| 1. |
- Becker, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Advancing Resilience for Sustainable Development: A Capacity Development Approach
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sustainable Development in Africa : Fostering Sustainability in one of the World's Most Promising Continents - Fostering Sustainability in one of the World's Most Promising Continents. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 2199-7381 .- 2199-7373. - 9783030746957 - 9783030746926 - 9783030746933 ; , s. 525-540
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While Africa is one of the most promising continents in the world, it is facing mounting challenges to sustainable development in terms of disaster risk, climate change, environmental degradation and demographic and socioeconomic processes. Societies are thus increasingly conceived as having to be resilient to safeguard what they value over time. However, for resilience to have any practical meaning in relation to sustainable development requires further operationalization to facilitate both conceptual understanding and practical action. This chapter suggests such an operationalization, approaching resilience as an emergent property of a society’s ability to perform different essential functions—anticipation, recognition, adaptation, and learning—and contends that advancing resilience is about developing the capacity to perform these functions. Sustainable development can therefore be pursued through deliberate capacity development efforts explicitly targeting these functions and their interconnections.
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| 2. |
- Carpejani, Pablo, et al.
(författare)
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Affordable and Clean Energy: A Study on the Advantages and Disadvantages of the Main Modalities
- 2020
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Ingår i: World Sustainability Series. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 2199-7373 .- 2199-7381. ; , s. 615-627, s. 615-627
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this study is to identify several renewable and clean energy sources and investigate their accessibility. The structuring of the energetic sources was outlined to display the advantages and disadvantages of their use. To do so, the literature review method and the snowball method were used as the research methodology. Previous results had determined the elements of a sample of the main existing forms of energy. Therefore, this research analysed the following sources: solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectric power, thermoelectric energy with renewable fuels, tidal energy, biogas energy, geothermal energy and hydrogen energy. The results discuss the benefits of using sustainable energies, such as being helpful to the environment, aswell as the implementation obstacles that, in this case, are stripped down to the high financial cost of initial investment. Because no previous research provided a structure to compare different energy forms, this study is expected to act as an initial guide for researchers and professionals in the field. As a limitation and recommendation for future research efforts, it is suggested to discover and verify mechanisms capable of reducing the high initial investment costs associated with sustainable energies.
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| 3. |
- Finnveden, Göran, et al.
(författare)
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The Climate Framework for Higher Education Institutions in Sweden
- 2022
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Ingår i: World Sustainability Series. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 2199-7373 .- 2199-7381. ; , s. 189-204, s. 189-204
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this nation-wide initiative, the Higher Education sector in Sweden has created a Climate Framework to serve as the basis for climate strategies at individual Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The Climate Framework is the product of 38 HEIs with the aim of contributing to both national and international commitments to reach the 1.5 °C target. Although several universities in different countries have made similar commitments, this unique initiative brings the whole sector in a country together under a common aim. Higher education institutions have a central role in efforts to combat climate change. An important task is to contribute through teaching and research, but HEIs also need to contribute by reducing the impact of their own operations. The HEIs that have signed the framework consider the climate to be a crucial and prioritized issue and will take action in line with national and international targets and allocate resources for it. The Climate Framework includes a commitment and a guideline document that list several key areas for climate impact from HEIs. This paper will describe the process for developing the Climate Framework as well as the framework itself.
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| 4. |
- Fontenelle, Ana Luiza, et al.
(författare)
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Leading the Pathway : How Unicamp Is Implementing Sustainable Practices in the Energy Sector in Its Campuses?
- 2022
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Ingår i: World Sustainability Series. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 2199-7373 .- 2199-7381. ; , s. 249-266
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Universities are powerful drivers to create and advance knowledge on sustainable development. Furthermore, they can be used as a controlled environment to apply innovative technologies and approaches. This process also embraces industry and government, in the triple helix innovation model, as in the University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil—one of the best Latin American universities (3rd)—and immersed in a significant financial and technological region in Brazil. It has 6 Campuses in 3 different cities, almost 40,000 students (high school, technical education, undergraduate, graduate, residency, and extension courses), and almost 10,000 employees (professors, technicians, and others). Due to its relevance and excellence, Unicamp decides to lead the pathway in urban sustainable development through its Sustainable Campus Project launched out in 2017 in partnership with an energy company (CPFL Energia) and with the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL) through a Research and Development program. This chapter presents the Sustainable Campus Project’s main goals, practices, and current results, such as implementing electric buses, local solar generation, electrical efficiency improvement, and education. Through this case, we aim to show how universities, especially in developing countries, can lead the local pathway to a sustainable world.
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| 5. |
- Janssen, Mathias, 1973, et al.
(författare)
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Design and Early Development of a MOOC on “Sustainability in Everyday Life”: Role of the Teachers
- 2016
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Ingår i: World Sustainability Series. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 2199-7373 .- 2199-7381. ; , s. 113-123
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Universities all over the world have developed Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) to attract students and explore new ways of learning. The MOOC “Sustainability in Everyday Life” (SiEL) is currently in its design and early development stage at Chalmers University of Technology. It aims at developing the MOOC participant’s capacity to appreciate the complexity of sustainable everyday life by developing skills such as systems thinking and critical reflection on the information flow in public media. This paper aims at sharing first experiences regarding the design and early development of the SiEL MOOC and identifying the role(s) of the teachers and its features during the course design and early development based on these first experiences. An action research approach was used to reach these aims, and the teachers’ narratives about these first experiences were used as data source. Three distinct processes (pedagogical, production and interaction) and six roles (owners, teachers, learners, designers, developers and negotiators) were identified. The teachers’ roles and the processes and activities taking place during the design and early development are closely linked to each other and need to be carefully considered in order to guarantee a successful MOOC design and development process.
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| 6. |
- Lönngren, Johanna, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Systems Thinking for Dealing with Wicked Sustainability Problems: Beyond Functionalist Approaches
- 2016
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Ingår i: World Sustainability Series. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 2199-7373 .- 2199-7381. ; , s. 151-160, s. 151-160
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Many of the most pressing sustainability issues are not purely technical problems. To work for sustainable development (SD) requires addressing wicked sustainability problems (WSPs), such as climate change, poverty, and resource scarcity. Previous research has shown that addressing WSPs is challenging for engineering students. In particular, students may feel overwhelmed by a WSP if they lack appropriate tools for dealing with the complexity, uncertainty, and value conflicts that are present in the situation. In this paper, we aim to investigate whether systems thinking competence (ST) can provide such a tool in engineering education for sustainable development (EESD). For this purpose, we elaborate on previous descriptions of WSPs, and draw on (E)ESD literature about ST to discuss different approaches to ST and their usefulness for addressing WSPs. We conclude that ST indeed can be valuable for addressing WSPs, but that it is necessary to be clear about how ST is defined. We suggest that mainstream approaches to ST in engineering education (EngE) are not sufficient for addressing WSPs.
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| 7. |
- Nikulina, Varvara, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainable Transport Futures: Analysis of the Selected Methodologies Supporting the Planning Process towards Achieving Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
- 2018
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Ingår i: World Sustainability Series. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 2199-7373 .- 2199-7381. ; , s. 473-488, s. 473-488
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A quarter of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) originate from the transportation sector. Continuously increasing demand for transportation services worldwide is one of the main urban challenges addressed by Sustainable Development Goal 11, target 2. One way to address this issue is to develop an integrated transportation system that can ensure confidence and comfort for the passengers. This will contribute not only to the customers’ experience, but also to operators and authorities through sustainable, cost effective and profitable services. Conversely, the lack of such a system or a poorly managed system prevents the economy and society from realizing its potential. In the transition towards sustainability the planning process of complex systems such as transportation, often requires supportive tools and methods, such as futures methodologies that assist decision making by providing information about possible futures. In today’s rapidly changing environment, forecasting tools do not always provide the expected outcomes since it is difficult to predict all the unexpected events. Therefore, there is a demand for alternative methods that not only grasp the constant changes, but also create additional value (for example, meeting the needs of multisectoral collaboration and creation of common vision). The present article investigates the usefulness of three such methodologies, namely backcasting, foresighting and SymbioCity, for the planning process of the bus park and railway station in Kisumu, Kenya and Centralen in Gothenburg, Sweden. The paper’s contribution is a description of the Kenyan transportation system (which has not been studied in detail before), planning process and pertinent issues related to the stations both in Kisumu and Gothenburg, located in the sharply contrasting contexts of global South and global North respectively. On the basis of field research, interviews and feasibility study of futures methodologies, the paper concludes that backcasting is the most suitable of the methodologies for both places, since it can be applied at a small scale, provides creative solutions and has a high level of integration of stakeholders. Furthermore, the paper examines the application of the futures methodologies in multisectoral urban transitions apart from transportation and draws conclusion on what can be learnt from it.
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| 8. |
- Svanström, Magdalena, 1969
(författare)
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Developing change agency for sustainable development – experiences from a new chemical engineering course
- 2016
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Ingår i: World Sustainability Series. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 2199-7373 .- 2199-7381. ; , s. 295-307
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The chemical engineering programme at Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg, Sweden, has had compulsory courses on environmental science, environmental engineering and sustainable development (SD) at bachelor level for many years. This paper reports on curriculum development projects performed in 2013 and 2014 aimed at improving the quality of the program curriculum with regard to the compulsory content on ‘environment and SD’ and on experiences of planning a new course that was developed as a result of these projects: Perspectives on chemical engineering. The curriculum development projects contrasted the existing curriculum to syllabi from upper secondary school, to needs expressed by industry, alumni and engineering students, and to state-of-the-art engineering education for SD, and ended up in, among other things, ideas to be implemented in a new course in the first year. The new course focuses on introducing chemical engineering and the professional role of the chemical engineer, and developing change agency for SD. The new course was given for the first time in late spring 2015. In the course, the students are doing a smaller individual change project in which they change something in their daily life for a week and assess the impact and reflect on the challenges in making the change. They also do a larger group project in which they make a sustainability assessment of a considered sustainability-motivated change in chemical industry, including reflecting on the challenges of achieving change. Industry representatives help to guide the students in the project. The course also introduces basic concepts and tools like life cycle perspective, mass balances, biorefinery and industrial symbiosis. Special care was put into attempting to constructively align teaching and learning activities and assessment to the overall goal of developing students’ change agency for SD.
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