| 1. |
- Alfredsson, Eva, 1963-, et al.
(author)
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Why achieving the Paris Agreement requires reduced overall consumption and production
- 2018
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In: Sustainability. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1548-7733. ; 14
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Technological solutions to the challenge of dangerous climate change are urgent and necessary but to be effective they need to be accompanied by reductions in the total level of consumption and production of goods and services. This is for three reasons. First, private consumption and its associated production are among the key drivers of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, especially among highly emitting industrialized economies. There is no evidence that decoupling of the economy from GHG emissions is possible at the scale and speed needed. Second, investments in more sustainable infrastructure, including renewable energy, needed in coming decades will require extensive amounts of energy, largely from fossil sources, which will use up a significant share of the two-degree carbon budget. Third, improving the standard of living of the world’s poor will consume a major portion of the available carbon allowance. The scholarly community has a responsibility to put the issue of consumption and the associated production on the research and policy agenda.
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| 2. |
- Boström, Magnus, et al.
(author)
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How to achieve sustainable procurement for “peripheral” products with significant environmental impacts
- 2015
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In: Sustainability. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1548-7733. ; 11:1, s. 21-31
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Departing from previous theoretical and empirical studies on sustainable supply-chain management, we investigate organizational commitment (drivers and motivations) and capabilities (resources, structures, and policy instruments) in sustainable procurement of “noncore” products. By focusing on chemicals in textiles, the article explores the activi-ties of differently sized organizations and discusses the potentials and limitations of sustainable procurement measures. The study is based on a qualitative and comparative approach, with empirical findings from 26 case stud-ies of Swedish public and private procurement organizations. These organizations operate in the sectors of hotels/ conference venues, transport, cinema, interior design, and hospitals/daycare. While this work demonstrates major challenges for buyers to take into account peripheral items in sustainable procurement, it also identifies constructive measures for moving forward. A general sustainability/environmental focus can, as an effect, spill over to areas per-ceived as peripheral. © 2014 Boström et al.
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| 3. |
- Hasselqvist, Hanna, et al.
(author)
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Bridging citizen and stakeholder perspectives of sustainable mobility through practice-oriented design
- 2018
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In: Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 1548-7733.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Transitions toward more sustainable mobility are necessary and involve changes in complex constellations of mobility-related practices. To understand opportunities for moving in this direction, there is a need to explore both the consumption side of sustainable mobility practices and the perspective of stakeholders that provide products, services, infrastructures, and policies required for such practices. This article contributes to a discussion of critical aspects of sustainable mobility practices in relation to the responsibilities and concerns of stakeholders with power to influence these practices. We present four sets of design concepts for supporting car-free living which were formulated and co-created based on a practice-oriented analysis of a one-year study of three families in Stockholm, Sweden that replaced their cars with light electric vehicles. The design concepts bring forward elements of sustainable mobility with a focus on: trying out new mobility practices, cycling infrastructure, child-friendly public transport, and transporting stuff. Furthermore, we discussed the concepts with public and private sector stakeholders and examined their interests in particular practices. Also considered are how the responsibilities of different stakeholders may clash. Finally, we suggest that practice-oriented design concepts can support discussions and increased knowledge about responsibilities and potential conflicts related to sustainable practices, as well as provide means for supporting learning about sustainable practices among decision makers.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Mc Conville, Jennifer R, 1978, et al.
(author)
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Closing the food loops: Guidelines and criteria for improving nutrient management
- 2015
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In: Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1548-7733. ; 11:2, s. 33-43
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As global consumption expands, the world is increasingly facing threats to resource availability and food security. To meet future food demands, agricultural resource efficiency needs to be optimized for both water and nutrients. Policy makers should start to radically rethink nutrient management across the entire food chain. Closing the food loop by recycling nutrients in food waste and excreta is an important way of limiting the use of mineral nutrients, as well as improving national and global food security. This article presents a framework for sustainable nutrient management and discusses the responsibility of four key stakeholder groups—agriculture, the food industry, consumers, and waste management—for achieving an effective food loop. In particular, we suggest a number of criteria, policy actions, and supporting strategies based on a cross-sectoral application of the waste hierarchy.
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| 6. |
- Mjörnell, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Renovation Strategies for Multi-Residential Buildings from the Record Years in Sweden-Profit-Driven or Socioeconomically Responsible?
- 2019
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In: Sustainability. - : MDPI. - 2071-1050 .- 1548-7733. ; 11:24
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An important part of the multi-family housing stock in Sweden was built during the record years 1961-1975 and is in need of extensive renovation to be modernized. The stock is also at the center of political discussion of how to sustain 'good housing for all', especially in the rental sector. These renovation needs coincide with present energy targets and provides an opportunity to combine renovation with energy efficiency measures. Common for many of these buildings are that neglected maintenance has led to technical shortcomings, such as high energy use and low thermal comfort due to bad insulation, unsatisfactory air tightness and leaky windows, inefficient heating systems and insufficient ventilation, and moisture damage due to leaking building envelope and leaking pipes. However, the people living in these buildings are not willing to or cannot afford to pay the higher rents that extensive renovations would entail. Earlier research has highlighted the broader societal problem of energy renovations, but also that of housing companies' priority of measures with short payback times, and those that give the possibility to raise rents. However, recent observations indicated a tendency towards more holistic approaches to housing renovation, and this study was initiated to investigate how public and private housing companies deal with renovation levels, rent increases and related social problems. The main conclusions are that sustainability and social responsibility are moving up on agendas in the public sector, but also, apparently, in the renovations strategies among the private companies. What is also seen is a trend moving from extensive total renovations to more tenant-adapted and step-by-step renovations. Renovation options which do not entail such large rent increases are increasingly being seen. Implications are that housing owners favor gentle renovation with reasonable rent increases of 10%-20%, which at the same time, may be a drawback for reaching energy efficiency targets.
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| 7. |
- Ness, Barry, et al.
(author)
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Sustainable development through innovation diffusion via an entrepreneur in rural western Kenya : Progress and related challenges
- 2015
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In: Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy. - 1548-7733. ; 11:1, s. 53-63
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article presents the accomplishments and challenges of a rural sustainable development initiative in Nyanza Province, Kenya. Our focus is on the sale and financing of a simple technology — an improved cookstove — by a local entrepreneur. The theoretical basis of the research is innovation systems and (social) entrepreneurship. We first define the major challenges of the diffusion process encountered throughout the initiative’s early years, with special concentration on maintaining the working capital to sell and finance additional innovations. We next present the measures to address the challenge, including detailed written contracts, a modest fee for late payments, a contract-signing witness, and money-transfer options by mobile telephone. We subsequently present repayment rates for up to one year after implementing the changes, which show a general pattern of improvement. Finally, we discuss the sustainability of the technology, repayment rates, innovation systems, and entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa. The main message of the research is that the major challenge is not creating more sustainable technologies, but overcoming difficulties in diffusion processes.
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| 8. |
- Ringenson, Tina, et al.
(author)
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Indicators for Promising Accessibility and Mobility Services
- 2018
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In: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050 .- 1548-7733. ; :8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cities are increasingly facing major transportation challenges, and new sustainable solutions are needed. New ICT-enabled services can be part of solving the problems, including both improving and finding new transportation services and providing digital access to different services. It is important to identify which services have the best potential for environmental benefits (e.g., travel reduction leading to lesser emissions), economic viability and spread. Such identification can be carried out with the help of indicators. This article uses four types of new accessibility services to test out a previously formulated set of indicators and suggest changes to make them more useful. Using common indicators for transportation and digital accessibility services seem to support collecting and condensing information about the services and simplifies understanding their benefits and challenges. However, a challenge for this approach is finding indicators that are both specific and broad enough to be useful.
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| 9. |
- Thorén, Henrik, et al.
(author)
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Resilience: Some Philosophical Remarks on Defining Ostensively and Stipulatively
- 2015
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In: Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy. - 1548-7733. ; 11:1, s. 64-74
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Although contentious, the concept of resilience is common in sustainability research. Critique of the concept have often focused on the content of the concept. In this paper we focus on another feature of concepts, namely how they are defined. We distinguish between concepts that are ostensively defined, that aim to point to some phenomena, and stipulatively defined concepts, where the content of the concept is given in the definition itself. We argue that although definitions themselves are similar across many different disciplines where resilience is used?most notably psychology and ecology?they differ in how. This has interesting consequences for how different disciplines can be connected and integrated. Notably, integration on basis of ostensively defined concepts turn on sharing the extension (the phenomena itself) of the concept, but not necessarily the intension (the definition), whereas integration on basis of stipulatively defined concepts work in the opposite way.
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