| 1. |
- Ahlborg, Helene, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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Ecology and sociotechnical systems research – motivations for theoretical and methodological integration across fields
- 2017
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Ingår i: International Sustainability Transitions conference 2017.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Currently, we are witnessing a number of global trends that do not promise well for the future. Accelerating climate change, loss of biodiversity, chemical pollution, disappearance of natural forest and degradation of fishing grounds and agricultural lands are just a few of the serious environmental problems that threaten the functional and structural integrity of ecosystems, to an extent that also human societies risk collapse. The scale of human impact is now such that scholars suggest that we live in the Anthropocene. The trends are driven by several linked factors, which are not easily disentangled into manageable specific problems to be solved by specific policies. More than ever, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations are needed in order to address these urgent challenges. The objective of this paper is to argue for the importance of research on socio-technical-ecological systems (STES) rather than social-ecological (SES) and sociotechnical systems (STS) separately. Hence, we address researchers in both the social-ecological and sociotechnical fields. We organize the argument around six reasons why “technology” should be integrated into SES studies. We call these reasons: (1) the interface and mediation aspect, (2) ambivalence, (3) the agency aspect, (4) the question of scale, (5) the question of governance and politics, and (6) the question of epistemology and framing. We also highlight potential conceptual conflicts and mistranslations. Our discussion is primarily a theoretical argument, exemplified with empirical examples.Among the conceptual challenges, we note that SES scholars, if they consider technology in their analyses, generally treat it as an exogenous factor or as a passive background element. Similarly, STS scholars tend to neglect ecological dynamics and refer to the ecological domain mainly in terms of inputs and outputs, e.g. natural resources, environmental and health problems caused by human activities. In light of the discussion, we conclude that the importance of collaborating across the two fields goes beyond each field adding pieces together. We argue that integration and translation across these domains will lead to qualitative change in the theoretical and methodological approaches of both fields; and that technology, society and ecology should be given symmetric analytical attention.
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| 2. |
- Sagberg, Fridulv, et al.
(författare)
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A Review of Research on Driving Styles and Road Safety
- 2015
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Ingår i: Human Factors. - : SAGE Publications. - 1547-8181 .- 0018-7208. ; 57:No. 7, November 2015, s. 1248- 1275
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: To outline a conceptual framework for understanding driving style and, based on this, review the state-of-the-art research on driving styles in relation to road safety.Background: Previous research has indicated a relationship between the driving styles adopted by drivers and their crash involvement. However, a comprehensive literature review of driving style research is lacking. Method: A systematic literature search was conducted, including empirical, theoretical and methodological research on driving styles related to road safety. Results: A conceptual framework was proposed where driving styles are viewed in terms of driving habits established as a result of individual dispositions as well as social norms and cultural values. Moreover, a general scheme for categorising and operationalizing driving styles was suggested. On this basis, existing literature on driving styles and indicators was reviewed. Links between driving styles and road safety were identified and individual and socio-cultural factors influencing driving style were reviewed. Conclusion: Existing studies have addressed a wide variety of driving styles, and there is an acute need for a unifying conceptual framework in order to synthesise these results and make useful generalisations. There is a considerable potential for increasing road safety by means of behaviour modification. Naturalistic driving observations represent particularly promising approaches to future research on driving styles. Application: Knowledge about driving styles can be applied in programmes for modifying driver behaviour and in the context of usage-based insurance. It may also be used as a means for driver identification and for the development of driver assistance systems.
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| 3. |
- Isacson, Åsa, 1983, et al.
(författare)
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The use of digital layers in post-growth communities - an exploratory study
- 2023
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Ingår i: Proceedings for the 6th International Conference on Smart Villages and Rural Development (COSVARD 2023). - 9780734057150
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The pursuit of infinite growth on a planet with finite resources is leading to a failure in achieving global sustainable transition goals. The concept of Degrowth or 'post-growth' has emerged as a counter-movement advocating for alternative approaches focused on living within resource constraints. Within this context, small-scale communities with post-growth orientations are particularly interesting, as they actively explore their own alternative development models. These communities have potential to act as decentralised laboratories for radical change, translating Degrowth/post-growth theory into actionable practices. This paper examines how the operational tools have changed for post-growth communities since 2004 (Web 2.0). Through in-depth interviews with tech-savvy representatives in this field, the study explores the potential of "new" technologies to empower post-growth communities.
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| 4. |
- Rubegni, Elisa, et al.
(författare)
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Owning Your Career Paths: Storytelling to Engage Women in Computer Science
- 2023
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Ingår i: Intelligent Systems Reference Library. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 1868-4408 .- 1868-4394. ; 235, s. 1-25, s. 1-25
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Motivation & challenge: Computer Science suffers from a lack of diversity that gets perpetuated by the most dominant and visible role models. The community is doing itself a disservice by upholding techno-solutionism, short-term efficiency, and busyness as central values. Those models are created and consolidated over time through social and cultural interactions that increase the perpetration of gender stereotypes. Exposing people to diverse types of role models and stories can contribute to making them more aware of the complexity of reality and inspire them taking better informed decisionsmaking on their career paths. Likewise, showing different role models to stakeholders in society and industry can contribute to increase the workforce diversity in the profession of computing as well as to make a shift towards the consolidation of different role models. This, in turn, may contribute to strengthen resilience and adequacy for solving issues related to diversity, equality and inclusion in Computer Science and more importantly allowing women take the ownership of their career path. Goal: To encourage the dissemination, sharing and creation of stories that show diverse career pathways to address gender stereotypes created by dominant stories in Computer Science. We tackle this issue by developing a framework for storytelling around female scientists and professionals to show a diversity of possibilities for women in pursuing an academic career based on the ownership of their pathways. Method: We apply a qualitative approach to analyse stories collected using the auto-ethnography and use thematic analysis to unpack the components of what in these stories contribute to building the academic path in the field of Computer Science. Authors used their own professional histories and experiences as input. They highlighted the central values of their research visions and approaches to life and emphasised how they have helped to take decisions that shaped their professional paths. Results: We present a framework made of the nine macro-themes emerging from the autoethnography analysis and two dimensions that we pick from the literature (interactions and practices). The framework aims to be a reflecting storytelling tool that could support women in Computer Sciences to create their own paths. Specifically, the framework addresses issues related to communication, dissemination to the public, community engagement, education, and outreach to increase the diversity within Computer Science, AI and STEM in general. Impact: The framework can help building narratives to showcase the variety of values supported by Computer Science. These stories have the power of showing the diversity of people as well as highlighting the uniqueness of their research visions in contributing to transformation of our global society into a supportive, inclusive and equitable community. Our work aims to support practitioners who design outreach activities for increasing diversity and inclusion, and will help other stakeholders to reflect on their own reality, values and priorities. Additionally, the outcomes are useful for those who are working in improving the gender gap in Computer Science in academia and industry. Finally, they are meant for women who are willing to proceed into an academic career in this area by offering a spur for reflection and concrete actions that could support them in their path from PhD to professorship.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Liwång, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Ship security challenges in high-risk areas : manageable or insurmountable?
- 2015
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Ingår i: WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs (JoMA). - : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. - 1651-436X .- 1654-1642. ; 14:2, s. 201-217
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Piracy can lead to risks so high that they, according to the International Maritime Organization, are tolerable only if risk reduction is not practicable or is disproportionate to the benefits achieved. Therefore, there is a need for reducing ship security risks in relation to antagonistic threats such as piracy. The aim of this study is to identify challenges for ship operators when developing their ship security management. Furthermore, this study also investigates two central aspects in the analysis: understanding the threat and understanding how a security threat affects the crew and operation of the ship. It is clear from the analysis that the importance of subjective aspects beyond a ship operators’ direct control is high. This seems to be the fact for all aspects of the risk management process. The situation is also dynamic as the security risk, as well as the risk perception, can change dramatically even though there are no actual operational changes. As a result, the ship security management process is highly iterative and depends on situations on board as well as conditions out of the ship operator’s control. In order to make ship security manageable, the risk management has to put particular focus on methodological understanding, relevant system understanding and well-defined risk acceptance criteria as well as on including all levels of the organization in the risk reduction implementation and on a continuous monitoring.
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| 7. |
- von Wieding, Sönke, et al.
(författare)
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Drivers and barriers to business-to-business carsharing for work trips – A case study of Gothenburg, Sweden
- 2022
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Ingår i: Case Studies on Transport Policy. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 2213-624X .- 2213-6258. ; 10:4, s. 2330-2336
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Carsharing is an important element in the transition to a more sustainable transport system. In contrast to the widely studied business-to-consumer (B2C) market segment, studies on Business-to-business (B2B) carsharing and its impacts are limited. This paper analyses the factors that drive and hinder organisations from using B2B carsharing for their employees’ work trips. The paper takes a case study approach, analysing B2B carsharing use for local work-trips at seven employers in Gothenburg, Sweden, based on interviews with employers, property owners, and carsharing operators. Our results indicate that carsharing services can contribute to reducing the employers’ costs for work-trips, ensuring the sustainability and safety of the employee's work-trips, as well as increasing the employer's workplace attractivity. However, carsharing services are currently used only to a very limited extent. Obstacles that limit a greater use of carsharing services are employers’ lack of data on the employees’ work travel patterns, little economic incentives for employers, as well as parking management and travel policies that favour the use of the private car.
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| 8. |
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Anatomy of a 21st-century sustainability project: The untold stories
- 2020
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (refereegranskat)abstract
- What does a sustainability project look like in the 21st century? Not the glossy version, but the naked truth? Tired of manicured, over-theorised accounts of the ‘musts’ and ‘shoulds’ of sustainability transitions, we got to the bottom of things; actually, to the very bottom of the project hierarchy: the individual. Our point of departure is that projects are nothing but temporarily interconnected people. This means that if we don’t know what people do and what they think about their work, we will never be able to create a deeper understanding of the project, its rationale and future impact. Making use of the autoethnographic method, this book provides critical insights into what it’s like being part of a 21st-century project. Building on unfiltered first-hand contributions from 73 authors representing the five organs of a project’s anatomy – the brain (theoreticians), the skeleton (leaders), the limbs (strategists), the heart (local stakeholders) and the lungs (researchers) – the book covers all the important aspects of contemporary project-making: (1) projectification as a societal phenomenon; (2) sustainability as the main project buzzword; (3) transdisciplinarity as a hot working method; (4) economy as the invisible project propeller; (5) space as the contextual project qualifier; (6) gender and integration as the obstinate orphans of project-making; (7) trends as the villains of thoughtless project mimicry; (8) politics as the “necessary evil” of projects; and (9) knowledge production as the cornerstone of all project work. The book ends with an extensive critical analysis of what makes a project tick and how to avoid project failure. We infer that talking about project outcomes and impacts is just that… talking. What makes a difference is what can be done to the project in itself. Three important virtues – the ABC of project-making – emanate from this book’s 40 chapters: building good relationships (Affinity), having the guts to make a change (Bravery), and showing willingness to learn (Curiosity). These are the basis for the successful execution of future sustainability projects, where complexity, unpredictability and desperation will become a staple force to recon with. The original contribution of this book is to shed light on the silent triumphs and hidden pathologies of everyday project-making in an effort to elevate individual knowledge to a level of authority for solving the wicked – yet project-infused – problems of our time.
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| 9. |
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Heritage as Common(s) - Common(s) as Heritage
- 2015
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (refereegranskat)abstract
- The book consitutes the printed outcome of a seminar series run by the Critical Heritage Initiative (University of Gothenburg) and the Urban Heritage Cluster (Curating the City).
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| 10. |
- Ehnberg, Jimmy, 1976, et al.
(författare)
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Approach for flexible and adaptive distribution and transformation design in rural electrification and its implications
- 2020
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Ingår i: Energy for Sustainable Development. - : Elsevier BV. - 0973-0826 .- 2352-4669. ; 54, s. 101-110
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2019 International Energy Initiative Microgrids have an important role to play in achieving current international targets of electrifying poor rural communities around the world. In the East-African context, microgrid developers face challenges related to dispersed settlement patterns and high poverty levels that prevent many rural citizens from affording grid connections. Contextual factors influence demand for electricity, leading to uncertainties regarding development of consumption in newly electrified areas. Developers struggle with the sizing of microgrids and often initially oversize the system in anticipation of growing demand, which leads to significant investment costs and economic risk in case projected growth fails to appear. Our focus in this paper is to introduce an approach for flexible and adaptive distribution design – a process that can reduce initial investment cost and still be able to meet the long-term variations of the load in a controlled manner, thereby removing an entry barrier related to microgrid development. We exemplify the usefulness of this design approach in three different application areas: distribution capacity, transformation capacity and level of protection systems. Each application area consists of a number of steps based on mature technologies that correspond to change in capacity. The steps can be taken in sequence or in part, to achieve a system configuration adaptive enough to handle changes in electricity consumption, both increasing and, in some cases, also decreasing. Considerations on how steps would impact on system operation, power transfer capacity and demands on local technical expertise and maintenance are included. Importantly, the technical discussion details socio-economic aspects and the consequences for end-users as well as the utility. We exemplify the feasibility of the approach and provide a context for the discussion using real-world examples from East Africa.
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