is studied. It has been seen that the market trend points out an existence of a speculative bubble. Over the course of the period from 2014 to 2018, the trend in price movements of bitcoin has proved to be strongly speculative. In that regard, investors might be curious about what drivers might be instrumental in these speculative price changes.  After reviewing of NPV, it was seen that NPV is not applicable to the case of cryptocurrencies due to their nature and lack of free cash flows to base the asset valuation to some fundamental facts. Later, LPPL model is reviewed, however, that also proved to be insufficient since it does not reflect the investor speculations and inform much about price dynamics regarding behavioral finance principles. Then, some papers from the past price fluctuations of bitcoin (for the period from 2010 to 2013) was reviewed and three key variables were determined which might explain price movements. Public interest towards Bitcoin as interest-driven, regulatory and political news about cryptocurrencies as event-driven and VIX as overall investor approach to Bitcoin market have been taken. After running regressions, the only significant variable happened to be public interest and popularity of Bitcoin. Although, for some cases, VIX variable also explain price fluctuations for some intervals, in none of the cases event-driven variable has long- terms effect on price fluctuations under speculative environment. Lastly, a robustness test is also handled considering the “weekend effect” and it has been seen public interest variable again proved to be a significant price determinant.

This thesis presents Hegel’s account of abstract ‘understanding’ (Verstand) and asserts that his thought is to be read as primarily presenting a critique of abstract understanding. Verstand involves the methodological supposition of a self-subsistent fundament of what it speaks of, and hence the critique of understanding is the critique of the supposition of self-subsistent fundaments. Grasping his account and reading him in its critical light yields a very different image of Hegel than the caricature of ‘totalizing systems’. The dimension of the Verstandeskritik has been relatively neglected in Hegel-reception and misunderstandings result from trying to ‘understand’ Hegel, by overlooking the topic of ‘understanding’ in his work as critique. Many caricatures result from understanding Hegel as a proponent of what he actually critiques (‘absolute knowing’ is often understood as a mega-understanding). The thesis then addresses the historically influential criticisms raised by his contemporary, F.J.W. Schelling, to give a voice to a Hegel that has been hitherto drowned out by caricatures that began with Schelling.

In recent years, generative AI has quickly become a new creative and artistic tool that could challenge our understanding of the creative process and the role of the machine. Despite having exhibited visually promising results, images generated by AI tools present various challenges, most notably their tendency to display cultural, gender and racial biases. The objective of the project is to speculate on the concept and prototype of an alternative text-to-image generation system, designed to mitigate biases from linguistic and cultural differences, and facilitate diversity in machine creativity. muGen, the final design, is a fictional system that allows the user to generate images using data in different languages, while adding user controls such as time period to better associate user’s idea with the system. / Under de senaste åren har generativ AI snabbt blivit ett nytt kreativt och konstnärligt verktyg som kan utmana vår förståelse av den kreativa processen och maskinens roll. Trots att bilder som genererats av AI-verktyg har uppvisat visuellt lovande resultat finns det flera utmaningar, framför allt deras tendens att visa kulturella, köns- och rasmässiga partiskhet. Syftet med projektet är att spekulera kring konceptet och prototypen för ett alternativt text-till-bild-genereringssystem, utformat för att mildra partiskhet från språkliga och kulturella skillnader, och underlätta mångfald i maskinkreativitet. muGen, den slutliga designen, är ett fiktivt system som låter användaren generera bilder med hjälp av data på olika språk, samtidigt som det lägger till användarkontroller som tidsperiod för att bättre associera användarens idé med systemet.

Kreditvärderingsinstituten marknadsför sig som oberoende aktörer som ska vägleda investerare att övervinna informationsasymmetrier på kapitalmarknaden. Kreditvärderingsinstituten har på det sättet skaffat sig en framträdande roll på kapitalmarknaden. Kreditvärderingsinstituten ger en förenklad spegling av verkligheten samtidigt som de besitter en stor makt. Kommersiella fastighetsbolag kan förbättra sin kreditvärdighet om de överensstämmer med kreditvärderingsinstitutets normer. Analysen använder sig av en Foucaultinspirerade maktanalys för att beskriva hur maktrelationen ser ut och vilka effekter den får.  Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur de kommersiella fastighetsbolag som tagit upp ett officiellt kreditbetyg har påverkats av kreditvärderingsinstitutets normer och vilka inverkningar det har haft på organisationen. På så sätt kan det ge en ökad förståelse för hur yttre påtryckningar kan normaliseras och leda till ett självreglerande beteende inom en organisation.   Studien har antagit en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi med ett abduktivt arbetssätt. Den befintliga forskningen har varit vägledande i studien men inte styrande utan studien har löpande stämt av observationerna mot den. Studiens primärdata har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer av fyra finanschefer och en medarbetare på finansavdelningen på fem kommersiella fastighetsbolag i Sverige. Därigenom utforskas huruvida kreditvärderingsinstitutets normer och metodologi har internaliserats och bidragit till organisatoriska förändringar.  Resultatet visade att kreditvärderingsinstitutets normer i form av deras metodologi för kreditvärdighet hade införts av organisationerna i varierad utsträckning. / The credit rating agencies market themselves as independent actors who should guide investors to overcome information asymmetries in the capital market. In this way, the credit rating agencies have acquired a prominent role in the capital market. The credit rating agencies provide a simplified reflection of reality while exercising power. Commercial real estate companies can improve their credit rating if they comply with the credit rating agency's standards. The analysis uses a Foucault-inspired power analysis to try to describe what the power relationship looks like and what effects it has. The purpose of the study is to investigate how the commercial real estate companies that have taken up an official credit rating experience the credit rating agency's standards and how it affects the organization. In this way, it can provide an increased understanding of how external pressures can be normalized and transformed into self-regulating behavior within an organization. The study has adopted a qualitative research strategy with an abductive approach. The existing research has been guiding in the study but not governing, but the study has continuously adjusted the observations against it. The study's primary data has been collected through semi-structured interviews of four finance managers and one employee in the finance department at five commercial real estate companies in Sweden. In doing so, it is explored whether the credit rating agency's standards and methodology have been internalized and contributed to organizational changes. The result showed that the credit rating institute's standards in the form of their methodology for creditworthiness had been introduced by the organizations to a varying extent.

The pension system in Sweden today is a very simple system. Taxed incomes generate pension incomes, paid out monthly after retirement. Yet the topic seems riddled with emotions; guilt, shame and anxiety over what you should or should not do. Increasing inflation, population age and climate change are projected to pose big threats to pensions in the coming decades. By 2060, pension incomes are projected to diminish substantially. Yet the future brings hope too; the gender gap in pension incomes is today at 30% and is projected to go down to 4% by 2040 as the changing view on women in the workplace and policy making is evening the (occupational) field. To learn about pension on the personal, professional and societal layers, I conducted conversations with professionals working for the pension agency, banks, savings solutions and researchers at economics and sociology departments at universities, as well as with individuals with pension planning on their minds (or not). The professionals argued that financial literacy teaches how simple the system is while the individuals feel overwhelmed and confused, showing that the system is not complicated but feels complicated. This dissonance became the space for designing. I propose to look at money as an actor we have a relationship with, to scale away guilt, shame or anxiety and leverage the positives. Through the strategic use of reflection, we learn about our ongoing relationship with money; formed in childhood, and shaped by everyday life planning towards the future. Thus, we grow towards a life where money serves us by investing in our values, hopes and dreams. As we change our financial behaviour today, we change our relationship in the future. The value of money does not start with the currency, but with the intention of use, in the hopes and dreams of a person that wants to spend their time with families and hobbies, not with stocks and funds. Looking at financial planning more holistically shows how the established system is biased, rejecting those that do not speak the language. We as designers can be mindful of this and make more inclusive tools to learn this financial language. Insofar the system can be changed is what I examine through speculative futures methods and designs.

Through the small-scale and imaginative application of a Speculative Institutional Ethnographical study, fictionalised stories have been created based upon observations in the field at three different Youth Care Home Facilities in Sweden. The locations and characters in these stories are composite narratives comprised of actual details from multiple real life places and people, amalgamated to form fictionalised narratives so as to protect the anonymity of real life people. The researcher’s primary motivation with the research is to develop a better understanding of the way in which individual differences between staff members working at these facilities impact their decision making in an environment which is supposedly value-neutral. It is argued that a multitude of factors will influence staff members perceptions of youths at these homes and that a degree of bias or partiality is unavoidable. An awareness of this and a development of critical reflexivity is encouraged. Through drawing data from real life observations in the field to create credible, realistic fictionalised stories, the research project is combining academic and creative writing processes in an innovative and progressive way. The goal of the research is not to prove or disprove a specific hypothesis but rather to explore an issue and develop a better understanding of the complexity and nuances of working at a Youth Care Home facility in view of Intersectional Gender Studies.

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