Environment and Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is an important part of the university’s vision. The vision 'A university for the world, which extends from 2021 - 2030', expresses that the University of Gothenburg is striving to be an international university that takes responsibility for the development of society and contributes to a sustainable world.
We will strengthen our relevance as a societal actor and partner in order to make an impact on societal development and contribute to the global development goals.
The world’s heads of state and government have adopted 17 challenging goals for the future that must be achieved by 2030, the so-called Global goals for sustainable development. The goals are part of Agenda 2030, a document signed by 193 countries. These countries are now actively working to realize all 169 sub-goals, in which academia and research play an important role.
The Department of Sociology and Work Science contribute to this work by researching issues related to the goals in order to create in-depth understanding, disseminate new knowledge and contribute to achieving the goals.
SDG 8 Initiative
We actively participate in a global initiative between universities (IAU) where the University of Gothenburg has the role of leading and coordinating activities for goal 8 (SDG 8) in Agenda 2030: Decent Work and Economic Growth. We do this together with eight satellite universities in Chile, Colombia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Vietnam. IAU, the International Association of Universities, is one of the world’s largest university associations and an official partner of UNESCO.
WEXUS
Tomas Berglund is the director of the newly formed collaborative arena WEXSUS. In addition to the University of Gothenburg, Chalmers, University West and Region Västra Götaland are participating.
Research Centres
UGOT Challenges is an example of a research initiative in which the University of Gothenburg has invested SEK 300 million in six interdisciplinary research centers. The starting point is that strong interdisciplinary research is required to meet today’s global societal challenges. The department is involved and committed to one of these centers; AgeCap. AgeCap, Center for Aging and Health, conducts multidisciplinary research for good and valuable aging. The vision is a society where elderly people are respected and valued for their potential - a society that makes it possible for us, regardless of age and other factors, to have the capacity to be actors in our own lives. The research concerns both the sustainable work of the elderly and sustainable care for the elderly.
The department is involved in Work and Employment (WE). WE’s activities with a focus on sustainable work and employment are linked to many of the Global goals for sustainable development in Agenda 2030. For example, goal 3 Health and well-being, goal 4 Good education for all, goal 5 Gender equality and goal 8 Decent working conditions and economic growth.
The department is an active part in the Center for Global Human Resource Management, which, among other things, aims to contribute to the development of knowledge about the conditions for creating good personnel policies and a sustainable and balanced working life. CGHRM’s work aims to promote a balanced and sustainable development of working life, locally, nationally and globally.
Other Forums and Collaborations
The Department's research areas and associated seminar series touch on all different aspects of sustainability, such as Civil Society, Social Movements and Resistance, Environmental Sociology, Welfare and Living Conditions, Technology and Science Studies, and Working Life. See all our research areas here.
Research and Global Goals
Here are some examples of research at the department with connections to the global development goals.
Goal 1: No Poverty
Project: Machine learning and causal inference methods to the analysis of child poverty in low and middle income countries.
Researcher: Nadine Kraamwinkel-Jha
Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being
Project: Machine learning and causal inference methods to the analysis of child poverty in low and middle income countries.
Researcher: Nadine Kraamwinkel-Jha
Project: Forms of precariousness in elderly care - on shared shifts and its effects on employees
Researcher: Johan Alfonsson
Project: Nordic labour market models facing pandemic crisis: A comparative study of policy responses, actor adjustments, and social outcomes
Researcher: Mattias Bengtsson
Project: Radical responsibilization or shared burdens: Can cooperative work-platforms reduce precarious work and create stability for gig-workers?
Researcher: Bertil Rolandsson
Project: UniSAFE – Ending Gender Based Violence
Researcher: Sofia Strid
Project: RESISTIRÉ – Reducing gendered inequalities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
Researcher: Sofia Strid
Goal 4: Quality Education
Project: The Feminist Meanings and Matterings of Preschool Teachers’ Gender Equality Work in Sweden.
Researcher: Megan Rådesjö
Project: RESISTIRÉ – Reducing gendered inequalities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
Researcher: Sofia Strid
Goal 5: Gender Equality
Project: The Feminist Meanings and Matterings of Preschool Teachers’ Gender Equality Work in Sweden.
Researcher: Megan Rådesjö
Project: Visualising and measuring the role of industrial relations in addressing gender equality
Researchers: Ylva Ulfsdotter Eriksson, among others.
Project: UniSAFE – Ending Gender Based Violence
Researcher: Sofia Strid
Project: RESISTIRÉ – Reducing gendered inequalities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
Researcher: Sofia Strid
Project: ACCTING – For a fair and inclusive Green Deal
Researcher: Sofia Strid
Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation
Project: A Sea of Plastic: Social-Structural Drivers of Marine Plastic Pollution in Europe
Researcher: Stefano Longo, Borja Nogué Algueró, among others.
Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy
Project: ACCTING – For a fair and inclusive Green Deal
Researcher: Sofia Strid
Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth
Project: UniSAFE – Ending Gender Based Violence
Researcher: Sofia Strid
Project: ACCTING – For a fair and inclusive Green Deal
Researcher: Sofia Strid
Project: Differences in the assessment, management and prevention of serious occupational injuries? Implications of norms and resources related to gender, country of birth and type of work
Researcher: Lotta Dellve
Project: Labour market challenges of green transition in West Sweden: Electrification and the transition of the automotive cluster
Researcher: Tomas Berglund, among others.
Project: Just Transitions in Agri-Food Systems: Acceptance and Resistance to Actions for Sustainable Transformations in Rural Areas
Researcher: Stefano Longo, Kalle Blomberg, among others.
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Project: Labour market challenges of green transition in West Sweden: Electrification and the transition of the automotive cluster
Researcher: Tomas Berglund, among others.
Project: Just Transitions in Agri-Food Systems: Acceptance and Resistance to Actions for Sustainable Transformations in Rural Areas
Researcher: Stefano Longo, Kalle Blomberg, among others.
Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
Project: Rethinking Integration: a comparative mixed methods study of civil society action in vulnerable superdiverse neighborhoods in Sweden
Researcher: Gabriella Elgenius
Project: Low-wage jobs in the Swedish labor market. Which are the low-wage jobs, where are they, and why are they increasing?
Researchers: Tomas Berglund, Johan Alfonsson och Patrik Vulkan
Project: Beyond Covid? Using Patient Knowledge to Improve the Care and Management of Long Covid Sufferers
Researchers: Jesper Petersson, Lisa Lindén
Project: RESISTIRÉ – Reducing gendered inequalities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
Researcher: Sofia Strid
Project: ACCTING – For a fair and inclusive Green Deal
Researcher: Sofia Strid
Project: Labour market challenges of green transition in West Sweden: Electrification and the transition of the automotive cluster
Researcher: Tomas Berglund, among others.
Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
Project: Renovation and participation: towards an ecologically, socially and economically sustainable Million Program?
Researchers: Håkan Thörn, Elena Bogdanova, Linda Soneryd, Christoph Haug
Project: Rethinking Integration: a comparative mixed methods study of civil society action in vulnerable superdiverse neighborhoods in Sweden
Researcher: Gabriella Elgenius
Project: Urban Gardens as Meeting Places in Göteborg, Budapest and Bucharest: Building Collaborative Capacity for Sustainability in Different Socio-economic Contexts.
Researchers: Kerstin Jacobsson, Ylva Wallinder, among others.
Project: Empowering Cities of Migration: new methods for citizen involvement and socio-spatial integration
Researcher: Gabriella Elgenius
Project: ACCTING – For a fair and inclusive Green Deal
Researcher: Sofia Strid
Project: Labour market challenges of green transition in West Sweden: Electrification and the transition of the automotive cluster
Researcher: Tomas Berglund, among others.
Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
Project: Just Transitions in Agri-Food Systems: Acceptance and Resistance to Actions for Sustainable Transformations in Rural Areas
Researcher: Stefano Longo, Kalle Blomberg, among others.
Project: A Sea of Plastic: Social-Structural Drivers of Marine Plastic Pollution in Europe
Researcher: Stefano Longo, Borja Nogué Algueró, among others.
Goal 13: Climate Action
Project: What can science deliver and what does policy want? Expectations on science in support of climate change action.
Researchers: Göran Sundqvist, Linda Soneryd
Project: The necessary and the possible: How social movements articulate, convey and negotiate visions of a fossil free and just future
Researchers: Mattias Wahlström, among others.
Project: In the eye of the storm. Climate adaptation in times of increasing polarisation and disinformation
Researcher: Anton Törnberg, Kjell Vowles
Project: Adapting to climate change: Emotions and narratives in the environmental movement
Researchers: Carl Cassegård, Åsa Wettergren, Karl Malmqvist
Project: ACCTING – For a fair and inclusive Green Deal
Researcher: Sofia Strid
Project: Labour market challenges of green transition in West Sweden: Electrification and the transition of the automotive cluster
Researcher: Tomas Berglund, among others.
Project: Just Transitions in Agri-Food Systems: Acceptance and Resistance to Actions for Sustainable Transformations in Rural Areas
Researcher: Stefano Longo, Kalle Blomberg, among others.
Goal 14: Life Below Water
Project: A Sea of Plastic: Social-Structural Drivers of Marine Plastic Pollution in Europe
Researcher: Stefano Longo, Borja Nogué Algueró, among others.
Goal 15: Life on Land
Project: A Sea of Plastic: Social-Structural Drivers of Marine Plastic Pollution in Europe
Researcher: Stefano Longo, Borja Nogué Algueró, among others.
Goal 17: Partnerships
Project: Empowering Cities of Migration - new methods for citizen involvement and socio-spatial integration.
Researcher: Gabriella Elgenius
