Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Just transitions'

This dissertation argues that the just transition policy framework may not vivify labor internationalism or erode support for right-wing populists if just transitions are not part of left-wing populist projects. Labor internationalism, which involves labor unions cooperating across borders to pursue common goals, is increasingly important as unions strive to work with their foreign counterparts to influence the international community's urgent efforts to address climate change. Right-wing populism is a growing threat to organized labor and climate protection efforts. Some labor activists hope that advocacy for the just transition policy framework, a set of guidelines for compensating workers in polluting industries who are laid-off as a result of environmental protections, will unite labor organizations from around the world and improve their approaches to international solidarity. Progressives hope that just transition policies will discourage voters from supporting right-wing populist candidates, who are often climate skeptics, out of fear of the job losses that accompany environmentalist reforms. However, I question the assumption that just transition policies, in and of themselves, can serve as solutions to the challenges posed by right-wing populism or overcome divisions within the global labor movement. It is possible for economic nationalism at the expense of global solidarity to continue and for right-wing populists to maintain support in decarbonizing areas where policy makers have indemnified laid-off fossil fuel workers. Integrating just transition policies into left-wing populist politics could potentially make just transitions more useful for countering the far-right and promoting labor internationalism. This dissertation looks to the political theorist Antonio Gramsci's thoughts regarding the "national popular," which Gramsci's readers often associate with left-wing populism. The national popular entails intellectuals from different fields (such as the academy, journalism, and manufacturing) coming together to modernize patriotism and strip it of chauvinistic nationalism. I point out that the original proposals for just transitions prioritized providing free higher education for the workers laid-off from polluting industries. The just transition framework's stress on higher education has populistic implications. Educators, particularly members of teachers' unions, may practice populism throughout the implementation of a just transition for laid-off coal workers by encouraging the displaced workers to cooperate with knowledge workers to rethink nationalism. If workers displaced from polluting industries rethink nationalism in university settings while maintaining their connections to the labor movement, then these workers may in turn reject far-right politicians and discourage organized labor from supporting trade nationalism.
Doctor of Philosophy
This dissertation argues that the just transition policy framework may not vivify labor internationalism or erode support for right-wing populists if just transitions are not part of left-wing populist projects. Labor internationalism, which involves labor unions cooperating across borders to pursue common goals, is increasingly important as unions strive to work with their foreign counterparts to influence the international community's urgent efforts to address climate change. Right-wing populism is a growing threat to organized labor and climate protection efforts. Some labor activists hope that advocacy for the just transition policy framework, a set of guidelines for compensating workers in polluting industries who are laid-off as a result of environmental protections, will unite labor organizations from around the world and improve their approaches to international solidarity. Progressives hope that just transition policies will discourage voters from supporting right-wing populist candidates, who are often climate skeptics, out of fear of the job losses that accompany environmentalist reforms. However, I question the assumption that just transition policies, in and of themselves, can serve as solutions to the challenges posed by right-wing populism or overcome divisions within the global labor movement. It is possible for economic nationalism at the expense of global solidarity to continue and for right-wing populists to maintain support in decarbonizing areas where policy makers have indemnified laid-off fossil fuel workers. Integrating just transition policies into left-wing populist politics could potentially make just transitions more useful for countering the far-right and promoting labor internationalism. This dissertation looks to the political theorist Antonio Gramsci's thoughts regarding the "national popular," which Gramsci's readers often associate with left-wing populism. The national popular entails intellectuals from different fields (such as the academy, journalism, and manufacturing) coming together to modernize patriotism and strip it of chauvinistic nationalism. I point out that the original proposals for just transitions prioritized providing free higher education for the workers laid-off from polluting industries. The just transition framework's stress on higher education has populistic implications. Educators, particularly members of teachers' unions, may practice populism throughout the implementation of a just transition for laid-off coal workers by encouraging the displaced workers to cooperate with knowledge workers to rethink nationalism. If workers displaced from polluting industries rethink nationalism in university settings while maintaining their connections to the labor movement, then these workers may in turn reject far-right politicians and discourage organized labor from supporting trade nationalism.

The agri-food sector is responsible for 26% of the total global carbon emissions. This puts the sector under the critical eye of the world, which demands radical solutions to this. For this, alternatives to unsustainable practices have already been implemented and have led to the transformation of the systems into more sustainable ones. And, studies that seek to understand these transformations have been carried out, which belong to the Sustainability Transitions field. However, this branch of studies has been more prominent in countries of the northern hemisphere, and not so much in countries of the south. This is why, this study aimed to extend the knowledge on sustainability transitions in countries from the global south by studying the case of the blueberry sector in Peru, and the possible factors that may be hindering or boosting a sustainable transition. The study focused on the evaluation of secondary data on the context and relevant events within the blueberry sector in Peru from 2004 to 2021, also interviews were held to support the information gathered previously. The study showed that factors that act as a booster for a transition, within the Peruvian context, are the price of a product in the global market, and also the enactment of certain laws that promote certain activities like organic production. Also, those hindering factors were the price of cultivation of the blueberries and the activity of informal institutions called “services”. Moreover, the study shows that two out of the three alternatives for sustainable change that were analyzed lacked consideration for social sustainability aspects. Finally, the insights provided in this study could help to better understand how sustainability transitions could unravel in similar South American regions.

Like many other European cities, Malmö has set ambitious goals to become Sweden’s first carbon-neutral city by 2030. This objective is aligned with several public entities such as the Öresund Region, the Swedish Energy Agency, the European Union, and the UN within the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Urban Development. However, statistics show that this goal is very difficult, if not, impossible to reach, as the city has achieved 32% of renewable energy by the end of 2020. Furthermore, the region of Skåne is currently facing problems regarding electricity shortage due to the lack of production in the region and network capacity in the national grid. This study identifies at least two major causes to explain why the energy transition in the city of Malmö does not see the light at the end of the tunnel. First, there is a dominant political narrative in Sweden that favors centralized and intensive capital solutions that may result in the lock-in of alternatives that aim for a more decentralized energy system. Second, the high trust in technological innovation to solve societal challenges has reduced Social Innovation (SI) as a tool that only complements technological advances (e.g., offshore wind turbines and smart grids). Therefore, this mainstream eliminates the capacity of Social Innovation in the Energy Sector (SIE) as an opportunity to contest dominant structures and make transformative changes at the institutional level within the energy system. Within this context, regime actors such as Large-scale Energy Companies (LECs) have an important role in impeding but possibly also enabling SIE and facilitating the sustainable and just energy transition in Sweden. Drawing on the Transformative Social Innovation-framework, this thesis analyzes three SIE-initiatives developed by E.ON Group in collaboration with other actors. An embedded-case study approach and mixed methods (mapping, document review, semi-structured interviews, and thematic and discourse analysis) were the basis of this research to understand the transformative potential of each initiative. The results of the study conclude that LECs participate actively in the development of SIE. It shows that projects like SWITCH/CoordiNET change internal social relations but not institutional relations, while others such as Sege Park and Smart Cities Accelerator+ have big potential of transformative change and may replace and alter dominant informal and formal institutions. It also demonstrates how E.ON and the City of Malmö are challenging the dominant political narrative in Sweden. Building on the latter empirical findings, this thesis suggests recommendations for city actors (public sector, businesses, organizations, and individuals) to create alliances and reach the goal of producing 100% renewable energy while aiming for a more sustainable and just energy system in the city of Malmö.

In this paper, a brief overview is given of two research projects that were done in South Africa during 1987 (a particularly difficult time under apartheid), and 1994 (the year that the first democratic elections took place), respectively. Some of the findings are discussed under the keywords: silence, transition, reservation, new vision. Reference is made to a historic sermon preached by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town only three days before the first democratic elections were held in South Africa on the 27th of April, 1994. The paper concludes with a reflection on an artwork by the South African artist, Willie Bester.

The threat of climate change has been identified as one of the leading challenges facing humanity. As such, there is a necessary global transition to lower-carbon economies and societies to reduce the harmful emissions caused by human activities to mitigate the growing climate crisis. Yet, there are fears that there will be job losses and economic hardships as the world transitions away from the carbonheavy dependence of the past. The Just Transition principle has emerged globally as a framework of ensuring these potential job losses and economic hardships are planned for, and the people inherently at risk in the transition are protected. The Just Transition is built on the acknowledgement that climate change must be averted, but it must be done so justly. In South Africa, there is a particular need for the Just Transition, based on the country's historic dependence on coal, the broad socioeconomic challenges and the country's vulnerability to climate change. This thesis explores hundreds of qualitative views from numerous stakeholders around the country on what the Just Transition will mean for South Africa. It analyses the current Mineral Energy Complex and climate change situation in South Africa, and examines the stakeholder determined vision for the country for 2050. Synthesised from views from across South Africa, this thesis furthermore established the four interrelated and stakeholder determined pathways which could facilitate the South African Just Transition – namely an Energy Transition, Restoring Land Resources, providing Safe Water for All, and utilising Green Growth.

Els desequilibris dels cicles ecològics del Sistema Terra i el canvi climàtic, causats en major mesura per un metabolisme social global dependent dels combustibles fòssils, ens urgeixen a cercar estratègies de governança global que articulin la transició cap a una societat la reproducció de la qual s'assenti en un model econòmic descarbonificat i sostenible. El desafiament del nou model de producció econòmic i el canvi de funcionament social és operar dins els límits planetaris des d’una perspectiva de justícia. En aquest context global, la política de transició energètica a Mèxic sorgeix com a resposta als compromisos assumits a nivell internacional en matèria de canvi climàtic. La present tesi doctoral té per objecte l'anàlisi d'aquesta política energètica nacional, des de la seva formulació fins a la seva implementació, a l'efecte de determinar si és congruent en termes de justícia. D'aquesta manera, considerant algunes aproximacions teòriques com les de justícia ambiental, justícia climàtica i justícia energètica, entre altres, l'estudi pretén, des d'una perspectiva crítica, formular arguments per a avaluar si és possible, en les condicions actuals, afirmar que la transició energètica a Mèxic s'està duent a terme de manera justa i, en tot cas, assenyalar quins són els factors que l'Estat hauria de prendre en compte en la seva transició cap a la sostenibilitat.
Los desequilibrios de los ciclos ecológicos del Sistema Tierra y el cambio climático, causados en mayor medida por un metabolismo social global dependiente de los combustibles fósiles, apremian para la búsqueda de estrategias de gobernanza global que supongan la transición hacia una sociedad cuya reproducción se asiente en un modelo económico descarbonificado y sostenible. El desafío de un nuevo modelo de producción económica y el cambio de funcionamiento social es operar dentro de los límites planetarios desde una perspectiva de justicia. En este contexto global, la política de transición energética en México surge como respuesta a los compromisos asumidos a nivel internacional en materia de cambio climático. La presente tesis doctoral tiene por objeto el análisis de esta política energética nacional, desde su formulación hasta su implementación, a efectos de determinar si la misma es congruente en términos de justicia. De esta manera, considerando algunas aproximaciones teóricas como las de justicia ambiental, justicia climática y justicia energética, entre otras, el estudio pretende, desde una perspectiva crítica, formular argumentos para evaluar si es posible, en las condiciones actuales, afirmar que la transición energética en México se está llevando a cabo de manera justa y, en todo caso, señalar cuáles son los factores que el Estado debería tomar en cuenta en su transición hacia la sostenibilidad.
The disruption of the Earth system’s ecological cycles and climate change, mainly caused by a global social metabolism based on fossil fuels, call for the international community to look for changes within global governance strategies towards a sustainable development model not based on fossil fuels. The challenge posed by this new economic development model and by this new social organization relies on how to operate within planetary boundaries from a justice perspective. In this global context, the Mexican energy transition policy is the response to the international commitments undertaken by the government regarding climate change. This doctoral thesis intends to analyze all the steps taken in the national energy policy context, from planning to implementation, all from a justice perspective. In this sense, some analytical tools, like environmental justice, climate justice and energy justice, are used to critically evaluate this policy. The main research question is whether relies on the elements that the Mexican government should consider for the implementation of the energy police, in terms of justice.

This paper reports a study of the behavioral changes perceived by managerial and non-managerial personnel in a firm transforming from traditional manufacturing methods to the procedures of Just-In-Time manufacturing (JIT).

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 52-60).
The ways in which electricity is being generated, distributed, transmitted, and stored are undergoing unprecedented change. Movements for energy democracy, and proponents of a Just Transition -a transformation of the current fossil fuel-based system into place-based, sustainable, equitable, and democratically controlled economies-have attempted to capture the potential of these changes to realize a low-carbon electricity system through new and more equitable electricity generation and procurement models. Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) is one such utility-scale electricity service provision model in California that explicitly aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the provision of locally produced and democratically controlled renewable energy that simultaneously catalyzes localized economic development. Although community choice aggregation is a twenty-year-old electricity procurement and provision model, the growth of CCAs have been slow; they have only been legalized in seven states since its inception in 1997. To date, limited academic research has been conducted to examine the barriers to the growth of community choice aggregation Furthermore, this research does not connect CCA to larger strategies to enable such a Just Transition, nor does it identify policy levers to bolster community choice aggregators' ability to deliver on their stated goals. This thesis therefore examines the barriers to realizing community choice aggregation To do so, I conducted semi-structured interviews with individuals essential to the creation of six existing and two emerging community choice aggregators in California. I find that while exit fees, customer opt-outs, and financing remain persistent challenges to CCA formation, new CCA networks, and grassroots coalitions for a Just Transition have allowed CCAs to overcome these barriers. Additionally, I observed that for community choice aggregators, maintaining business functions and ensuring ratepayer-based revenue take precedence over catalyzing economic development. Ultimately, I find that while the CCA market has experienced significant development, allowing them to provide ratepayers cost competitive renewable energy, community choice aggregators have not matured to a point where they are able to meaningfully catalyze local economic development or deepen civic engagement in energy-related decisions at a local level. In order to transform those challenges into opportunities for deepening civic engagement and community wealth for (low-income) communities (of color) and further realize a vision of a just transition, this thesis concludes with proposed state regulatory changes to catalyze mutually beneficial "public-public" relationships between CCAs, electricity co-operatives, and unions to further advance a Just Transition, and help community choice aggregators deliver on their goals.
by Samuel Jung.
M.C.P.

The United States has a serious epidemic of mass incarceration and high recidivism rates. The U. S. must act on these high recidivism rates by implementing social services programs that help the formerly incarcerated stop committing crimes. The formerly incarcerated are being oppressed by a historic process that has continued to incarcerate and control them, even after they had served their time for their crimes. This project attempts to assist in reducing the high recidivism rates by creating an education-based transitional housing facility with a plethora of supportive services that will be open to formerly incarcerated individuals. This project sheds light on some of the problems that continue to plague this demographic group of people, while providing a possible solution to help reduce recidivism. The outcome of this project is a business plan that explains a procedure to help create a non-profit transitional housing facility that will be located in Palm Springs, CA. The steps of building this non-profit business are detailed in an implementation plan following this manuscript.

Post-conflict law is an area of law that is a composite of a number of different legal categories. The fragmented nature of post-conflict law leads to a lack of clarity in relation to a number of different issue areas. These have been discussed under the rubric of ‘the jus post bellum’ concept which has attracted a considerable amount of attention from international lawyers. Its proponents argue that it is useful in terms of clarifying the law as it applies during transitions. Several theories of the jus post bellum can be identified. This thesis evaluates the practical and theoretical application of two jus post bellum theories in relation to child soldier perpetrators in transitional criminal justice in post-conflict Colombia.

The aim of this paper is to investigate how strategies and plans for the transition to a fossil-free transport sector take environmental justice into account in these plans at a regional level. This is based on a theoretical framework of environmental justice and a legal geographical perspective. The empirical material that forms the basis of the study has been produced through qualitative content analysis of regional and municipal plans and strategies as well as semi-structured interviews with actors in the transition. In order to achieve the purpose, the strategies that emerged in the documents were examined, as well as how actors reasoned about these strategies with the help of environmental justice perspectives. The study has focused on an area where a knowledge gap has been identified in the literature. The result shows that there is no clear perspective of environmental justice in the plans and strategies in the Jönköping region and that the regional strategies needs to take more account of the just perspectives in the transition. This is achieved through different forms of justice: distributive, procedural, recognition and restorative.
Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur strategier och planer för omställningen till en fossilfri fordonssektor tar hänsyn till miljörättvisa i dessa planer på en regional nivå. Detta utifrån ett teoretiskt ramverk baserat på miljörättvisa och ett juridisk geografiskt perspektiv. Det empiriska material som ligger till grund för studien har tagits fram genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys av regionala och kommunala planer och strategier samt semistrukturerade intervjuer med aktörer i omställningen. För att uppnå syftet undersöktes vilka strategier som framträdde i dokumenten, samt hur aktörer resonerade kring dessa strategier med hjälp av perspektiv av miljörättvisa. Studien har fokuserat på ett område där en kunskapslucka har kunnat konstaterats i tidigare forskning. Resultatet visar att det saknas ett tydligt perspektiv av miljörättvisa i planerna och strategierna i Jönköpings län och att det behövs tas större hänsyn till rättviseperspektiven i dessa. Detta uppnås genom olika former av rättvisa: fördelande, deltagande, erkännande och reperativ.

Amidst the rising tides of inequality and climate change, movements are developing which aim to unify social justice and environmental agendas. Proponents of energy democracy recognize that renewable energy transitions have the potential to foster more equitable social relations. However, literature indicates that renewable energy can also worsen social relations, and may fail to hinder, or could actively contribute to, ecological degradation. Therefore, research is needed that examines how the contexts in which renewables are implemented lead to divergent socio-ecological outcomes. This project compares strategies of renewable energy implementation in Canada, as embedded within socio-environmental projects ranging from fossil capitalism to eco-socialism. The framing of renewable energy, climate change, and political-economic issues in the strategies of actors within these projects are analyzed. Canadian governments, fossil fuel and renewable energy corporations were found to undertake renewables implementation within a clean growth framework, which maintains capitalist hegemony while responding to pressure to take action on climate change. Renewables are also used by governments and fossil capital firms to justify the continued growth of fossil fuel industries. The renewables industry is more ambitious in its transition strategy but does not contest fossil fuel production and exports. Renewable energy co-operatives offer a form of energy transitioning that challenges the undemocratic nature of corporate power but appears limited in its ability to influence multi-scalar change. Meanwhile, Leap, the Pact for a Green New Deal, and Iron and Earth exhibit an emergent push for just, democratic, and sustainable alternatives to fossil capitalism and clean growth. Energy democracy is central to Leap’s strategy, which suggests paths toward addressing the limitations of renewable energy co-operatives while supporting other forms of democratic renewable energy systems.
Graduate

A presente dissertação foca-se no Fundo de Transição Justa, principal instrumento do Mecanismo de Transição Justa, criado pela Comissão Europeia, para auxiliar o processo de conversão ecológica pelo qual a União se propõe a enveredar, através do European Green Deal. Pretende-se apurar se o Fundo de Transição Justa, tal como está formulado1, assegura uma transição efetivamente justa para uma economia verde e circular, sobretudo no que diz respeito à situação Portuguesa, enquanto Estado-membro da UE destinatário de políticas de coesão. Para tal, procedeu-se ao tratamento e análise de conceitos centrais à temática da tese: economia verde e economia circular, transição justa, e coesão europeia. Tendo estabelecido como os conceitos enunciados devem ser interpretados e aplicados ao longo da tese, seguiu-se a identificação dos desafios políticos que a União Europeia enfrenta para executar uma transição ecológica, assim como uma análise à composição e funcionamento do Fundo de Transição Justa, ao que se prevê que venha a ser a sua intervenção em Portugal, e ao seu método de alocação, de acordo com a sua atual formulação2. Com base nas conclusões alcançadas ao longo do corpo da dissertação, esta termina com a resposta negativa, fundamentada, à questão de partida.
This dissertation focuses on the Just Transition Fund, the main instrument of the Just Transition Mechanism, created by the European Commission, to assist the process of ecological conversion that the Union proposes to embark on, through the European Green Deal. The main aim is to ascertain whether the Just Transition Fund, as formulated3, ensures an effectively just transition to a green and circular economy, especially with regard to the Portuguese situation, as an EU Member State that is the recipient of cohesion policies. To this end, we proceeded to the treatment and analysis of concepts central to the theme of the thesis: green economy and circular economy, just transition, and European cohesion. Having established how the aforementioned concepts should be interpreted and applied throughout the thesis, there followed the identification of the political challenges that the European Union faces to execute an ecological transition, as well as an analysis of the composition and functioning of the Just Transition Fund, an analysis regarding what is expected to be its intervention in Portugal, and to its allocation method, according to its current formulation4. Based on the conclusions reached throughout the body of the dissertation, it ends with the substantiated negative answer to the starting question.

This qualitative study used interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore the question, How do women cigarette smokers experience and perceive their occupational transition from smoker to non-smoker? The sample consisted of seven women, aged 35-55, living in New Brunswick, Canada, who quit smoking for at least twelve months, but no longer than 24 months. Data were collected through in-depth, face-to-face interviews. The occupation of smoking was shown to be a valued and meaningful occupation with both positive and negative aspects that influenced the occupational transition process. The occupational transition of smoking cessation was described as a cyclical journey that required building skills and occupational competence, not only to support occupational adaptation and engagement in meaningful occupations, but also to overcome barriers and occupational losses throughout the transition process. This also fostered the occupational identity of non-smoker, by allowing the women to become and express the self they wanted to be.

This paper investigates access for young people to knowledge about gender equality rights through the schools. A review of school curricula, academic research, government reports, public legal education publications, law-related symposia, gender equity conference papers, and youth projects did not produce a clear picture of how young people are being educated about gender equality rights. An additional investigation into the informal curriculum and the school culture would be required if we are to find out if knowledge about gender equality rights reaches young people through the schools. A modified version of a Delphi study was used to gather some ideas about the purpose, goals and objectives of gender equality rights education in the schools. Twenty socially representative educators, legal professionals and feminists participated in the study. Participants were selected for their knowledge of gender equality rights. In all cases, their job, or life experience and education, or position on a relevant task force or committee provided them with substantive knowledge of gender equality rights. One of the main findings of the Delphi study is that while there is no consensus amongst the participants about the details of comprehensive gender equality rights education, there is agreement that it cannot be left to chance occurence. More harm than good may result from a laissez-faire approach to gender equality rights education because such an approach does not allow for a full discussion of how social, political, and economic systems in society discriminate against women. Without such a context, we cannot fully understand gender equality rights, or the changes to society that have come about because of the gender equality rights movement. Conversely, a structured approach through the formal and informal curriculum, and the school culture, would allow for views about gender equality to be raised in an informed way. Many of the ideas of the participants parallel the substantive goals and objectives of law-related education. There is one major exception which is discussed at length. It concerns the openly ideological nature of gender equality rights education. Long range plans to institutionalize substantive gender equality rights education in the schools is needed. One way to bring this about is to increase academic research into legal literacy and gender equality. But the greatest urgency is in the short term. We need a co-ordinated effort between the schools, Ministries of Education and the Attorney General, the public legal education network and gender equality rights advocates to ensure that accurate information about gender equality rights is accessible to all young people in a useful way. The first challenge in educating about gender equality rights in the schools is to make a start so that young people do not leave school without some knowledge of important changes for women that are going on in society. The transitional approach that I recommend to gender equality rights education would implement strategies that allow us time to get a clearer picture of what gender equality rights education exists in schools now; identify immediate objectives that we can attain quickly and that would lay the foundation for more comprehensive goals; help young people recognize the impact of gender inequality in their own lives; and let them know that educated people care about social and legal equality for women.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
This thesis uses a transdisciplinary, sustainability-science approach to investigate the dialectics and potential for the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia, to make a transition to sustainability. The Hunter Valley, one of Australia’s historic food, wine and grain breadbaskets, is now home to over 50 opencut and underground black coal mines and is one of the world’s major coalmining and exporting regions. It is Australia’s largest black coal electricity generating region where six coal-fired power stations generate 40% of Australia’s electricity supply. The carbon intensity of the Hunter Valley’s economy makes the region Australia’s largest direct and indirect contributor to global carbon dioxide emissions. The region is a climate change hot spot that embodies the challenges and opportunities confronting Australia if it is to move towards a clean, renewable energy future and ecologically and socially-sustainable economy. The study examines the Hunter Valley as a complex adaptive socio-ecological system nested in an extended panarchy (Gunderson and Holling, 2002) that includes global energy systems and the ecosphere. The research examines the linked ecological and social health impacts of different scenarios for the Hunter Valley, comparing its current status – given the name Carbon Valley (Ray, 2005a) – with an alternative socio-ecological regime described by local residents as a Future Beyond Coal (CAN, 2006). This Future Beyond Coal is a regional manifestation of what Heinberg (2004) calls, at a global scale, a Post-carbon Society. Transdisciplinary sustainability-science is used to examine complex processes in which Hunter Valley residents are dealing with linked ecosystem-human health distress, while developing capacity for anticipating and forging change towards sustainability. They are also boosting the resilience of desirable states while challenging the perverse resilience of coal dependency. The thesis examines the potential for a ‘Just Transition’ to sustainability, a social and economic restructuring process which aspires to move the region’s socio-ecological relationships rapidly towards sustainability through protecting the wellbeing of vulnerable workers, communities and ecosystems. It investigates hegemonic relationships within coal communities, and the role popular education and social learning are playing in building a social movement for sustainability, a movement that links local, regional and global attractors and disturbances in order to change the basin of attraction from the current non-sustainable coal-dependent society to one that is ecologically sustainable and socially just.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
This thesis uses a transdisciplinary, sustainability-science approach to investigate the dialectics and potential for the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia, to make a transition to sustainability. The Hunter Valley, one of Australia’s historic food, wine and grain breadbaskets, is now home to over 50 opencut and underground black coal mines and is one of the world’s major coalmining and exporting regions. It is Australia’s largest black coal electricity generating region where six coal-fired power stations generate 40% of Australia’s electricity supply. The carbon intensity of the Hunter Valley’s economy makes the region Australia’s largest direct and indirect contributor to global carbon dioxide emissions. The region is a climate change hot spot that embodies the challenges and opportunities confronting Australia if it is to move towards a clean, renewable energy future and ecologically and socially-sustainable economy. The study examines the Hunter Valley as a complex adaptive socio-ecological system nested in an extended panarchy (Gunderson and Holling, 2002) that includes global energy systems and the ecosphere. The research examines the linked ecological and social health impacts of different scenarios for the Hunter Valley, comparing its current status – given the name Carbon Valley (Ray, 2005a) – with an alternative socio-ecological regime described by local residents as a Future Beyond Coal (CAN, 2006). This Future Beyond Coal is a regional manifestation of what Heinberg (2004) calls, at a global scale, a Post-carbon Society. Transdisciplinary sustainability-science is used to examine complex processes in which Hunter Valley residents are dealing with linked ecosystem-human health distress, while developing capacity for anticipating and forging change towards sustainability. They are also boosting the resilience of desirable states while challenging the perverse resilience of coal dependency. The thesis examines the potential for a ‘Just Transition’ to sustainability, a social and economic restructuring process which aspires to move the region’s socio-ecological relationships rapidly towards sustainability through protecting the wellbeing of vulnerable workers, communities and ecosystems. It investigates hegemonic relationships within coal communities, and the role popular education and social learning are playing in building a social movement for sustainability, a movement that links local, regional and global attractors and disturbances in order to change the basin of attraction from the current non-sustainable coal-dependent society to one that is ecologically sustainable and socially just.

This thesis identifies the concept of transition as central to the construction of girlhood identity and examines this through three key discourses on girlhood: academic discourses, market discourses, and discourses of the self. By providing a discourse analysis of the construction of transitional girlhood identity through the lenses of the social world, consumer culture, and personal narrative, this research outlines the ways in which girls have been constructed as transitional, fluid, unfixed identities in need of surveillance, guidance and control--neither children nor adults, two identifications that encompass fixed points in the social world. A discussion of the fashion doll as a technology of gender that codes normative identity in girls' play provides an opportunity to discuss this discursive formation in the context of everyday social practices and acknowledges the ways in which these codes are negotiated in girls' interpretations and readings. While this element of identity construction is central to the ways in which girls interact in a variety of social territories, girls are able to actively engage with elements of the social world and carve out their own identities to become multidimensional, relational social subjects.

A automação está a mudar o mundo. Como na aeronáutica, as empresas da indústria automóvel estão atualmente a desenvolver veículos autónomos. No entanto a autonomia do veículo não é completa, necessitando por vezes das ações do condutor. A forma como é feita a transição entre condução manual e autónoma e como mostrar esta informação de transição para o condutor constitui um desafio para a ergonomia. Novos ecrãs estão a ser estudados para facilitar estas transições. Este estudo usou um simulador de condução para investigar, se a informação em realidade aumentada pode influenciar positivamente a experiência do condutor durante a condução manual e autónoma. Compararam-se duas formas de apresentar a comunicação ao condutor. Um “conceito AR” mostrou toda a informação no para-brisas para ser mais fácil o condutor aceder à informação. O “conceito IC” mostrou a informação que aparece atualmente nos carros, usando o painel de instrumentos e o e-HUD. Os resultados indicam que a experiência do utilizador (UX) é influenciada pelos conceitos, sendo que o “conceito AR” teve uma melhor UX em todos os estados de transição. Em termos de confiança, os resultados revelaram também valores mais elevado para o “conceito AR”. O tipo de conceito não influenciou nem o tempo nem o comportamento de retomar o controlo do carro. Em termos de situação consciente, o “conceito AR” deixa os condutores mais conscientes durante a disponibilidade e ativação da função. Este estudo traz implicações para as empresas que desenvolvem a próxima geração de ecrãs no mundo automóvel.
Automation is changing the world. As in aviation, the car manufacturers are currently developing autonomous vehicles. However, the autonomy of that vehicles isn’t complete, still being needed in certain moments the driver on ride. The way how is done this transition between manual and autonomous driving and how show this information to the driver is a challenge for Ergonomics. New displays are being studied to facilitate these transitions. This study used a driving simulator to investigates, whether augmented reality information can positively influence the user experience during manual and autonomous driving. Therefore, we compared two ways of present the communicate to the driver. The “AR concept” displays all the information in windshield to be easier to the driver access to the information. The “IC concept” displays the information that appears nowadays in the cars, where they use the Instrument Cluster and the e-HUD to display information. Results indicate that the user experience (UX) is influence by concepts, where “AR concept” had better UX in all the states. In terms of confidence, the results revealed higher scores in “AR concept” too. The type of concept does not influence the takeover times or the behavior of take control. In terms of situational awareness (SA), “AR concept” leave the drivers more aware during availability and activation. This study provides implications for automotive companies developing the next generation of car displays.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges faced by first-year students as they negotiated the transition from the wrting environment of high school to the writing environment of university. The research for the dissertation was undertaken using a mixed-method explanatory design. This yielded a description of students' perceptions of the differences between their high school writing and first-year university writing environments. The research questions were as follows: what are high school students' perceptions of their writing environment; and what differences, if any, do students perceive as different in the writing environment between high school and first-year university? A total of one hundred and forty-four Grade 12 students completed a quantitative survey asking for their perceptions of the high school writing environment, and twenty students took part either in qualitative focus groups or individual interviews. A follow-up interview was conducted with fourteen of the original twenty participants while they were in the process of completing their first term at university. The results indicated that students' perceptions were very much influenced by individual teachers and instructors and by their own expectations. Recommendations, implications for further research, and implications for program development are offered as a way to extend the knowledge in this area.

Both the theoretical outlines of a solution to the climate and ecological crisis, as well as concrete efforts at environmental reform and energy transformation, often run into the ambivalent role of organised labour, particularly trade unions, in todays growth-oriented, fossil-fuel based economy. On the one hand, trade unions often already formally endorse the ideal of sustainability, on the other hand, in concrete environmental conflicts, they often the side with "jobs" against climate and environmental protections, and thus serve as a support of the growth-oriented fossil economy. The concept of a just transition, embodying the attempts at creating a framework in which the interests of workers and climate protection can be reconciled, thus also becomes ambivalent, serving often as a basis for arguments against more ambitious decarbonization. The aim of this thesis, drawing on the theoretical framework of critical political ecology, is to explore the possibilities of solving this dilemma in the case of Czech trade unions. On the basis of interviews with their various representatives, it will try to answer the questions: 1) what political strategy is shaping the policies of Czech trade unions in the sphere of climate and energy policy, 2) how do these trade unions see their role in the proces of a...