| 1. |
-
Bulletin of Geography. Socio-Economic Series (Volume 40)
- 2018
-
In: Bulletin of Geography. Socio-Economic Series (De Gruyter). - 1732-4254 .- 1732-4254. ; 40:40, s. 1-196
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This 40th anniversary issue of BGSS highlights some of the tenets of the complexity that make sustainability a ‘wicked problem’ through a number of different perspectives, many of which have to date been pushed into the background amidst an otherwise exceptionally rich geographical literature on sustainability. The editorial task included procurement, administration and scientific processing of 12 articles from 25 authors as follows: (1) Mirek Dymitrow, Keith Halfacree – “Sustainability–differently”; (2) Slobodan Arsovski, Michał Kwiatkowski, Aleksandra Lewandowska, Dimitrinka Jordanova Peshevska, Emilija Sofeska, Mirek Dymitrow – “Can urban environmental problems be overcome? The case of Skopje—world’s most polluted city”; (3) Janis Birkeland – “Challenging policy barriers in sustainable urban design”; (4) Elizabeth Dessie – “Applying resilience thinking to ‘ordinary’ cities: A theoretical inquiry”; (5) Madeleine Eriksson, Aina Tollefsen – “The production of the rural landscape and its labour: The development of supply chain capitalism in the Swedish berry industry”; (6) Stina Hansson – “The role of trust in shaping urban planning in local communities: The case of Hammarkullen, Sweden”; (7) Shelley Kotze – “The place of community values within community-based conservation: The case of Driftsands Nature Reserve, Cape Town”; (8) Davide Marino, Luigi Mastronardi, Agostino Giannelli, Vincenzo Giaccio, Giampiero Mazzocchi – “Territorialisation dynamics for Italian farms adhering to Alternative Food Networks”; (9) E. Gunilla Almered Olsson – “Urban food systems as vehicles for sustainability transitions”; (10) George Mark Onyango – “Urban public transport in informal settlements: Experiences from Kisumu City, Kenya”; (11) Christian M. Rogerson – “Informality and migrant entrepreneurs in Cape Town’s inner city”; (12) Marcin Wójcik, Karolina Dmochowska-Dudek, Pamela Jeziorska-Biel, Paulina Tobiasz-Lis – “Understanding strategies for overcoming peripherality: A Polish experience of transition”. The articles have been reviewed by a cadre of 40 reviewers from 34 academic institutions across 14 countries.
|
|
| 2. |
- Almered Olsson, Gunilla, 1951, et al.
(author)
-
Food systems sustainability - For whom and by whom? : An examination of different 'food system change' viewpoints
- 2018
-
In: Development Research Conference 2018: “Rethinking development”, 22–23 August 2018, Gothenburg, Sweden.
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The United Nations identifies the food crisis as one of the primary overarching challenges facing the international community. Different stakeholders in the food system have widely different perspectives and interests, and challenging structural issues, such as the power differentials among them, remain largely unexamined. These challenges make rational discourse among food system actors from different disciplines, sectors and levels difficult. These challenges can often prevent them from working together effectively to find innovative ways to respond to food security challenges. This means that finding solutions to intractable and stuck issues, such as the food crisis often stall, not at implementation, but at the point of problem identification. Food system sustainability means very different things to different food system actors. These differences in no way undermine or discount the work carried out by these players. However, making these differences explicit is an essential activity that would serve to deepen theoretical and normative project outcomes. Would the impact and reach of different food projects differ if these differences were made explicit? The purpose of this initial part of a wider food system research project is not to search for difference or divergence, with the aim of critique, but rather to argue that by making these differences explicit, the overall food system project engagement will be made more robust, more inclusive and more encompassing. This paper starts with some discussion on the different food system perspectives, across scales, regions and sectors but focuses primarily on the design of processes used to understand these divergent and at times contradictory views of what a sustainable food system may be. This paper draws on ongoing work within the Mistra Urban Futures project, using the food system projects in cities as diverse as Cape Town, Manchester, Gothenburg and Kisumu as sites for this enquiry.
|
|
| 3. |
- Trygg, Kristina, 1979-
(author)
-
Understanding collaboration and local development : a Swedish case study on different actors’ roles and perspectives
- 2018
-
In: Scottish Geographical Journal. - UK : Routledge. - 1470-2541 .- 1751-665X. ; 134:3-4, s. 172-183
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ten years ago, the concept of retirement homes ceased to exist in Sweden. This was a result of the Delegation on Elderly Living’s suggestion whereby the terminology for and characteristics of accommodation for the elderly changed. This makes it hard to plan and change how the elderly live in Sweden. When it comes to renovating housing for the elderly, the municipalities and property owners do not know how to deal with the situation. This is despite the fact that the situation in Sweden is the same as many other countries around the world: the population is ageing and there is a clear need for housing for the elderly. This case study examines a project to renovate a building complex which has failed to get started. The analytical framework of collaborative governance has been adapted and used as inspiration for understanding this at a local level. From a narrative perspective, mixed methods were used. Two conclusions are drawn. Firstly, the concept of drivers for collaborative governance helps to explain why the project was difficult to realise. Secondly, both the categorisation and concept of housing for the elderly have changed with policy implications.
|
|
| 4. |
- Almered Olsson, Gunilla, 1951, et al.
(author)
-
City–Region Food Systems: Scenarios to re-establish urban-rural links through sustainable food provisioning
- 2018
-
In: Tomorrow’s Food Travel (TFT) conference, Centre for Tourism – University of Gothenburg, 8–10 October 2018, Gothenburg, Sweden.
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- City–Region Food Systems (CRFS) is a cutting-edge concept and an emerging field of research. As a new analytical lens, it offers an integrated and multi-dimensional perspective on food’s origins, how it is grown and the path it follows to our plates and beyond. Building on this concept, this presentation reflects a prospective research project which seeks to explore opportunities for innovative and sustainable food systems in the Gothenburg region of Sweden by focusing on how rural and urban regions, food production and market can be integrated to promote regional food security. The project intends to: 1) develop scenarios with stakeholders for local food production in the region; 2) analyze the consequences of the scenarios on landscape change and biodiversity; 3) explore socio-economic consequences for producers and local communities; and 4) evaluate the sustainability and feasibility of scenarios with stakeholders. Five municipalities in Western Sweden (Gothenburg, Kungälv, Lerum, Alingsås and Essunga) will serve as study areas for the project, selected to reflect different kinds of potential for local food production in terms of dissimilar environmental conditions, prerequisites for farming and economic histories. The project responds to expressed interests and knowledge needs in the region and will be developed and implemented in direct cooperation with local and regional actors such as Västarvet, the Västra Götaland Region, the municipalities and various producer organizations. In sum, there are premises suggesting that recent urban food strategies and plans with sustainability ambitions are embracing several Sustainable Development Goals in the environmental, social, economic, and equity dimensions. This, in turn, is a characteristic of the Transition Movements pathway, in which the utility of food strategies in the work with sustainability transitions seems inevitable. The results are therefore likely to be transferable to other regions.
|
|
| 5. |
- Möller, Peter, et al.
(author)
-
Tourism’s localised population effect in the rural areas of Sweden
- 2018
-
In: Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1502-2250 .- 1502-2269. ; :1, s. 39-55
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper examines how population change among young adults in rural areas is affected when tourism is the dominant industry. The relation between tourism and population change is often implicitly assumed but has not been well examined on a broader societal level. Existing studies have indicated that the effect of tourism on population change is limited in geographical range, and therefore a fine geographical resolution is useful. This analysis is based on yearly information on each individual who resided in Sweden in any year between 1990 and 2010, with 100-metre grid cells as the finest geographical resolution. Since young adults constitute a large part of all migration that takes place, they are the focus of this study. The findings show that the net population change among young adults is clearly more positive in tourism-dominated areas (TDAs) than in non-TDAs, and this becomes more significant the more remote the areas. Further, there is a better gender balance and a younger population in TDAs. Stayers and return migrants can partly explain the positive population change in TDAs, but as shown in previous research, there is a higher turnover of population in TDAs, and in-migration seems to be the key to positive population change.
|
|
| 6. |
- Arsovski, Slobodan, et al.
(author)
-
Can urban environmental problems be overcome? The case of Skopje—world’s most polluted city
- 2018
-
In: Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series. - : Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika/Nicolaus Copernicus University. - 1732-4254 .- 2083-8298. ; 40:40, s. 17-39
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The condition of the environment is one of the most fundamental concerns of cities worldwide, especially when high levels of pollution and environmental destruction exert immense impact on people’s quality of life. This paper focuses on Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, which often tops the charts as the world’s most polluted city. Despite associated problems such as congestion, ill health, and premature death, Macedonia’s scarce resources are instead spent on controversial projects, such as ‘Skopje 2014’, involving creating a national identity through massive and extremely costly constructions of neo-classical government buildings, museums and monuments. The aim of this paper is to compare the situation of Skopje to environmentally oriented activities conducted in several Polish cities and to discuss the possibility of their implementation in Skopje. Considering the scale and scope of Skopje’s environmental problems, the paper offers some priorities for action, including solutions that emphasize institution building, technical input and self-governance. It also highlights a number of economic, ecological, and socio-cultural contradictions involved in the process of achieving sustainable development.
|
|
| 7. |
- Dymitrow, Mirek, et al.
(author)
-
Sustainability—differently
- 2018
-
In: Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series. - : Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika/Nicolaus Copernicus University. - 1732-4254 .- 2083-8298. ; 40:40, s. 7-16
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is increasingly appreciated how all societies contain many ‘wicked problems’ or socio-cultural challenges that are multidimensional, hard to pin-down and consequently extremely challenging to solve. Obtaining functional and inclusive societal organization is not a simple matter of ‘doing it’ by subscribing to winning formulae as there are, for example, many choices to be made in the process. Moreover, given that conceptual frameworks always guide thoughts, judgments and actions, how we relate to ‘sustainability’ specifically becomes relevant if we aim to achieve a more liveable society. This journal issue expressly engages with the consequent need to recognise this complexity. It assembles a set of ‘brave’ takes on far-advanced problems bedevilling conventionally conceptualised paths towards sustainability. Arguing against oversimplification that comes from domination of polarizing concepts and unquestioned practices and rhetorics, the aim is to foster explorations into new territories from which we may learn. Ultimately, the desire to deconstruct pernicious divisions and create new hybrid syntheses can progress sustainability.
|
|
| 8. |
- Hassler, Björn, 1964-, et al.
(author)
-
Collective action and agency in Baltic Sea marine spatial planning: Transnational policy coordination in the promotion of regional coherence
- 2018
-
In: Marine Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0308-597X .- 1872-9460. ; 92, s. 138-147
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite the increasing attention given to marine spatial planning and the widely acknowledged need for transnational policy coordination, regional coherence has not yet improved a great deal in the Baltic Sea region. Therefore, the main objectives in this article are: (a) to map existing governance structures at all levels that influence how domestic marine spatial planning policy strategies are formed, (b) to identify specific challenges to improved regional cooperation and coordination, and (c) to discuss possible remedies. Based on data from in-depth case studies carried out in the BONUS BALTSPACE research project, it is shown that, despite the shared goal of sustainability and efficient resource use in relevant EU Directives, action plans and other policy instruments, domestic plans are emerging in diverse ways, mainly reflecting varying domestic administrative structures, sectoral interests, political prioritisations, and handling of potentially conflicting policy objectives. A fruitful distinction can be made between, on the one hand, regulatory institutions and structures above the state level where decision-making mechanisms are typically grounded in consensual regimes and, on the other hand, bilateral, issue-specific collaboration, typically between adjacent countries. It is argued that, to improve overall marine spatial planning governance, these two governance components need to be brought together to improve consistency between regional alignment and to enhance opportunities for countries to collaborate at lower levels. Issue-specific transnational working groups or workshops can be one way to identify and act upon such potential synergies. © 2018 The Authors
|
|
| 9. |
- Dymitrow, Mirek, et al.
(author)
-
Deprivation and the rural-urban trap
- 2018
-
In: Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie. - : Wiley. - 0040-747X .- 1467-9663. ; 109:1, s. 87-108
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Departing from the idea that cultural mechanisms are capable of allowing for conceptual dichotomies to create oppression, this article challenges the engrained tradition of using ‘urban/rural’ as guiding labels in societal organization when seen through the prism of deprivation. Two Polish deprivation-ridden estates – one ‘urban’ and one ‘rural’ – were investigated. Having taken account of the residents’ everyday lives in the socio-economic, material and discursive dimensions, our results indicate that the notions of rurality and urbanity imbricate and leapfrog meaningful territories at the local level. Realizing the danger of deploying stereotypes as beacons in governance, from this richly contextualized account we draw that many problems today are space-independent and cannot be attenuated by following development paths reinvented in the name of some empirically questionable yet culturally sustained and politically ontologized spatialities. This, then, calls for rethinking both the discursivity and the elusiveness of rural-urban thinking in the context of deprivation.
|
|
| 10. |
- Eimermann, Marco, et al.
(author)
-
Globalising Swedish countrysides? : A relational approach to rural immigrant restaurateurs with refugee backgrounds
- 2018
-
In: Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift. - London, UK : Taylor & Francis. - 0029-1951 .- 1502-5292. ; 72:2, s. 82-96
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The main purpose of the article is to connect rural immigrants’ business ventures and development in Sweden to relational perspectives on their proximate and distant family and co-ethnic networks at structural and individual levels. Accordingly, the authors employ a relational approach and draw on in-depth interviews. In the context of urban–rural relationships’ meanings for the restaurateurs’ business benefits and constraints, they address two questions: (1) What does embeddedness in proximate and distant family and co-ethnic networks mean for the interviewed restaurateurs and for their businesses? and (2) How do previous and anticipated transitions in the restaurateurs’ families influence their business decisions and migration trajectories? The results suggest that the interviewees employed transnational dimensions in their social embeddedness and that they maintained material and emotional relationships with their countries of origin. This relational approach thus contributes to a better understanding of what the studied businesses mean for the entrepreneurs and the selected localities. The restaurateurs contribute to a globalisation of Swedish countrysides, but their socio-economic potential for countering rural depopulation in Sweden is not fully realised. Additionally, the study illuminates how individuals influence, and are influenced by, place-to-place mobilities on a daily basis and during their life course.
|
|
