Utvärdering av energi och miljöindex för sjöfart

Increased demand for environmental, energy and sustainability information on products in a life cycle perspective has led to the development of a large number of different voluntary initiatives aimed at communicating the environmental performance of sea transport, such as databases, indices, labels and certificates. There is however a lack of scientific studies that applies the research area of environmental indices to shipping. The majority of previous studies on environmental indices for shipping have focused on comparing indices or to find successful parameters for developing a new index. This study has conducted an inventory of environmental initiatives applicable for communicating environmental performance of ships and shipowners. It has then identified and evaluated voluntary initiatives that are based on an indexing system; defined as ‘environmental performance indices’. The evaluation was conducted on three indices based on principal aspects and criteria found in literature. The results of the inventory showed a large diversity of 38 environmental performance initiatives related to a diversity of stakeholders. They had different scope, target groups and applications. Most existing initiatives are based on a set of environmental requirements or standards, where specific installed equipment, operational measures, management aspects or compliance with environmental legislation are rewarded in one way or another. Such rewards could be score points or for example reduced port dues. Some initiatives were however based on environmental performance data such as specific emission levels. Many further focused on air emissions and energy efficiency or carbon dioxide emissions. Ten initiatives were identified as environmental performance indices, though their inclusion within this definition was later discussed in further analysis. The following three indices were evaluated: (1) the Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator developed by the International Maritime Organization, (2) the Performance Metrics Tool developed by Clean Cargo Working Group, and (3) the Clean Shipping Index developed by the Clean Shipping Project. The indices each assess environmental performance based on data for individual vessels, which then is aggregated into a final index. The last two indices use scoring systems for different environmental areas and include performance requirements. These indices could be used for a shipowner to benchmark and market environmental performance of their ships, and for a transport buyer to select the ships and shipowners according to their performance results. Third-party verification exists for all three indices, which provides quality control of the data used for the performance assessment. It was concluded that the three indices have many similarities, though they show a large variation in their construction and application. The varieties of the three indices could be explained by the variety of stakeholders connected to them. It was concluded that the properties of a particular index depend on the indented use, which in turn depends on the intended users and the developer of the index. It was further concluded that the variety of different initiatives is problematic and shows a need for global standardized methods. The study could contribute to bring order to the variety of concepts of the different initiatives associated with environmental ship indices. It could also identify potential uses and users of the indices. In addition, it could be one way of solving methodological problems of comparison between different indices identified in earlier studies

I säkert förvar - En diskursanalys av debatten kring ett kritiserat förvar inom svensk lagstiftning

The use of detention centers for refugees in Sweden has been criticized over the last couple of years. The lack of resources and the shortage of accommodations have resulted in the use of alternative facilities such as police detentions and prisons. These alternative facilities has since 1994 been criticized by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture. But still the alternative detention centers are in use. With the method of a discourse analysis, this thesis studies why this critique gets no space in the Swedish parliament and through the discourse analysis, the thesis looks upon signs of power within the debates. As the Swedish democrats have gotten more seats in parliament after the last election, they use this legitimacy to shift the agenda of the debates. By taking the most speaking time and a harsh approach, the opponents focus on the SD, and the debate about the critique falls shor

ECOLOGICAL DESIGN - best practice examples

This report presents the parks and green walls we visited on our study visit in Paris (15th-19th of August 2022). We aimed to study green spaces, which represent a good or exceptional practice of ecological design. Ecological design, in an urban landscape context, can be described as the integration of aesthetic and ecological aspects in urban green space design. Supporting ecological processes, biodiversity and providing high aesthetical and recreational values are objectives of ecological design. The visited green spaces varied in their degree and focus on how aesthetical and ecological aspects were integrated. All objects were exceptional regarding one or several aspects such as the choice of plant material, structural and vegetation complexity or the degree in which ecological processes and biodiversity were given space. For us it was very interesting to see and discuss these varying approaches and how we perceived to which degree aesthetical and ecological goals were reached

Affordances of models and modelling: a study of four technology design projects in the Swedish secondary school

This study aims to investigate affordances of models and modelling in design projects in technology education. To learn more about affordances when working with models and modelling, four Swedish technology teachers were interviewed using a narrative approach. Despite a small number of informants data were rich, containing detailed descriptions of sequences where students used models and modelling in ways not planned by the teachers. By using a qualitative, generic inductive approach, the narrative interviews revealed seven different affordances of models and modelling in the projects: Seeing different solutions; Finding possibilities and limitations in solutions; Representing an idea, structure or function; Communicating solutions with drawings; Making problems and solutions visible; Trial and error and learning from mistakes and finally Taking inspirations from each other’s solutions. Some conclusions and implications of the study are that when the students can see and use a wide variety of materials when modelling, they are more creative in finding solutions to design problems. The use of conceptual design in schools, leading to students performing trial and error using models to solve problems, might also be connected to the importance of a variety of materials. In the study, teachers describe how their students used models, trying different solutions, representing ideas, and trying, failing and trying again. All these modelling activities are important parts of a design process and might prove that the doing itself is a process of reflection

The Analogue Disruption of Digitalization – The Local Bases of the Hospitality Industry in a Global Economy

There are vital challenges for organization undergoing digital transformation, especially those that rely more and more on the ever-evolving platform economy. Third-party platforms have rearranged the market conditions for organisations, especially for service-based organisations such as hotels. The hotel industry faces key problems as they need to have the power to control and augment the value chain supported by an ongoing access to accurate data (such as online customer behavior). We discuss on a conceptual level how such disruptive economic changes appear in the analogue and physical practice, at place in hotel organisations. We explore the practice of analogue disruption as it emerges as struggles and discontinuities that may not bring the expected flow of value to the business. This paper aims to examine how analogue disruptions takes place due to the ongoing digitalization in the hotel sector through the platform economy. We here apply a qualitative analysis with interpretative methodologies, that will open for further knowledge and insights on the analogue disruption of digital transformation

Students’ Challenges and Support Needed in Reaching Academic Literacies in Higher Education: In-Depth Interviews with Swedish Students

The aim of this study is to capture and analyse perspectives on higher education from the views of five students through in-depth interviews. The students' statements are analyzed in order to gain an understanding of their experiences of developing academic literacies in their university studies. They are regularly visiting the university study workshop for help with their exam assignments. The following questions have been formulated to fulfil the aim of the study: (a) what aspects of studies in higher education do the students express as important, favorable, or unfavorable, for their development of academic literacies? and (b) in what way do the students value the study workshops as an educational tool? The analysis reveals three themes: the importance of explicit support structures, the importance of teachers’ feedback, and the importance of using the students’ pedagogical capital. The results also show that the students highly value the study workshop when they reflect upon the one-to-one feedback, but the support seems to be insufficient both in supporting them to be more independent in their studies and in developing academic literacies from a critical and epistemological point of view

Lärarstudenters berättelser om läsning. Från tidig barndom till mötet med lärarutbildning

The aim of the thesis is to contribute to knowledge about experience and perceptions of reading that students at a school of education have, from early reading experiences in childhood, to the encounter with reading in context of their teacher training. The following overarching questions were asked: What aspects of narratives appear to be significant in the students’ reading trajectories? Which aspects of the narratives appear to be significant in the encounter with reading during the students’ teacher training? To place the present investigation in a wider context a social-cultural perspective on reading is used as a means to shed light on the empirical data of the thesis. The choice of methodology is based on an epistemology where life stories are viewed as something which can provide knowledge about people’s experience and perceptions. As an overarching result, the students’ stories show that reading is a relational process, which occurs with significant others. Significant others invite and confirm the individual to read in various contexts. The metaphor literary breast-feeding shows how interest is transmitted in a close relationship. It makes the child, pupil or student feel that he/she is a participant in different societies of readers. Artifacts are crucial to raise interest in texts. Such artifacts are used as tools to shape play, motivation and imagination. The student’s reading trajectories also clearly indicate that challenges and gaps exist between different contexts, and that these gaps challenge the individual and need to be bridged