Sustainable development and sustainability is nowadays expected to be integratedin modern city planning and permeate the entire planning process. At the sametime, sustainable development has an inherent vagueness, leading to a greatdiversity of interpretations of the meaning of this concept. In this thesis strongsustainability and ecological modernization are used as two different interpretationsof sustainable development. Using these two interpretations, an analysis of thecurrent use of the concept of sustainability within the city planning of Malmö isperformed. The analysis shows that the interpretation of sustainable development inthe city of Malmö can be deduced to ecological modernization and thatsustainability is looked upon as one way to improve the attractiveness of the city.Investments to increase ecological and social sustainability must be legitimized asleading to a potential increase in economical sustainability (growth) and the focusof increasing the sustainability in the city has shifted from ecological aspects toeconomical aspects.

All around the world more and more people move from rural areas to live in the cities. Because of this, the urban areas have become an important part in the debate about the effects on the environment and sustainability. In many countries word wide initiatives have been taken to build sustainable cities and eco cities, the Stockholm Royal Seaport is one example. The vision for the district is to become a world class sustainable city based on the three dimensions of sustainable development: social, economic and ecologic. The municipality of Stockholm has set requirements for the buildings? energy usage, emissions and amount of waste generated during the building process.

All inclusive travel has become a popular way to travel abroad. When tourists pay for everything in advance their need for contact with the local people will be reduced. The consequences of this can be dissatisfaction from the local people as they are left out and do not share the financial benefits created by tourism. During the purchasing cycle of an all inclusive travel, it is possible that the tour operator can influence a sustainable development.The aim of this paper is to compare how a large and a small tour operator in their purchase of all inclusive holidays interacts with local players to create sustainable development, thereby creating a surplus value to the customer. The hypothesis is that the amount of knowledge and application of this knowledge regarding sustainable development differs in the purchase process between large and small tour operators.This paper was carried out as a case study.

During the 90s most companies organized and adopted routines for their environmental work. This work included for example eco-efficiency improvements and the introduction of environmental managing systems. At the UN conference in Rio in 1992 the concept Sustainable development was defined, but it was not until about the year of 2000 that companies in Sweden shifted their work from environmental management to sustainable management. A consequence of this is that they now have to focus on environmental aspect in conjunction with social and economic aspects.The purpose of this study is to gain understanding of what a change of focus to sustainable development means for companies. Has the environmental work suffered in the competition with social/economical aspects under the new sustainable focus? How will the new way of working affect the balance between environmental and social aspects? Changes were studied in five companies by analysing their annual-, environmental- and sustainability reports and through interviews of sustainable managers.

In Sweden according to the planning and building Act municipalities have planning monopoly. The question about shopping centres in the outskirts of cities is a regional issue, because they attract customers from a large area. Municipalities often find it hard to assert themselves against large commercial companies when it comes to their establishing new retail outlets on the outskirts of cities. Without a regional co-operation there is a risk that municipalities can be played up against one another, so that more and more companies are given permits without the municipalities having taken the strategic consideration necessary for a long term sustainable development. The focus in this work is on four municipalities in the Södertörn region (Södertälje, Botkyrka, Huddinge and Nynäshamn).

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the perception of value and risk in CSR as well as analyzing how financial institutions influence responsible behavior in business in order to create sustainable economic growth.Methodology: The study has a qualitative research method used by an abductive process. Data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with respondents from three venture capital companies and three banks. The sample of respondents was done through a convenience sample with respect to access and expertise in the research area.Conclusion: The most important meanings of the research results have shown that CSR holds an intrinsic value concerning contributing value as its conceptual meaning in terms of sustainable development. CSR can also be regarded as a dimension of risk management to reduce the risk of negative externalities on corporate activities. Investors and financiers contribute to sustainable companies through active ownership and improvements in the CSR dimensions.

If one looks at physical planning in Sweden today one can see that while talking about densification of existing development, reduced emissions and careful use of important land, urban sprawl is a fact with development of sheer residential districts in the urban edges and shopping malls in each and every municipality. As sustainable development is an essential goal for physical planning to strive towards, it is worth questioning if the direction of today?s planning will lead to the goal. A sustainable development can be seen as an obvious to goal aim at. In reality the aim means a hard and complex work.

This essay examines whether, and if so to which extent, the project Export MatureDestination in the Biosphere Reserve Vänerskärgården with Kinnekulle can combine the goalof the tourism industry, i.e. to double tourism between 2010 and 2020, and the goals of theBiosphere reserve, i.e. sustainable societal development and a sustainable biosphere economy.The aim is to examine how key individuals in the project approach sustainable developmentand economic growth, representing the two main interests in the area. Examining the state ofthe two interests the following examples are used: the position of sustainable development inregard to economic growth, the opportunities and challenges in the area and unity concerningthe goals of the tourism development in the region. The study is conducted through qualitativeinterviews with key individuals and a descriptive document analysis of the most importantpolicy documents.

The release of green house gases and the environmental impacts humans have on the environment are huge and might cause irreversible changes to our earth. Meat is considered to have large impacts on the environment, especially beef meat and therefore there have lately been considerable discussions on the sustainable level of meat consumption and production. The main goal with this thesis is to study sustainable meat production and meat consumption in the county of Dalarna in Sweden. Indicators for sustainable meat production and meat consumption were developed and applied on three cases. Interviews were carried out with a municipality in the region that represents the consumer and three beef farmers that represents the producers.

If one looks at physical planning in Sweden today one can see that while talking about densification of existing development, reduced emissions and careful use of important land, urban sprawl is a fact with development of sheer residential districts in the urban edges and shopping malls in each and every municipality. As sustainable development is an essential goal for physical planning to strive towards, it is worth questioning if the direction of today?s planning will lead to the goal. A sustainable development can be seen as an obvious to goal aim at. In reality the aim means a hard and complex work.

All inclusive travel has become a popular way to travel abroad. When tourists pay for everything in advance their need for contact with the local people will be reduced. The consequences of this can be dissatisfaction from the local people as they are left out and do not share the financial benefits created by tourism. During the purchasing cycle of an all inclusive travel, it is possible that the tour operator can influence a sustainable development.The aim of this paper is to compare how a large and a small tour operator in their purchase of all inclusive holidays interacts with local players to create sustainable development, thereby creating a surplus value to the customer. The hypothesis is that the amount of knowledge and application of this knowledge regarding sustainable development differs in the purchase process between large and small tour operators.This paper was carried out as a case study.

The Main problem: How small-sized manufacturing companies can create and sustain a stable position in the industry, which leads to profitability.Purpose: The purpose with this essay is to compare two small-sized manufacturing companies, Datek Industrielektronik AB and AB Micatrone to study which strategical resources each company possesses. At the same time analyse if the strategical resources are to be consider as sustainable competitive advantage.Method: A case study has been implemented in two small-sized manufacturing companies. The collected primary data derives from semi-structured interviews.Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework is based on The Resource-based view where the independent variables are the VRIO-model, resource tree and external resources. The dependable variable is sustainable competitive advantage.Empirical foundation: The empirical foundation is based on the compilation of the few conducted interviews with Datek and Micatrone.Results & Conclusion: Datek and Micatrone show both similarities and differences in what creates their sustainable competitive advantage. The management of both companies creates according to the VRIO-model sustainable competitive advantage.

The purpose with the essay is to point out how the main differences of the Helsinkicommission, Helcom and Baltic 21 can be explained from a general perspective and with a specific focus on two of their ongoing projects: Baltic 21 Lighthouse projects and The Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Plan. And to investigate how the organisations them selves formulates the purpose of the two projects. This will be an indication on why environmental problems are handled with in a traditional matter although the rhetoric of the environmental politics is permeated by the concept of Sustainable Development.This dilemma is being treated from the theoretical approaches of Ecological Modernisation and Sustainable Development and linked to how these organisations actually carried out their work and how the historical heritage have a role to play in this complex of problems. The results of the essay shows that concrete differences exists in the way that the two organisations are constructed and how their ongoing projects are designed and formulated. These differences can be derived to the theoretical platforms Ecological Modernisation and Sustainable Development and be explained by in witch political context the organisations were created.

Is it possible that by planning in a more sustainable way when building a new area, we can improve our environment?Most environmental problems are created in cities and therefore they should hold the solution. Through a more ecological urban planning a better foundation for sustainable housing could be created.This report follows the process in coming up with a proposal for a master plan for an area in Odense, Denmark. By going through principles for sustainable urban planning made by different organizations and persons and from these extract main principles, a background is founded to continue the proposal from.Denmark works a lot on expanding their green areas, maintain the existing ones and recreate what?s being destroyed as cities expand.

This bachelor thesis, written as a part of the European Studies at Gothenburg University, is concerned with the European Unions? (EU) climate political governance in their both climate- and agricultural policy, and in particularly the question whether it is sustainable. This thesis intends to problematize if it is possible for the EU to continue to pursue its current agricultural policies, while at the sametime maintain its role as a sustainable actor on the global arena. The framework of theEUs? climate policy governance disciplines this analysis.