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Self-tracking in the world -- Encountering the temporalities and imaginaries of personal data -- Ubiquitous monitoring technologies in historical perspective -- Algorithmic imaginations -- Traces through the present -- Anticipatory data worlds -- Personal data futures

Self-tracking in the world -- Encountering the temporalities and imaginaries of personal data -- Ubiquitous monitoring technologies in historical perspective -- Algorithmic imaginations -- Traces through the present -- Anticipatory data worlds -- Personal data futures

How should we understand the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) and sustainability? Generally, it is assumed that while ICT products contribute to many environmental and social problems as they are produced and disposed of, the potential of using ICT to achieve a more sustainable society is immense. However, despite the fact that such a discourse is favored not only in the industrial but also in the political and academic spheres, we have yet to see this presumed sustainability-related potential of ICT fully exploited. This thesis argues that conventional assumptions and understandings related to three abstractions in sustainable ICT research and practice – namely the technological, the social, and the sustainable – contribute to an overly optimistic discourse of sustainable ICT, which favors certain research approaches and practical applications. Adhering to such a discourse risks reinforcing, rather than breaking loose from, an unsustainable status quo. Through problematization, this thesis aims to unveil and challenge such underlying assumptions and understandings, based on insights from the social sciences and philosophy. New assumptions and understandings of sustainable ICT research and practice are suggested, and contribute with a perspective that among other things emphasize the ontological inseparability of the technological and the social, implying an anti-essentialist position embracing the value-ladenness and value and meaning mediatory aspects of such phenomena. The normative contributions include theoretical and methodological approaches to sustainable ICT design and sustainable ICT entrepreneurship – identified as two central practices for sustainable ICT to promote sustainability – that aim to mobilize politically charged discourses of our being together with each other, technologies and nature in order to facilitate collaborative action towards sustainable futures. This thesis should be seen as a critical contribution to fields interested in sustainable ICT, such as ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S) and Sustainable Human-Computer Interaction (SHCI).

Drawing on a wide and rich array of sources, this book explores the nature and extent of Dutch trade and commerce in the Río de la Plata during three decades of the least-studied century (1650-1750) of Spain's rule in the Americas. In doing so, it raises important questions about trade in colonial South America and how it was impacted by the Dutch, suggesting that these transactions were carried out within the confines of the law, contradicting common beliefs among scholars that this trading was not regulated. The book contributes to a growing literature on contraband trade, administration, networks, and corruption while challenging narratives of exclusively Spanish influence on the Americas.

Abstract
Information on how urban areas affect bird communities during winter in the boreal region is still scarce. With the aim of assessing such role of the urban habitats on over-wintering boreal birds, I focused on a city-wide approach in the city of Lahti (southern Finland) and two nearby forests (as controls). Point count surveys were conducted in 157 sites within the city and 30 in the control forests. In order to achieve comparable sets of data to contrast with the reference forests, I randomly selected five 30 point count sub-samples from the Lahti city-wide survey. Species richness was, in general, higher in the sub-samples from the city of Lahti. Such pattern did not show relationship with the built cover of the studied sites. Bird abundances were 3.3–5.9 times higher in the urban sub-samples when contrasted with the forest ones. Although results of this study are limited to a single city and consider one wintering season, they clearly illustrate the important role of urban systems as habitat for wintering birds in boreal systems.

This thesis deals with political, artistic and touristic performances on Norway's border with Russia. Based on ethnographic research in and around the town of Kirkenes, the thesis demonstrates how the state border and the borderland are staged through these performances. On a more general level, it aims to identify, explore and increase our knowledge about the role of performances in the construction of state borders and borderlands. Adhering to Richard Schechner's (2013) perspective on performances as being meaning-making practices, the border and the borderland are investigated as material phenomena as well as communicative social constructions. Similar to other border regions, the Norwegian-Russian borderland is marked by an intensive production of performances by local, national and international actors for local, national and international audiences. Throughout this thesis, these manifold border performances are analyzed within and across three fields: politics, art and tourism. It is argued that the border tends to be construed either as a bridge, marked by openness, connectedness, unity, and continuity, or as a barrier, marked by division, disunity, and discontinuity. Correspondingly, the borderland is also invested with meaning, morphed into a place of great significance – both as a unique transnational space, and as the dramatic interface between East and West.

For the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions and as part of its policy for better protection of victims of armed conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) conducted an international survey "People on War" between 1998 and 1999 in 12 countries recently affected by armed conflict. The idea was to "give a voice" to civilian populations and combatants in countries that have endured the modern forms of war. In addition, the consultation included national opinion surveys in four of the five permanent member countries of the UN Security Council - France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States - as well as Switzerland the depositary country of the Geneva Conventions, to see how the publics in these countries view war.

In 2009, a similar survey entitled "Our World. Views from the Field" was undertaken in 8 countries that were experiencing or had experienced armed conflict or other situations of armed violence. The aims were to develop a better understanding of people's needs and expectations, to gather views and opinions, and to give a voice to those who had been adversely affected by armed conflict and violence.

The initial survey "People on War" was repeated in 2016 in 11 countries affected by armed conflict, as well as to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Switzerland. A number of the same questions were also asked in the last People on War survey enabling some comparisons over time to be made.

For the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions and as part of its policy for better protection of victims of armed conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) conducted an international survey "People on War" between 1998 and 1999 in 12 countries recently affected by armed conflict. The idea was to "give a voice" to civilian populations and combatants in countries that have endured the modern forms of war. In addition, the consultation included national opinion surveys in four of the five permanent member countries of the UN Security Council - France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States - as well as Switzerland the depositary country of the Geneva Conventions, to see how the publics in these countries view war.

In 2009, a similar survey entitled "Our World. Views from the Field" was undertaken in 8 countries that were experiencing or had experienced armed conflict or other situations of armed violence. The aims were to develop a better understanding of people's needs and expectations, to gather views and opinions, and to give a voice to those who had been adversely affected by armed conflict and violence.

The initial survey "People on War" was repeated in 2016 in 11 countries affected by armed conflict, as well as to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Switzerland. A number of the same questions were also asked in the last People on War survey enabling some comparisons over time to be made.