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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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| 2. |
- Kamerlin, Shina Caroline Lynn, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Female Faculty: Why So Few and Why Care?
- 2020
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Ingår i: Chemistry - A European Journal. - : Wiley. - 1521-3765 .- 0947-6539. ; 26:38, s. 8319-8323
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Despite slow ongoing progress in increasing the representation of women in academia, women remain significantly under-represented at senior levels, in particular in the natural sciences and engineering. Not infrequently, this is downplayed by bringing forth arguments such as inherent biological differences between genders, that current policies are adequate to address the issue, or by deflecting this as being “not my problem” among other examples. In this piece we present scientific evidence that counters these claims, as well as a best-practice example, Genie, from Chalmers University of Technology, where one of the authors is currently employed. We also highlight particular challenges caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, we conclude by proposing some possible solutions to the situation and emphasize that we need to all do our part, to ensure that the next generation of academics experience a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable working environment.
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| 3. |
- Bach, Hanna, et al.
(författare)
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Implementing maritime battery-electric and hydrogen solutions: A technological innovation systems analysis
- 2020
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Ingår i: Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 1361-9209. ; 87
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Maritime transport faces increasing pressure to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to be in accordance with the Paris Agreement. For this to happen, low- and zero-carbon energy solutions need to be developed. In this paper we draw on sustainability transition literature and introduce the technological innovation system (TIS) framework to the field of maritime transportation research. The TIS approach analytically distinguishes between different innovation system functions that are important for new technologies to develop and diffuse beyond an early phase of experimentation. This provides a basis for technology-specific policy recommendations. We apply the TIS framework to the case of battery-electric and hydrogen energy solutions for coastal maritime transport in Norway. Whereas both battery-electric and hydrogen solutions have developed rapidly, the former is more mature and has a strong momentum. Public procurement and other policy instruments have been crucial for developments to date and will be important for these technologies to become viable options for shipping more generally.
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| 4. |
- Baumann, Henrikke, 1964, et al.
(författare)
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Beyond a Corporate Social Responsibility Context Towards Methodological Pluralism in Social Life Cycle Assessment: Exploring Alternative Social Theoretical Perspectives
- 2020
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Ingår i: Perspectives on Social LCA : Contributions from the 6th International Conference. - 9783030065645 ; , s. 53-64
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The UNEP/SETAC guidelines have Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as the underpinning theoretical perspective. However, studies on CSR suggest that the companies have benefitted more than society. We explore two alternative theoretical perspectives: the theory of ecologically unequal exchange (TEUE) and the actor-network-theory (ANT). By analysing case studies informed by TEUE and ANT, we identify their contribution to social life cycle assessment. The analysis shows that the perspectives enable description and identification of issues otherwise uncovered by the UNEP/SETAC approach: the unequal balance of health effects over a production and a consumption system and the presence of multiple and sometimes conflicting interests across actors in a production and consumption system, respectively. We point out characteristic methodological differences and conclude that S-LCA would benefit from greater pluralism.
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| 5. |
- 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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| 6. |
- Femenias, Paula, 1966, et al.
(författare)
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What does energy mean for people? Perspectives on renovation and energy retrofit among Swedish tenants
- 2020
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Ingår i: IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. - : IOP Publishing. - 1755-1307 .- 1755-1315. ; 588:5
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study reports from an on-going study of tenants’ view on energy retrofit. The first results, which are based on 27 qualitative interviews show a generally positive attitude to energy saving and environmental protection. However, many tenants are not familiar with the link between energy use and energy retrofit, and the idea of energy saving might oppose to the actual willingness to contribute. One important lesson from these preliminary results is that the project owners have overlooked the importance of informing the tenants about the energy retrofit and what measures that are implemented. This leaves the tenants to their own interpretation of the matter and in some examples a negative image is created. In order to transition from the idea of personal benefit from energy retrofit to a larger responsibility and willingness to participate to society at large, we suggest that tenants are invited to discuss energy retrofit and that they are properly informed about implemented energy saving measures.
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| 7. |
- Hedegård, Joakim, et al.
(författare)
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LifeExt -Prolonged life for existing steel bridges -Livslängdsförlängning av befintliga stålbroar Open report / Publik rapport
- 2020
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Many bridges in the world have reached, or exceeded, their design fatigue life. It is a challenge for society to wisely manage this huge asset of old bridges. Replacing bridges because their theoretical life span is reached is not a sustainable solution, neither from societal nor economical point of view. Therefore, methods for accurate assessment and techniques for extending the service life of existing infrastructures are on top of priorities of all industrial countries. The LifeExt project reported here was created to address these issues, to enable substantial life extension for existing bridges by applying weld improvement techniques locally on selected (most critical) positions on a bridge. These areas receive faster damage accumulation and by improving these areas, the whole bridge life can be prolonged.
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| 8. |
- Klapper, Rita, et al.
(författare)
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Probing alignment of personal and organisational values for sustainability: An assessment of barrett's organisational consciousness model
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 12:18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To what extent are the values of employees and employers aligned in the context of sustainability and how might this be assessed? These are the main research questions in a case study involving a Swedish Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) with ambitions to become more 'sustainable'. The wider context of the paper is the alignment of managerial and employee values for organisational sustainability. Specifically, the study applies and assesses Barrett's concept of Organisational Consciousness as a level-based approach to sustainability values, which we argue is based on an integration of Maslow's hierarchy of needs andWilber's Integral metatheory. Quantifying the incidence of references to various values elicited in interviews, the study demonstrates: the limited salience of Barrett's themes ('attributes') for employees; the divergent perspectives in participants' personal and organisational lives. While normatively affirming Barrett's overall approach, we observe that most organisations are likely to be a considerable distance from Barrett's higher levels. How one interprets this is debatable: it may be concluded that Barrett's framework is overambitious or that organisations need to: (i) broaden their understanding of sustainability and (ii) nurture alignment between personal and organisational values.
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| 9. |
- Lindkvist, Mathias, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Insights on social-LCA in practice in Sweden
- 2020
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We aim to provide better understanding of opportunities for SLCA use. We report on interviews with representatives of 11 major organizations in Sweden with considerable focus on life-cycles. The organizations are found only to a considerably limited degree to have applied SLCA. The findings also indicate an SLCA potential due to a considerable focus on social issues and because other methods only cover short parts of product chains. Identified challenges with the methodology are SLCA not handling sustainability aspects such as from a global perspective over time, SLCA being costly to use, SLCA not handling the context dependent and rapidly changing social impacts well, SLCA maybe being too flexible regarding the user excluding indicators, and maybe SLCA addressing industries rather than the retailers to which it could matter more, among other. Due to the life-cycle interest in the organizations and Sweden, the findings can be of broader relevance.
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| 10. |
- Lindkvist, Mathias, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Insights on social life-cycle-assessment in practice in Sweden
- 2020
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this report is to provide better understanding of opportunities for and potential limitation on social life-cycle-assessment (S-LCA) usage for decision-making and communication. We present results from and the design of an interview study on 11 major organizations in Sweden. The studied organizations were found only to a considerably limited degree to have applied S-LCA. The findings also indicate an S-LCA potential due to a considerable focus on social issues, because other approaches used by the organizations only cover short parts of product chains, and as a result of it being scientific maybe appealing to research and development units. Identified potential challenges with the methodology are S-LCA not being holistic regarding sustainability, S-LCA users excluding indicators, S-LCA lacking context-specific indicators; the S-LCA procedure not encouraging keeping and improving suppliers and other actors; S-LCA being impractical, including costly, S-LCA results being difficult to communicate, S-LCA not providing clear risk information; and S-LCA addressing industries rather than the retailers which could exercise more pressure on product chains. The interviewees are considered to represent the organizations well. Other recent S-LCA literature only to a limited degree covers the types of findings from our study. Due to the life-cycle interest in the organizations and in Sweden in general, the findings can be of broader relevance. If a structured approach such as S-LCA is found to be needed (for example, because of the challenges with for example some United Nation goals and strong relations between these issues and product chains) and the complexity of preforming it makes it very expensive, maybe consideration of a wide variety of approaches to somehow handle that dilemma might be needed.
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