Internationalization of post secondary institutions has been suggested as one of the most critical undertakings of higher education today. Despite growing interest in this phenomenon as an institutional initiative, relatively few studies consider internationalization from the perspective of faculty members whom some have identified as key catalysts of the internationalization process. Using a phenomenological research approach to examine the experience of five faculty members actively engaged in the internationalization process of their Canadian university I seek to understand how participants define internationalization, what motivates them to engage in this process and how the institutional and individual efforts to internationalize influence each other. I compare faculty motivations with institutional positions through an analysis of strategic institutional documents using de Wit’s (2002) internationalization rationale categories. Results suggest that institutional internationalization might be more effective in engaging faculty members when faculty perspectives and priorities are considered in the development of institutional strategies.

Internationalization of post secondary institutions has been suggested as one of the most critical undertakings of higher education today. Despite growing interest in this phenomenon as an institutional initiative, relatively few studies consider internationalization from the perspective of faculty members whom some have identified as key catalysts of the internationalization process. Using a phenomenological research approach to examine the experience of five faculty members actively engaged in the internationalization process of their Canadian university I seek to understand how participants define internationalization, what motivates them to engage in this process and how the institutional and individual efforts to internationalize influence each other. I compare faculty motivations with institutional positions through an analysis of strategic institutional documents using de Wit’s (2002) internationalization rationale categories. Results suggest that institutional internationalization might be more effective in engaging faculty members when faculty perspectives and priorities are considered in the development of institutional strategies.

I en tid av digitalisering kan det vara svårt att hitta rätt. Den sittande regeringen bedriver en digitaliseringspolitik med det övergripande målet att Sverige ska vara bäst i världen på att använda digitaliseringens möjligheter. I förlängningen innebär detta en ökad statlig styrning och kommunerna tvingas navigera bland styrsignalerna. I februari 2023 beslutade regeringen om en ändring i plan- och byggförordningen som innebär att alla nya översikts- och regionplaner som påbörjas från och med 1 januari 2027 måste vara digitala. Till följd av detta arbetar Boverket med att precisera kraven för att stötta kommuner i omställningen till digitala planer. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur omställningen till digitala översiktsplaner påverkar kommuner samt de potentiella konsekvenser Boverkets förslag på föreskrifter kan innebära. Den valda metoden består av två kvalitativa metoder; dokumentstudier samt intervjuer. Vidare användes tre teoretiska angrepp för att analysera resultatet. Dessa är ‘statlig styrning över kommuner’, ‘urban norm’ och ‘översiktsplanens roll som strategiskt dokument’. I resultatet samlas studiens innehåll i fem teman som exemplifieras med hjälp av de kommuner som intervjuats. Dessa teman är ‘allmän syn på digitalisering’, ‘resurssvaga kommuner och ekonomiska utmaningar’, ‘skynda långsamt’, ‘föreskrifterna inte anpassade för alla’ samt ‘översiktsplanens syfte kan urholkas’. Vidare i analysen identifieras utmaningar som kan uppstå hos mindre kommuner när den statliga styrningen ökar. Boverkets förslag på föreskrifter för översiktsplan är svårt att applicera i många av landets kommuner och det finns även åsikter kring tidsplanen, att ‘skynda långsamt’ benämns som ett alternativ. Föreskrifterna bedöms även utgå från ett urbant perspektiv vilket kan skapa onödigt stora hinder för redan resurssvaga kommuner i rurala miljöer. Det framgår också att föreskrifternas nuvarande form riskerar att förändra översiktsplaneringen i sig. Syftet riskeras att urholkas till följd av att Boverket tycks lägga fokus på kartläggning, när kommunerna vill använda översiktsplanen som ett verktyg för framtida planering. Studien sammanfattas i att översiktsplanerna kommer att behöva ha ett digitalt format, men det är ännu oklart hur omställningen kommer att ske. Om Boverkets förslag fastställs i sin exakta form väntar troligtvis stora konsekvenser, men med tanke på den kritik som föreligger är den preliminära bedömningen att föreskrifterna får en ny utformning. / In a time of digitalization it can be hard to find the right way forward. The now ruling government in Sweden is running a digitalization policy with the overall goal that Sweden should be the best in the world to use the possibilities of digitalization. By extension, this means an increased state governance and that the municipalities of Sweden have to navigate amongst the governing signals. In February 2023 the government ruled for a change in the Planning and Building Ordinance which means that all of the new comprehensive and regional plans that are started as of 1st of January 2027 must be digital. Following this, the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning is currently working on specifying the demands in order to support the municipalities in the adaptation to digital plans.  The purpose of the study is to investigate how this adaptation into digital comprehensive plans affects municipalities and also the potential consequences the proposal for regulations made by the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning might have. The chosen method is two qualitative methods; document studies and interviews. Onward three theoretical approaches were used in order to analyze the result. These are ‘state governance over municipalities’, ‘urban norm’, and ‘the comprehensive plan’s role as a strategic document’. In the result the content from the study is gathered into five discourses that are exemplified with the help of the municipalities that were interviewed. The discourses used are ‘the general view of digitalization’, ‘resourcefully weak municipalities and economic challenges’, ‘rush slowly’, ‘the regulations not adapted to everyone’ and ‘the purpose of the comprehensive plan can hollow out’.  Furthermore in the analysis potential challenges that can arise with smaller municipalities when the state governance increases. The Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning’s proposal for regulations for comprehensive plans are hard to apply in many of the country's municipalities and there are also opinions regarding the time plan for implementing the said regulations, where ‘rush slowly’ is mentioned as an alternative. The regulations are also deemed to proceed from an urban perspective which can create unnecessary large obstacles for already resourcefully weak municipalities in rural environments. It also appears that the regulations in its currently proposed form are at risk of changing comprehensive planning in itself, into a completely other form of planning process. The purpose of this type of planning is at risk of hollowing out following the fact that the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning seems to be putting a lot of focus on mapping, when the municipalities want to use the comprehensive plan as a tool for future planning.  The study summarizes that future comprehensive plans will have to take on a digital format, but it is still unclear regarding how this adaptation will happen. If the proposal from the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning is determined in its current form, large consequences are probably to be expected. With regards to the critique at hand, the preliminary assessment is that the regulations will take on another shape.

Adopté par l’article 2 de la loi n°2016-1087 de reconquête de la biodiversité, de la nature et des paysages du 8 aout 2016, le principe de solidarité écologique appelle « à prendre en compte, dans toute prise de décision publique ayant une incidence notable sur l’environnement des territoires concernés, les interactions des écosystèmes, des êtres vivants et des milieux naturels ou aménagés ». Ce principe général du droit de l’environnement inscrit à l’article L110-1 du code de l’environnement est destiné à conserver les interactions écosystémiques et les processus écologiques ainsi qu’à améliorer la gestion environnementale des territoires. La dualité de son objet en fait un principe d’une grande richesse, qui devrait concerner de nombreuses décisions. Divers fondements supranationaux, au sein de la jurisprudence et dans les textes internationaux et européens peuvent ainsi lui être attribués. Dans un contexte d’interdépendance écologique, l’évolution de la dimension internationale et européenne du principe reste essentielle pour juger de ses effets au regard de la conservation de la biodiversité. Au niveau du droit interne, son ancrage au cœur de l’équilibre de l’environnement lui apporte un rayonnement particulier. Il conforte le droit à un environnement équilibré et prolonge les principes constitutionnels de prévention et de développement durable. Face à la crise d’extinction mondiale de la biodiversité menaçant notre survie, le principe de solidarité écologique se présente comme cette ultime chance de la conserver. Deux grands ensembles de dispositifs permettent de mesurer la dynamique du principe de solidarité écologique : la trame verte et bleue et la gestion intégrée de la mer et du littoral. Ils constituent une base pour concevoir la solidarité écologique et représentent ainsi le commencement d’un droit nouveau. Le principe de solidarité écologique appelle à les renforcer et, de manière plus générale, à faire évoluer l’ensemble des décisions concernées par le principe. / Adopted by article 2 from act nr 2016-1087 concerning the reconquest of biodiversity, nature and landscape of August 8th 2016, the principle of ecological solidarity calls “for taking into consideration the interactions of ecosystems, living creatures and natural or developed environments in all public decisions having a notable impact on the environment of the territories concerned”.This general principle of environmental law inscribed in article L110 1 of the environmental code is designed to preserve the interactions of ecosystems and ecological processes as well as to improve the environmental management of the territories. The duality of its objective renders it a highly valuable principle which should be applied to numerous decisions. Various supranational foundations, within jurisprudence and in international and European laws, can thus be assigned to it. In the context of ecological interdependence the evolution of the international and European dimension of the principle remains essential in order to see the benefits concerning the safeguarding of biodiversity. It is greatly enhanced, as regards internal law, by the fact that it is at the very center of the environment's equilibrium. It justifies the right to a balanced environment and extends the constitutional principles of prevention and sustainable development. Confronted with the crisis of world-wide biodiversity extinction that threatens our survival, the principle of ecological solidarity emerges as the last chance to preserve it. Two major groups of systems allow us to measure the dynamics of the principle of ecological solidarity: the green and the blue line belt network and the Ocean and coastline Governance Framework. They constitute a basis on which to develop ecological solidarity and represent the beginnings of new legislation. The principle of ecological solidarity requires them to be reinforced and more generally to advance all decisions concerned by the principle.