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In 2020 and 2021 the Swedish debate about high speed ground transport intensified. Conflicting facts and opinions have been presented in a way that is quite inconsistent with a global sustainability perspective. It is important that all societal sectors can be sustainable together. This implies a need to model futures within sustainability constraints that take all essential sustainability related challenges into account. This study is an independent preliminary strategic decision support overview on fast ground transport - directed towards Swedish transport politicians and other high level decision makers within the transport sector. The study covered three steps: Step 1. Describing a Vision of the Desired Future. What societal goals and requirements does a future sustainable system for fast ground transport need to live up to? It should meet customer expectations for "value for money" (e.g. speed, punctuality, comfort) It should not contribute to systematic destruction of the environment (e.g. through emissions or physical destruction) or the social system (e.g. through health problems and discrimination). It should be prudent with the societal economy and resource reserves. Step 2. Assessing the Current Situation in Relation to the Vision. It was found that fuels and infrastructure for travel with trains are much better than private cars or domestic flights from a sustainability perspective. But it was also found that the Swedish train system has a maintenance debt and is operating near its maximum capacity with frequent disturbancies and delays. Step 3. Reviewing Strategic Investment Choices. What are some potential alternative investment choices to close the gap between the current situation and a desired future and what are their likely economic, ecological and social effects? Assumptions and variations around three main alternatives were reviewed with the following results: Scenario 1. Upgrade the Existing System. This may add some marginal benefits but may risk to not meet transport demands, to not protect the environment and to add societal costs. Scenario 2. Build a New High Speed Rail (HSR) System. This would likely be better for transport demands and the societal economy but also have some environmental impacts. Scenario 3. Build a New Magnetic Levitation ('Maglev') Train System. This could have the best potential to meet transport demands and to create benefits for the societal economy with the least environmental impacts. The main recommendation from this study is that Swedish transport politicans initiate a new independent investigation that compares at least the three future scenarios for high- speed ground transport suggested here and their potential effects for society at large and all modes of transport. If the initial findings of this study could be confirmed and acted upon then Sweden might become first in Europe to implement the new breakthrough Maglev technology in the transport sector. This could help Sweden to fulfil its goal to become one of the first fossil free welfare countries and also give the country great export opportunities. ; Under 2020 och 2021 intensifierades den svenska debatten om snabba landtransporter. Motstridiga fakta och åsikter har presenterats på ett sätt som är oförenligt med ett globalt hållbarhetsperspektiv. Samtidigt är det för att lösa den komplexa hållbarhetsutmaningen speciellt viktigt med ett helhetstänk och att samarbeta mellan alla samhällssektorer. Detta innebär ett behov av att kunna modellera framtider inom hållbarhetsbegränsningar som tar hänsyn till alla väsentliga hållbarhetsrelaterade utmaningar. Denna studie är en oberoende preliminär strategisk beslutsstödsöversikt om snabba landtransporter – riktad till svenska transportpolitiker och andra beslutsfattare på hög nivå inom transportsektorn. Studien delades upp i tre steg: Steg 1. Beskriv en vision om den önskade framtiden. Vilka samhälleliga mål och krav behöver ett framtida hållbart system för snabba marktransporter kunna leva upp till? Studien fann att ett sådant system: Ska uppfylla kundernas förväntningar på "valuta för pengarna" (inklusive hastighet, punktlighet och komfort) Inte ska bidra till systematisk förstörelse av miljön (t.ex. genom utsläpp eller fysisk förstörelse) eller det sociala systemet (t.ex. genom hälsoproblem och diskriminering). Bör vara sparsamt med samhällsekonomin och naturresurserna. Steg 2. Bedöm nuläget i relation till visionen. Studien fann att drivmedel och infrastruktur för resor med tåg är mycket bättre än privatbilar eller inrikesflyg ur ett hållbarhetsperspektiv. Men det konstaterades också att det svenska tågsystemet har en underhållsskuld och fungerar alltför nära sin maximala kapacitet vilket leder till frekventa störningar och förseningar. Steg 3. Granska strategiska investeringsval. Vilka potentiella alternativa investeringsscenarier kan identifieras för att minska gapet mellan nuläget och den önskade framtiden och vilka är deras troliga ekonomiska, ekologiska och sociala effekter? Antaganden och variationer kring tre huvudscenarier granskades med följande resultat: Scenario 1. Uppgradera befintligt system. Detta kan tillföra vissa marginella fördelar men riskerar att inte möta varken privatpersoners eller industrins transportbehov, att öka samhällskostnaderna samt att kräva kraftfulla styrmedel och tvingande regler för att kunna skydda miljön. Scenario 2. Bygg ett nytt höghastighetstågssystem (HSR). Detta skulle sannolikt kunna bli bättre för privatpersonernas och industrins transportbehov och för samhällsekonomin men det skulle också ha en kännbar miljöpåverkan. Scenario 3. Bygg ett nytt järnvägssystem med magnettåg ('Maglev'). Detta skulle kunna ha den bästa potentialen att möta privatpersoners och industrins transportbehov och samtidigt skapa fördelar för samhällsekonomin med minst miljöpåverkan. Huvudrekommendationen från denna studie är att svenska transportpolitiker inleder en ny oberoende utredning som gör en djupare jämförelse av åtminstone de tre framtidsscenarier för snabba landtransporter som föreslås här samt deras potentiella effekter för övriga transportslag och samhället i stort. Om den här inledande studiens slutsatser då kunde bekräftas och om politiker och andra högre beslutsfattare kunde agera därefter så kunde Sverige bli först i Europa med att bygga den nya genombrottsteknologin magnettåg. Detta skulle kunna hjälpa Sverige att nå sitt mål om att bli ett av världens första fossilfria välfärdsländer och samtidigt ge framtida exportmöjligheter genom att Sverige blir ett starkt alternativ för magnettågskunnande för hela den demokratiska världen.

Planning in modern urban environments requires skills to address complexity in order to move towards sustainability. Co-production of knowledge in transdisciplinary groups was found to be a useful tool in such contexts. Using the concepts of multilingualism, epistemic communities and culture, the article proposed a conceptual framework for analysing complexity of co-production settings, as an indispensable means of managing complex challenges. The framework was evaluated based on inclusiveness, cross-sectoral understanding, applicability in different contexts and time perspectives. Moreover, it was compared to other studies. Based on the framework, several suggestions to maintain were put forth for a process leader (facilitator) when preparing for a co-production process: linguistic equality between participants, disciplinary integrity, a working culture of mutual respect, simultaneous mitigation and informed facilitation. Finally, the article suggested possible future research questions, related to development of the framework: identification of levels of complexity and mapping specific tools to address complexity at each level; integration of other factors of diversity, such as gender, age, as well as political and institutional contexts. ; open access

The Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) Karlskrona, Sweden, will begin a new Master's programme focusing on sustainable development in September 2004. The programme is intended to contribute to a growing international network of sustainability practitioners, including early and mid-career professionals, resource managers, executives and political decision-makers. As with many programmes of this type, this one will require coverage of numerous complex economic, social and ecological issues. In so doing, it will cover a number of interrelated disciplines concepts and tools (e.g. environmental science, system dynamics, public policy, business strategies, corporate social responsibility, dematerialization and 'green technologies'). Various sectors of the sustainability arena will also be studied including agriculture, transportation, health, energy and product development. To deal with the high complexity inherent in sustainable development, we intend to test the enhanced learning capabilities of three unique and interrelated aspects of this Master's programme including: (1) a structured comprehension of sustainable development, using "Backcasting from Basic Socio-Ecological Principles of Sustainability"; (2) free creativity within basic constraints established by the structured comprehension and (3) a learning process that 'walks the talk' with respect to free creativity within basic constraints. Recognizing that "society within the biosphere" is inherently a complex system, the programme will revolve around a generic, structured model for planning and decisionmaking in any complex system. The model is adaptable to any system at any scale – e.g. an organization, a football game, and in this case, "society in the biosphere". The programme distinguishes five essential system levels including: (i) the system; (ii) success; (iii) strategy; (iv) actions and (v) tools. Second, a structured comprehension, anchored to basic principles at the success level – the 'trunk and branches of sustainability' – allows for and promotes free creativity on actions in a particular context – the 'leaves'. Third, the students will be exposed to a learning process of creative use of actions and tools that the model allows for in any organization – sharing the basic trunk and branches and practicing free creativity amongst the leaves. The programme's learning process will facilitate a systematic approach to analysis of all kinds of current sectors and problem areas through envisioning of solutions and finding strategic paths of actions and tools towards sustainable outcomes within those sectors. It will culminate in a thesis, following the same general structure, during the last-half of the programme.

This paper presents a case study of a transdisciplinary scenario planning workshop that was designed to link global challenges to local governance. The workshop was held to improve stakeholder integration and explore scenarios for a regional planning project (to 2050) in Blekinge, Sweden. Scenario planning and transdisciplinary practices are often disregarded by practitioners due to the perception of onerous resource requirements, however, this paper describes a 'rapid scenario planning' process that was designed to be agile and time-efficient, requiring the 43 participants from 13 stakeholder organizations to gather only for one day. The process was designed to create an environment whereby stakeholders could learn from, and with, each other and use their expert knowledge to inform the scenario process. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) was used to structure and focus the scenario planning exercise and its subsequent recommendations. The process was evaluated through a workshop participant survey and post-workshop evaluative interview with the regional government project manager to indicate the effectiveness of the approach. The paper closes with a summary of findings which will support those wishing to conduct similar rapid scenario planning exercises to inform policy planning for complex systems. ; open access

The transport sector's dependence on fossil fuels is one of the biggest challenges in a shift towards a climate-neutral and sustainable society. This roadmap report aims to investigate how electric vehicle systems can contribute to a faster transition to sustainable passenger transport in Southeast Sweden, as well as to present a methodology for guidance of similar work for faster transitions in other regions and sectors. This work has been guided by a scientifically designed and proven Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD). Specifically, answers are given to four research questions structured in relation to the four subsystems 'Politics and instruments', 'Users and markets', 'Vehicles and infrastructure' and 'Energy and materials': What could a sustainable vision for passenger transport in Southeast Sweden look like? What could be a milestone goal for 2030? What is the current reality in relation to the 2030 goal and the vision? How could the gap between the present, 2030 and the vision be bridged? The report's results show that today's focus on fossil independence and measures against climate change must be broadened to cover the whole sustainability challengeso that other sustainability issues are addressed and so that solutions to some of the sustainability issues do not create new ones. The report also clarifies that it is necessary, practically possible and economically advantageous for Southeast Sweden to make a faster sustainability transition of passenger transportthan what has been proposed in previous studies and investigations. It is also likely that the same applies to the entire transport system and for the whole of Sweden and the world. Even geopolitical benefits are likely. A global transition to transport and energy systems based on energy from widely available flow resources like sun and wind instead of the limited fossil fuels would likely reduce the conflicts risks in the world.Restricted cobalt, lithium and platinum resources that battery and fuel cell cars depend on, and other metals needed for solar cells and wind turbines can, however, give rise to similar conflict risks. This roadmap report's recommendations on reduced transport needs and car dependency and its focus on resource efficiency counteract these conflict risks by striking against underlying resource-driving mechanisms. Should this roadmap be translated into practical policies, the forthcoming transition would therefore likely be made considerably more 'future-proof'. ; GreenCharge Southeast