| 1. |
- Bennich, Therese, 1989-
(författare)
-
The transition to a bio-based economy : Toward an integrated understanding
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The bio-based economy has gained increasing attention in societal and academic debates over the past two decades, and is argued to hold solutions to several pressing sustainability challenges. However, it is not yet clear if the high-reaching aspirations of the bio-based economy can be realized. The bio-based economy discourse has been criticized for being promissory, vague, and single-sector focused, thereby overlooking larger systemic impacts, trade-offs, and unintended consequences that may result from pursuing the goals of the bio-based economy. Against this background, this thesis aims to advance an integrated and systemic understanding of the transition to a bio-based economy and what it implies for sustainability. Sweden is used as an empirical case, where specific bio-based economy goals, as well as their interactions and sustainability outcomes, are examined. The focus is primarily on developments in the forestry, agriculture, and energy sectors. The analysis also seeks to identify how goals related to the bio-based economy are interconnected with goals promoted by parallel sustainability initiatives, specifically the 2030 Agenda and the associated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Integration is achieved by using systems analysis tools and methods. Further, the weak and strong sustainability paradigms, and the opposing definitions of sustainability they provide, are used to assess the contribution of the bio-based economy to sustainability. The integrated analysis provides a detailed and operational conceptualization of transition pathways to a Swedish bio-based economy. The goals of the Swedish bio-based economy are divergent and broad-reaching, emphasizing that there is no general agreement on what the transition to a bio-based economy entails. The results point to multiple barriers that need to be addressed to realize the goals of the Swedish bio-based economy. Goal conflicts constitute one such barrier. These are found internal to as well as across the bio-based economy and the parallel 2030 Agenda. Additional hindrances include policy resistance, negative cross-sectoral spillovers, and patterns of path dependency. However, the results also highlight several opportunities for supporting the transition process in a Swedish context. These opportunities include the identification of goals and interventions with synergetic potential, which offer a basis for developing efficient implementation strategies with high systemic impact. There is also large potential to support cross-sectoral collaboration and learning, based on shared interests and challenges. Finally, the results emphasize the importance of better understanding and addressing perceptions about risk, conflict, legitimacy, and trust in the transition process.In terms of the overarching question of what the bio-based economy implies for sustainability, the results find that the bio-based economy has been contributing to developments that align primarily with weak sustainability. From the perspective of the strong sustainability paradigm, the prospects of the bio-based economy are less promising, potentially leading to outcomes that could worsen ongoing environmental and social issues. For the future, fundamental changes to the way the bio-based economy is conceptualized and implemented are needed for it to contribute to sustainability according to the notion of strong sustainability.
|
|
| 2. |
- Ketzer, Daniel, 1988-
(författare)
-
Land Use Conflicts between Agriculture and Energy Production : Systems Approaches to Allocate Potentials for Bioenergy and Agrophotovoltaics
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The developments towards a bio-based economy and a renewable energy-based power supply require thorough assessments of feedstocks and frameworks. In the past, political targets for increasing shares of renewable energies for combatting climate change have triggered direct land use changes (LUCs) and even indirect land use changes (iLUCs). As a consequence, residues from grassland and agriculture, which are not used for other purposes, got into the focus of renewable energy policies. Despite the technical feasibility, a general approach for assessing amounts of residues has been lacking, making planning processes for bioenergy highly customized. This study introduces a general, uniform modeling-approach based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and publicly available statistical and map data to locate potentials on a 1 km-grid throughout the European Union (EU). Sustainable potentials were calculated for five model regions in Northwest Europe considering input data such as animal livestock, regional (elevation-dependent) yield data, protection areas, and residue-to-crop ratios. Framing two scenarios, the model results were fed into a Decision Support Tool (DST) as a planning tool for bioenergy. Agricultural residues and surplus grass may provide significant potentials on regional levels, e.g. up to 52,236 TJ/ a from straw and 1,301 TJ/ a from root crop residues in Northrhine-Westphalia, or 9,141 TJ/ a from oil plant residues in Île de France, and 12,226 TJ of surplus grass in Rhineland-Palatinate.At the same time, ground mounted PV-systems were installed on arable land formerly used for food or feed production. Hence, high quality soils were taken out of agricultural production. For addressing this type of conflict, Agrophotovoltaic (APV) systems combine agricultural biomass and solar power production on the same site and time for increasing area use efficiency. Even though APV might prove suitable in the technical sense, it might be rejected by society i.e. due to its landscape impact. The Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)-concept was applied for APV by involving stakeholders already in the technology development process. In a series of workshops with citizens and experts, a comprehensive analysis of the driving and restraining forces for APV was done. A System Dynamics approach with Causal Loop Diagrams (CLD) visualizes and reveals the internal and external dynamics of the APV-technology. Stakeholders have pointed out the importance of defining a good framework for APV first, i.e. roof and industrial areas for PV system shall be exploited first. Any change in the set-up for the PV-system impacts the conditions for the agricultural cultivation conditions, i.e. the height and width of the mounting system influences the working conditions and distribution of water. The shading of the plants can increase the yields in dry and hot summers, while it may lead to yield reductions in other years. The acceptance level is driven by regional aspects such as tourism, local recreation and landscape impact. In this way, local knowledge from participatory studies is seen as prerequisite for a legitimate framework.
|
|
| 3. |
- Senkondo, William, 1982-
(författare)
-
Modelling water resources despite data limitations in Tanzania’s Kilombero Valley
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Water is a vital resource for survival on the Earth. Sustainable management of water resources is therefore required for the wellbeing of present and future generations. A cornerstone of water resources management is scientific guidance supported by relevant data (in terms of quantity and quality). Most developing regions, where such guidance is crucial due to the intimate connection between natural resources and livelihoods, unfortunately face data limitations. This thesis aims to develop systematic approaches for informing water resources management in data limited regions. Specifically, this work targets Tanzania’s Kilombero Valley (KV) basin as an exemplar of a data limited region undergoing social-economic development through expansion and intensification of agriculture and other water-related interventions. Through a synthesis of lessons learned from the ongoing evolution of hydrological modelling development for water resources management in the Eastern Africa, several promising approaches were identified that could potentially be robust despite data limitations across the region. Putting these approaches into practice, recession analysis based on non-continuous discharge data in conjunction with estimations of the actual evapotranspiration (ET) using remote sensing techniques provided a basis to improve process understanding and help characterize the hydrological systems in the KV basin. This understanding translated into more-informed parameter estimation and improved accuracy when integrated into the development of a hydrological modelling framework using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The modeling framework established for KV has potential to be used as tool for estimating impacts of water resources management strategies relative to future anthropogenic pressures and climatic changes. What is even more promising, is the possibility to derive scientific guidance to assist water resources management in a data limited region through implementation of an integrated workflow which employs state-of-the-science approaches. The methodological framework for model development adopted in this thesis could be applied in any data limited region facing similar challenges as those of the KV basin.
|
|
| 4. |
- Österlin, Carl, 1984-
(författare)
-
Nature conservation, landscape change and indigenous rights : The role of Sámi reindeer herding for environmental objectives in the Swedish mountain landscape
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The 14th Swedish national environmental objective, ‘a Magnificent Mountain Landscape’, requires a mountain landscape characterized by reindeer grazing. The Swedish mountains landscape, part of the Scandes, has been shaped by traditional indigenous Sámi reindeer herding and its grazed environments are dependent on reindeer. In spite of this, the mountain region is often referred to as the last wilderness in Europe. Twenty years since its adoption the aims of this environmental objective for the Swedish mountains is still not achieved. Sweden is internationally often seen as a frontrunner for environmental ambitions, but formal indigenous rights remain relatively weak. In the case of the Magnificent Mountain Landscape objective, the environmental ambitions are dependent on the continuation of a traditional indigenous livelihood and land use based on reindeer herding. While the mountain objective explicitly focus on the mountain area the attainment of the objective is dependent on developments in the whole reindeer grazing area that encompasses vast areas outside the Scandes. Reindeer herding is, however, under increasing pressure from multiple anthropogenic pressures like climate change and encroachments from various types of natural resource extraction on traditional grazing grounds. Land use planning that ensure the continuation of a viable reindeer herding in the whole reindeer herding landscape, not only the mountain areas proper, is therefore essential if the Magnificent Mountains Landscape objective is to be achieved. The thesis is guided by three main research questions: 1/ how have multiple pressures developed in the reindeer herding area in northern Sweden, 2/ how has Sámi participation in land use planning unfolded in northern Sweden, and 3/ what possibilities/conditions are there in place to maintain/sustain the environmental state in the Swedish mountain region given current multiple pressures and planning processes? Based on a transdisciplinary systems approach as well as on quantitative and qualitative methods the results show that stressing weather events have increased in the reindeer herding area, alongside with rapid and significant increase in industrial land use for natural resource extraction. The actual process of rapidly increasing, as well as cumulative, industrial land use also reduce the ability for Sámi reindeer herding communities to influece land use planning. Meanwhile the cumulative effects assesssments for proposed industrial projects poorly describe cumulative effects on reindeer herding. Protected areas in the mountain region that should be requesting the ecosystem services of reindeer grazing also unsufficiently do so because of a too dominant view of its nature as a wilderness, with the implication that reindeer herding is less valued in nature conservation management. If the ambitious environmental objectives for the Swedish mountain range are to be reached it also means that the continuation of traditional Sámi reindeer herding needs to be safeguarded in the whole reindeer herding area, also outside the mountains.
|
|
