Today more than 200 million people are suffering from malnutrition in Africa, a major contributing factor to this is that Africa is the continent, by a large margin, that gets least yield per cultivated hectare. The relatively poor yield is not because Africa has no cultivable land but because of the prevailing agricultural practices. Orongo is a village in western Kenya, where large parts of agriculture are threatened by severe soil erosion problems and two-thirds of the inhabitants are totally dependent on agriculture for food and economic security. Today's agricultural practices have proved inadequate. Organic agriculture is not dependent on high-tech methods or expensive synthetic chemicals to provide a relatively good harvest and has therefore proved to have particularly good potential to increase the harvest of small-scale farmers living under poor circumstances. Organic agriculture relies entirely on natural processes that exist to increase soil fertility. The strengthening of these natural processes is the most important work in Organic agriculture with many long-lasting positive effects and a constant increase of soil fertility as a result. All the different components of organic agriculture have the potential to independently contribute to the desired development, decreased soil erosion and increased resistance of the local ecosystem are common consequences of organic agriculture components. There are many indications that Organic agriculture could provide a sustainable solution to the malnutrition problem in Orongo but to implement such modernization has globally proven difficult. The various components must all be adapted to the local biophysical circumstances, the local need and knowledge level of the farmers concerned. This document describes and analyzes these components from an Orongo perspective and looks at local cultural phenomena that must be considered. For a modernization to organic agriculture to be possible, a combined effort will be necessary, both to raise awareness of Organic agriculture through physical demonstration and classical learning but also provide economic security and incentives for farmers who want to change to Organic agriculture. It is also important to encourage entrepreneurship forces that can help to spread the different components of organic agriculture, components that on their own can contribute to a desired development.

La présence ou l'installation d'équipements générateurs d'impacts négatifs, comme les aéroports, les centrales électriques, etc. suscitent sur les territoires riverains et au- delà de nombreuses contestations. Divers modes de résolution ont pu voir le jour recourant généralement à de nouvelles formes de concertation, sans toutefois que cette entreprise débouche sur une distribution spatiale plus « juste » des aménités et désaménités environnementales. Au travers des compensations territoriales (discrimination positive à l'embauche des riverains, offre de formations en leur faveur pour les emplois développés par l'infrastructure, aménagement d'espaces verts…) se dissimule l'ambition non seulement de lutter contre les nuisances mais aussi de redistribuer les externalités positives dans le but d'une meilleure équité. Mesures apportées principalement à la collectivité, elles sont en général le résultat de négociations entre différents acteurs : représentants des collectivités locales, exploitants/aménageurs, société civile – associations, syndicats souvent regroupés en coalition. Les compromis compensatoires tentent de concilier des domaines aux légitimités et aux fonctionnements apparemment antagoniques (justice sociale, équité spatiale et efficacité environnementale). Il s'agit cependant de se demander, au travers d'une mise en parallèle de cas d'étude aux Etats-Unis, en Allemagne au Canada et d'une approche synthétique sur la France, si ces outils d'action publique/privée participent réellement à la résorption des injustices environnementales et spatiales dans la mesure où l'utilisation de la compensation socio-environnementale n'est pas sans soulever des questions d'éthique / The siting or the presence of a polluting facility like airports or power plants arouses protests at local and even at regional/national levels. To tackle these environmental conflicts, different solutions have been used and consultation has become an essential procedural component of the siting process. But these initiatives haven't allowed a better spatial distribution of environmental impacts and benefits. “Local community benefits” (affirmative action to promote the hiring of new employees towards residents, financing of community centers…) aim not only at reducing environmental pollutions, but also at improving the allocation of facility benefits to improve spatial and social equity. These collective-based measures result frequently from negotiation with the involved stakeholders: representatives of local governments, of developers, and of the inhabitants – associations, unions, which often strive to create a coalition so as to be more powerful. Compensatory agreements could be therefore a possible way of connecting different dimensions of sustainable development (social justice, spatial equity and environmental efficiency), even if they have apparently antagonistic legitimacy and differently work. In studying different field cases (in the United States, Canada, Germany and a global approach in France) we wonder if this private/public tool can help reducing environmental and spatial injustices, although compensatory measures raise up some ethical questions

In today’s market, sustainability has become an important competitive priority, affecting the way manufacturing companies need to develop their production systems. Increased external pressure from stakeholders, customers, law and regulations, as well as the undeniable consequences of the environmental crisis, causes a need for more sustainable production patterns. This affects manufacturing companies, since the social and environmental dimension of sustainability no longer can be ignored if companies want to retain their competitive position. Therefore, this thesis proposes a conceptual modeling framework that includes both sustainability and operational goals, with purpose to support manufacturers who want to develop sustainable production systems with the help of discrete event simulation. Empirical evidence from Swedish automotive industry indicates an unlocked potential in applying this framework to a discrete event simulation project, and findings in current research shows that alignment of sustainability and operational goals during production system development can help manufacturing companies achieve increased competitive advantage. However, there is two limitations to current knowledge; firstly, on how to align sustainability and operation goals in the early phases of a discrete event simulation project, namely at conceptual modeling; secondly, a lack of focus on conceptual modeling in discrete event simulation. In order to examine how to address this gap, a case study was conducted within the Swedish automotive industry, along with a literature study. As guidance in this work, four research questions were formulated and answered: RQ 1:    Why is the alignment between sustainability and operational goals important in development of production systems? RQ 2:    What sustainability goals may be included in a conceptual model in development of production systems? RQ 3:    What operational goals may be included in a conceptual model in development of production systems? RQ 4:    How can operational and sustainability goals be aligned in a conceptual model in development of production systems? As for the environmental dimension of sustainability, the goals that could be included at conceptual modeling are: pollution; emissions; and resource consumption. The most commonly involved operational goals at conceptual modeling are: quality and design; throughput; production layout and flow; automation levels; production volume; cycle times; lead times and change-over times; material handling; buildings and plant properties; storage and stock; capacity; price and costs. / Under de senaste åren har den alltmer påtagliga klimatkrisen och ändrade krav från intressenter, kunder och lagar, kommit att påverka faktorerna för hur tillverkande företag konkurrerar. Inom den tillverkande industrin finns det inte längre utrymme att se bort ifrån metoder som skapar hållbara tillverkningsmönster och produkter, i och med att hållbarhet numera även är kopplat till företagets förmåga att konkurrera. I linje med detta, föreslår denna uppsats ett ramverk för hur hållbarhetsmål och operationella mål kan inkluderas i den konceptuella fasen av en diskret händelsesimulering. Syftet med ramverket är att ge företag ett verktyg som kan appliceras vid utveckling av hållbara produktionssystem med hjälp av diskret händelsesimulering. Empiriska data från tillverkningsindustrin indikerar att det finns dold potential för applicering av det föreslagna ramverket inom projekt som använder sig av diskret händelsesimulering. Fynd i nutida forskning visar att en förening av hållbarhetsmål och operationella mål under utveckling av produktionssystem kan leda till att tillverkande företag uppnår fler konkurrensfördelar. Däremot saknas forskning på hur hållbarhetsmål och operationella mål skulle kunna förenas i en konceptuell modell under de tidiga faserna av ett simuleringsprojekt. Dessutom visar tidigare forskning att konceptuell modellering inte får tillräckligt med fokus vid simuleringsprojekt. I och med att den konceptuella modellen är den mest avgörande fasen i simuleringen kan det anses motiverat att förena hållbarhetsmål och operationella mål redan i denna fas, dock krävs mer forskning på området för att detta ska kunna realiseras. Med denna information som bakgrund genomfördes en litteraturstudie på området och en fallstudie inom den svenska tillverkningsindustrin. Som vägledning i forskningsstudien formulerades och besvarades fyra frågeställningar: Fråga 1:     Varför bör hållbarhetsmål och operationella mål förenas vid utveckling av produktionssystem? Fråga 2:     Vilka hållbarhetsmål är möjliga att inkludera i en konceptuell modell vid utveckling av produktionssystem? Fråga 3:     Vilka operationella mål är möjliga att inkludera i en konceptuell modell vid utveckling av produktionssystem? Fråga 4:     Hur kan hållbarhetsmål och operationella mål bli inkluderade i en konceptuell modell vid utveckling av produktionssystem? De miljömål som är möjliga att inkludera i en konceptuell modell är föroreningar, utsläpp och resursförbrukningar. De vanligaste operationella målen att inkludera i en konceptuell model är kvalitet och design, produktionstakt, produktionslayout och produktionsflöde, automationsnivåer, produktionsvolym, cykeltider, ledtider och ställtider, materialhantering, byggnader och fabriksegenskaper, lager och förråd, kapacitet, pris och kostnader.

Small businesses are critical to economic development. Small businesses create job opportunities and training and innovative products and services, but they encounter significant challenges and many fail in the first 7 years due to lack of sustainable strategies. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies owners used to sustain small energy consulting businesses for longer than 7 years. The population in this study consisted of 5 senior executives of a small energy consulting firm in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The conceptual framework for the study was the transformational leadership theory that deals with vision and empowerment aimed at increasing both employee effectiveness and well-€being to positively aid employee outcomes, commitment, role clarity, and prosperity. Data were collected through face-to-face semistructured interviews and a review of company documents. After data analysis using thematic analysis and methodological triangulation, 7 themes emerged: functional vision, planning, skilled human resources, match approach to strategy, create market share, good leadership, and staying in tune with innovation. Implications of this study for social change include the potential for small energy consulting businesses to improve in the quality of life in the local environment by playing a vital role in the culture and economy of the community. Implementing the strategies may result in improving a firm's profitability and sustainability and contributing to social change for the local communities by reducing unemployment, offering competitive compensation, providing improved working conditions, and improving work-€life practices.

The purpose of this study was to explore the strategising practices of sustainability champions at Transnet, a South African state-owned enterprise (SOE). The study set out to discover what these micro-strategising practices were and what strategic outcomes they had for the organisation at the corporate level of strategy praxis. The problem that this research sought to address was the need for greater progress towards corporate sustainability and the lack of research into the role, contributions and practices of sustainability champions in formal sustainability roles within relatively large organisations. This exploration was carried out in the form of a qualitative single-case study which drew on serial interviews (two per participant) and case documentation as sources of evidence. The data were analysed using Applied Thematic Analysis (ATA) in the CAQDAS software Atlas.ti. The study answered the research questions and found that sustainability champions engaged in seven sets of strategising practices with seven corresponding strategic outcomes. While it was not the intention of the study to develop a conceptual model, the process of synthesising the main findings resulted in a model termed the web of sustainable strategising. The study concludes that sustainability champions are strategists who aid their organisation in the pursuit of corporate sustainability while influencing the direction of macro-institutional arrangements towards sustainable development. These results cannot be generalised, but they are transferrable to similar contexts. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)