The current state of the art in water quality profiling is reviewed to lay a foundation in addressing concerns over poor data in developing countries which has not been adequately covered by previous models. A particular focus is made on Ogbese River, southwest Nigeria as a case study. A process-based model with data-filling capability is projected which transforms processes into an event as a reasonably easy way for assessing and predicting river-water quality in the event of constraints in data collection. The structure of the study involves: (i) hydrologic modelling, (ii) hydraulic load modelling and (iii) instream water quality modelling. The hydrologic modelling assesses and makes use of satellite based rainfall estimates subject to processing and reliability tests. A modification to the conceptual relationship of rainfall distribution frequency which makes the model output sensitive to the season was derived. The hydraulic load modelling integrates diffuse sources of pollutant as spatial data in combination with the catchment runoff. A distance decay weighing factor was introduced into the export coefficient to better determine the effective load delivered into the stream. The utility of the model, implemented on WASP platform, was demonstrated by showing how it can be used for scenario testing. Different modelling concepts were evaluated in view of their ability to produce predictions under changing circumstances using the predictions as guide to management. This study promotes a knowledge base in water quality processes by evaluation of the processes which lead to the end product rather than using data monitoring. The study structures understanding of the phenomena that characterises river water quality and tailors it towards regulatory applications and catchment planning. It, also, provides a sustainable strategy to predict the river water quality, evaluate the risks, and take proactive action in setting up an early warning system, for data-poor regions.

The purpose of this Thesis is to conduct an analysis describing the sustainable strategy available for hotels, evaluating its potential to create competitive advantage and exploring how its implementation influences other actors in the industry specifically and the whole area development generally. The case study of Ørestad district has been chosen with focus on the Crowne Plaza hotel. The Crown Plaza is the first hotel in Ørestad area that has employed the sustainable strategy into its operational activities. According to the analysis, the sustainable efforts of the hotel include environment-friendly technologies, waste management, use of organic materials, organization of social benefits and events for their employees. The conducted interviews with Crowne Plaza’s employees showed the relationship between hotel’s strategy and employees’ satisfaction. Furthermore, the study has explored the ability of sustainable efforts to create unique reputation for the hotel. The latter, in turn, attracts the business customers who consider sustainable hotel as valuable partner for their own reputation. All in all, as the sustainable strategy enhances the profitability, it is considered a source of completive advantage.Despite the benefits of the strategy, the competing hotels are not willing to imitate the concept. Low demand from private guests, variety of alternative options, high risks and investments are main reasons of indifference to sustainability from their side. As a result, this reluctance restricts the sustainable spillover effect and corresponding urban development in the area. However, as the government and construction agencies are interested in “green” trend and the Crowne Plaza is willing to share its practices, the sustainable urban development opportunities are still possible in the future.The recommendations to the Crowne Plaza include providing the tangible evidence of the sustainability in the hotel and continuing the introduction of environmental and social efforts. In turn, other hotels should start employing the sustainability in its strategic activities because the demand for it will only grow in the future. Only when all players in the area will realize the need for a change, the sustainable urban development will be achieved in Ørestad district.

The field of study on coopetition has been given a growing emphasis in the recent years by researchers and business practice. Coopetition is a term integrating the notions of cooperation and competition happening as an intensive simultaneous process where actors seek to leverage the value created by other companies in their business network. These complex and paradoxical interactions are acknowledged as needing further research about the effects of coopetition and the different types of coopetitive interactions involved when firms coopete. The business network highlighted in the current study concerned the Swedish Cleantech industry. It offers an interesting ground as Sweden has been investing substantial amounts in environmental protection technologies. Moreover, SMEs in Sweden play an increasingly significant role in the national economy by their rapid technological development. Nonetheless, these SMEs battle to sustain opportunities and are facing many challenges such as lack of key resources, a limited market presence, and liabilities of newness. Thereby, collaboration is essential among Cleantech SMEs in order to overcome these challenges and sustain competitive advantages. This study sets out to fill this gap through the following objectives: by describing the cooperative and competitive activities happening of SMEs inside the Swedish Cleantech industry, by understanding how SMEs select their cooperative relationship with their competitors inside their business network, and by analyzing how coopetition can be implemented by SMEs as a strategy to develop sustainable competitive advantage. This research was conducted through a qualitative case study and semi-structured interviews of seven Swedish SMEs operating in the Cleantech industry. The findings underline that coopetition can be used as a matching strategy between the internal and the external environment of the firm. Further, before coopetition can lead to sustained competitive advantages, companies first need to develop societal advantages in the form of economic value, social value, and natural value.

[pt] Eventos globais como as mudanças climáticas, crescimento populacional e expansão urbana trazem o foco para a contribuição do ambiente construído na sustentabilidade das cidades. Visto que o setor da construção civil é um dos maiores responsáveis pelo consumo de recursos naturais, geração de resíduos e emissão de poluentes, uma significativa mudança de paradigma no setor se faz necessária. Por sua vez, o papel dos profissionais do mercado de arquitetura e urbanismo no desenvolvimento de projetos é estratégico na efetiva transformação desse cenário. É preciso que os processos de projeto sejam mais integrados, colaborativos e eficientes para que as edificações desenvolvidas contemplem soluções multidisciplinares que priorizem a redução do consumo de recursos naturais, que viabilizem o alto desempenho dos sistemas e garantam o conforto dos usuários. Ainda que as estratégias e soluções para o desenvolvimento de edificações sustentáveis sejam diversas e que a arquitetura integrada aos condicionantes ambientais seja prática comum no processo de projeto dos escritórios entrevistados, há desafios enfrentados no mercado que impactam a qualidade ambiental e a eficiência dos projetos. A priorização por custos iniciais mais baixos, a carência tanto de incentivos fiscais quanto de regulamentações específicas voltados à construção sustentável e a baixa cultura de planejamento do mercado nacional foram alguns dos principais desafios identificados. Apesar dos desafios, a compreensão sobre a importância da sustentabilidade no ambiente construído é unânime entre os entrevistados, assim como a atuação efetiva dos mesmos como agentes transformadores do cenário ambiental através da prática profissional ainda que muito precise ser realizado. / [en] Global events have been held for decades, with a view at ensuring the collective commitment among countries on planning and carrying out actions to stop and reverse the environmental degradation of the planet.The UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972 and the World Commission on Environment and Development, held in 1983, were some of the main events leading up to the discussion of parameters and goals that culminated in the Agenda 21 (HANDL, 2012; LAYRARGUES, 1997; ONU, 2015), predecessor of the current Agenda 2030, which includes the 17 Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs, launched by the UN in 2015 (MMA, 2020).In the same year, the SDGs were launched and, during the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference – COP21, the Paris Agreement was set out with main focus on actions to address climate change and its resulting impacts (MMA, 2020).Cities concentrate more than 50 percent of the population of the planet (PNUD BRASIL, 2020) and buildings alone account for 40 percent of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, architects and other players in the construction sector have a professional and ethical duty” to lead the transformation of such scenario, not only to minimize negative environmental impacts but also to establish robust and resilient solutions to a future of extreme weather events” (RIBA, 2019).The identification of the socio-economic relevance of the construction industry in Brazil (IBGE, 2020), the severity of the long-term environmental impacts generated by buildings (RIBA, 2019) and the design as the starting point of the life cycle of a building (DEGANI & CARDOSO, 2002) leads to the search, in this study, to identify the processes and design strategies that contribute to achieve sustainability in buildings, as well as to understand the role and performance of architecture professionals in this scenario.To do so, a literature review on the subject has been conducted and interviews have been carried out with some of the main architecture offices operating in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, given their importance in the Brazilian scenario.

La presente tesis ha sido realizada con la finalidad de evaluar el impacto de la gestión de la cadena de suministros verde de frutas y verduras como estrategia sostenible para mejorar la eficiencia operacional de las empresas del rubro agro – exportador de la región Lambayeque. El objetivo principal, es identificar y evaluar la gestión de la cadena de suministros verde de frutas y verduras Como estrategia sostenible, analizando los elementos y principales actores que intervienen en la eficiencia operacional de la misma, teniendo en cuenta la realidad actual de las empresas seleccionadas para el estudio y así poder determinar su principal problemática. En la actualidad, el mundo globalizado está generando nuevas problemáticas y perspectivas, entre ellos los más significativos son los de índole industrial - ambiental, por lo cual resulta importante evaluar su efecto en relación de cada cadena de suministro a utilizar. Por esta razón, se busca que esta investigación sirva para comprender más sobre dicho tema. Para el desarrollo de esta investigación nos hemos apoyado en diversas entrevistas, encuestas y casos para generar un análisis completo y detallado, Por lo cual, la fuerza impulsora clave para mejorar la eficiencia de la cadena de suministro verde de frutas y verduras es construir el mecanismo de toma de decisiones en colaboración científica y racional de la cadena de suministro, a fin de resolver los problemas relacionados con la cadena de suministro verde de frutas y verduras. / This thesis has been carried out with the purpose of evaluating the impact of the management of the green fruit and vegetable supply chain as a sustainable strategy to improve the operational efficiency of companies in the agro - export sector of the Lambayeque region. The main objective is to identify and evaluate the management of the green supply chain of fruits and vegetables As a sustainable strategy, analyzing the elements and main actors that intervene in the operational efficiency of the same, taking into account the current reality of the selected companies for the study and thus be able to determine its main problem. At present, the globalized world is generating new problems and perspectives, among which the most significant are those of an industrial - environmental nature, for which it is important to evaluate its effect in relation to each supply chain to be used. For this reason, it is sought that this research serves to understand more about this topic. For the development of this research we have relied on various interviews, surveys and cases to generate a complete and detailed analysis. Therefore, the key driving force to improve the efficiency of the green supply chain of fruits and vegetables is to build the mechanism of decision-making in scientific and rational collaboration of the supply chain, in order to solve the problems related to the green supply chain of fruits and vegetables. / Tesis

This thesis emerged from a question that had been repeating itself in my head for a long period of time: If myself and the rest of the world face the fact that we are likely to keep flying for years to come for reasons somehow considered valid, how can we at the same time still contribute efficiently to achieving a more sustainable future of aviation? Based on this dilemma and focusing on the factor of impact, an actor with the power of creating a larger impact than a single individual was firstly identified. This actor also provides the perspective used in this thesis. Meaning, the perspective of international companies that rely on flying for business for the purpose of surviving and thriving. The report’s purpose is to explore the opportunities and barriers for these companies with a will to contribute to the transformation to a future of sustainable aviation. The criteria of this company category are being both “international” and also “dependent” on business aviation. The term "international" in this context will later be defined and clarified, just as the definition of "dependent". Furthermore, this thesis is written based on an abductive literature study combined with a case study of an anonymous company located in Zürich, Switzerland. The Companyis included in the above category and could validate the hypothesis that companies like these exist through a series of interviews with employees.The validation of this hypothesis also paved the way to further explore the research questions on how these companies as customers can work both internally and externally with other stakeholders to enhance a Demand-Pull effect towards a more sustainable direction. It also discusses the Technology-Push effect from other stakeholders and its role in driving sustainable innovation development and implementation in technologies such as SAF, hydrogen and electric aviation. How to contribute to this large shift of an entire industry as a company that neither has expertise in sustainability nor aviation is exactly what is presented in the result, discussion and conclusion. Also, the possible consequences for a business and its employees that can follow by being involved and contribute to aviation sustainability. In addition, a mapping of awareness, knowledge gaps, motivation, and incentives has been done in order to identify the barriers and opportunities of the issue. / Detta arbete härstammar från en fråga som upprepat sig i mitt huvud under en längre tid: Om jag och resten av världen står inför det faktum att vi sannolikt kommer att fortsätta flyga i flera år framöver av skäl som på något sätt anses giltiga, hur kan vi samtidigt fortfarande bidra effektivt till att uppnå en mer hållbar framtid för flygindustrin? Utifrån detta dilemma och med fokus på hur man kan påverka som mest, identifierades först en aktör med kraften att skapa ett större genomslag än en enskild individ. Denna aktör bidrar också med det perspektiv som används i denna rapport. Det vill säga, perspektivet av internationella företag som är beroende av att flyga i affärssyfte för att överleva och växa. Syftet med rapporten är att utforska möjligheter och hinder för dessa företag med en vilja att bidra till omvandlingen till en framtid för hållbart flyg. Kriterierna för denna företagskategori är att vara både "internationell" och även "beroende" av affärsflyg. Termen "internationell" i detta sammanhang kommer senare att definieras och förtydligas, precis som definitionen av "beroende". Vidare är denna uppsats skriven baserat på en abduktiv litteraturstudie kombinerad med en fallstudie av ett anonymt företag beläget i Zürich, Schweiz. Företaget ingår i ovan nämnda kategori och kan därmed validera hypotesen att företag som dessa existerar genom en serie intervjuer utförda med anställda. Valideringen av denna hypotes banade också vägen för att ytterligare utforska frågeställningen om hur dessa företag som kunder kan arbeta både internt och externt med andra intressenter för att förstärka en Demand-Pull-effekt mot en mer hållbar riktning. Rapporten diskuterar också Technology-Push-effekten från andra intressenter och dess roll i att driva hållbar innovationsutveckling och implementering inom teknologier som SAF, vätgas och elflyg. Hur ett företag kan bidra till detta stora skifte av en hel bransch utan kompetens inom hållbarhet eller flyg är precis vad som presenteras i resultat, diskussion och slutsats. Även de möjliga konsekvenserna för ett företag och dess anställda som kan följa genom att vara delaktiga och bidra till flygindustrins hållbarhet. Slutligen, har en kartläggning av medvetenhet, kunskapsluckor, motivation och incitament gjorts i syfte att identifiera var möjliga hinder och möjligheter finns.