Evaluation and recommendations for an improved sustainability management in infrastructure projects at ÅF

The infrastructure sector is essential for the social development in relation to for example urbanisation, but the infrastructure sector also has a negative impact on the environment. Infrastructure projects are part of the UN SDG and is an important factor regarding sustainable development. It is therefore important to make sure the development of infrastructure projects are sustainable in all phases. This can, among other things, be achieved through a sustainable project management. However, there is no clear systematic frameworkfor how sustainability can be implemented in the project management. This thesis aims to contribute with recommendations regarding how sustainability can be implemented in large infrastructure projects with the specific research question How can the implementation of sustainability in the project management in large infrastructure projects be improved at ÅF?. This thesis has been carried out at ÅF with the sub-project OLP4 as a case study to be able to identify problematic areas and key factors that are important regarding the implementation of sustainability. OLP4 is the subsection Södertälje-Trosa which is a sub-project of the railway The East Link Project in Sweden. The thesis is based on a literature study regarding project management and important factors for implementing sustainability in work process and achieve sustainability project management. This is supplemented by online and internal documents as well as interviews with employees at ÅF/Tyréns and Trafikverket regarding The East Link Project and OLP4.OLP4 is designed by ÅF/Tyréns. It is a big project with 200 employees involved, resulting inseveral meetings and the need for systematic work processes. Sustainability is discussed in OLP4 but the knowledge, sustainability work and sustainability project management can be improved. The main difficulty in implementing sustainability in daily work task, is to break it down into clear guidelines how this can be applied. Based on this study the following conclusions have been reached. To implement sustainability in the project management in large infrastructure projects the project management must be structured. Implementation of sustainability requires also that employees have good knowledge about sustainability and that there is a good culture, structure and communication in the project regarding sustainability.Infrastruktursektorn är väsentlig för samhällets utveckling i relation till bland annat urbanisering, men har också en negativ påverkan på omgivningen. Infrastrukturprojekt är endel av FN:s hållbarhetsmål och är en viktig faktor för en hållbar utveckling. Det är därför viktigt att se till att infrastrukturprojekt är hållbara genom alla faser. Detta kan bland annat uppnås genom att ha en hållbar projektledning för de olika faserna i ett projekt. Det finns inget systematiskt förhållningssätt till hur man kan implementera hållbarhet i projektledningen för stora infrastrukturprojekt idag. Det här arbetet har målet att bidra med rekommendationer angående hur hållbarhet kan bli implementeras i projektledningen i stora infrastrukturprojekt med den specifika frågeställningen Hur kan implementeringen av hållbarhet i projektledningen för stora infrastrukturprojekt bli förbättrad på ÅF? Det här arbetet har blivit utfört på ÅF med del-projektet OLP4 som en fallstudie för att kunna identifiera problemområden och nyckelfaktorer vid implementering av hållbarhet i projektledningen. OLP4 är delsträckan Södertälje-Trosa som är ett delprojekt till järnväg Ostlänken. För att svara på frågeställningen och uppnå målet är arbetat bland annat baserat på litteraturstudier gällande projektledningen, nyckelfaktorer och implementering av hållbarhet iprojektledning. Den andra delen av arbetat är baserat på semi-strukturerade intervjuer med anställda hos ÅF, Tyréns och Trafikverket, som arbetar i OLP4. Denna del presenterar hur man arbetar med projektledning och hållbarhet i OLP4 idag. Tillsammans utgör litteraturstudien och resultat grunden till diskussionen som analyserar styrkor och svagheter i OLP4 samt förbättringsförslag för en förstärkt implementering av hållbarhet i projektledningen. OLP4 projekteras av ÅF/Tyréns och är ett stort infrastruktur projekt med ca 200 konsulter, vilket resulterar i flertal möten och ett behov av systematiska arbetsprocesser för att uppnå en strukturerad projektledning. Hållbarhet diskuteras i OLP4 men kunskapen, arbetsprocessen och implementering av hållbarhet i projektledningen kan bli förbättrad. Den främsta svårigheten att implementera hållbarhet i stora projekt, är att bryta ner arbetet i tydliga riktlinjer för hur det kan tillämpas i vardagsarbetet. Utifrån detta arbeta har följande slutsatser dragits. För att hållbarhet ska kunna implementeras i projektledningen i stora infrastrukturprojekt måste projektledningen vara strukturerad. Implementeringen kräver även att medarbetare har kunskap om hållbarhet, samt att det finns en bra kultur, struktur och kommunikation för hållbarhet i projektet

Ett köttfritt samhälle : Olika substitut för kött, deras framtid och miljö-och hälsopåverkan jämfört med kött

The worldwide consumption of meat continues to increase and in Sweden the annual consumption has gone from 24 kg/person in 1990 to about 78 kg/person in 2005. This contributes to large environmental impacts such as an increase of greenhouse gas emissions, unsustainable land and resource use and shortage of water. A solution to the problem is to change our diets to be more sustainable. The purpose with this research is therefore to study the positive environmental and health aspects of alternative protein rich products based on soya, grown meat, algae and insects in comparison with meat. The goal is then to compare the environmental impacts from these products by studying different LCA-studies. Furthermore, also to understand how the future will be developed by interviewing producers of meat substitutes in Sweden. Some difficulties of comparing different LCA-studies are the choice of system boundaries, functional units and environmental aspects in the studies. Nevertheless, after studying a large amount of reports and articles about the products conclusions could yet be drawn. The carbonfootprint from beef is up to 20 times larger than from the substitutes and the land use is up to 125 times larger for beef compared to substitutes. Pork and chicken have lower impact but the lowest impact seems to come from producing substitutes based on soya beans. Insects and algae also have a low impact, but the products are still in the stage of development in Sweden due to laws, regulations and lack of knowledge. Regarding the health aspects substitutes could possibly replace meat since both insects and soya are rich of protein. Insects are also rich oniron and other nutrition. Algae consist as well of good nutrition. The companies interviewed in this study were Kung Markatta, Ekko gourmet and Veggi. They had some different opinions on future products, but they could all agree on that we need to eat less meat and more substitutes. The conclusions of this research are that the environmental aspects considered in the analysed LCA-studies are mostly carbon footprint and land use. They show that beef have a larger environmental impact than meat substitutes. It is however recommended to do new studies on products with the same system boundaries and functional units to get a more accurate and comparable result

Evaluation of Different Treatments for Appendiceal Abscess in Children

Introduction: Despite the high incidence of appendicitis, the diagnosis is often delayed in children. A delayed diagnosis may lead to perforation and formation of an abscess. The treatment of an appendiceal abscess is still a debatable subject and studies have not agreed on what strategy to use. Some prefer immediate operation, whereas others advocate conservative management with or without interval appendectomy. The aim of this study was to evaluate patients treated for appendicular abscess, in order to possibly identify the best treatment algorithm. Method: Medical charts of pediatric patients (<18 years of age) treated for appendiceal abscess between January 2010 and August 2014 were retrospectively studied. The patients were divided into groups based on the type of management; conservative or surgical treatment. Preoperative patient parameters, abscess characteristics, and outcome were evaluated. Results: There was no difference in age, gender, or preoperative data between the surgically and conservatively managed patients. Among the patients diagnosed before the onset of treatment, there was a significantly poorer outcome in the surgically managed group, with a significantly longer duration of hospital stay: 8.5 (range 5-60) days compared to 6 (range 2–10) days (p=0.02), and significantly more complications: 36% compared to 0% (p=0.04). Further, treatment failure seemed to be more common in surgically managed patients with a rate of 25% compared to 0%, however, this was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Conservative management seems to be more beneficial than early surgical intervention in children with appendiceal abscess. Large