Newsletter with the latest research and events relating to sustainability at Lund University Web version

Sustainability Forum Newsletter #9 2020

Words from the Forum We are very happy to announce that Sustainability Forum has received a strengthened assignment as strategic support in sustainability issues at Lund University. The vice-chancellor recently approved new regulations, with an expanded focus on sustainability in education and student participation. Now being a permanent part of the organization, the Forum will be able to work even more dedicated with strategically important sustainability questions and cooperations on both short and long term. This is an important and inspiring step for Lund University’s contribution to the transformation for a sustainable future! Read the blog from vice-chancellor Torbjörn von Schantz (in Swedish) – rektor.blogg.lu.se Don't hesitate to contact Sustainability Forum with questions or thoughts about sustainability at Lund University. Contact information – sustainability.lu.se Vad är minusutsläpp? Att fånga in koldioxid från atmosfären lyfts fram som en alltmer avgörande metod för att stoppa den globala uppvärmningen och nå klimatmålen. Men hur fungerar egentligen minutsläpp och vilka tekniker handlar det om? Forskaren Wim Carton förklarar varför det finns en stor osäkerhet och många avvägningar med metoden som ses som räddningen på klimatet. Läs artikeln – lu.se Ett klipp för biologisk mångfald Stora stubbar som ruttnar, gräs som inte klipps, uppgrävda sandbranter. Det är några av insatserna som har gjorts för att främja biologisk mångfald på Lunds universitets campus. Bakom initiativet står tre medarbetare från Biologiska institutionen. Läs artikeln – lundagard.se Så kan Sverige klara torka och sinande grundvatten Hittills har det mest kommit nödsignaler från Gotland och Öland om vattenbrist, men nu måste även fastlandet börja förbereda sig för torrare tider. Det menar Kenneth M Persson, professor i teknisk vattenresurslära, som listar vad som behöver göras. Läs artikeln – lu.se "Klimatrörelsen måste bredda sitt engagemang för att överleva” I Sverige firar klimatrörelsen att oljekoncernen Preem har dragit tillbaka sin ansökan om att få bygga ut oljeraffinaderiet i Lysekil. Men hur ser framtiden ut för klimatrörelsen när andra aktuella kriser och sociala rörelser får större utrymme i samhällsdebatten? Hållbarhetsforskaren Mine Islar ger sin syn på saken. Läs artikeln – lu.se Ett gammalt pollenfrö kan förutsäga morgondagens klimat Ett litet pollenfrö uppgrävt från en europeisk sjö kan ge svar om både vårt förflutna och vår framtid. Forskare vid Lunds universitet använder sig av 12 000 år gammalt pollen för att förutsäga vårt framtida klimat och studera ekologiska och historiska förändringar. Läs artikeln – lu.se Mental träning ska minska risken för psykisk ohälsa hos unga  Forskare i psykologi tar upp kampen mot psykisk ohälsa bland unga. Gymnasieelever ska på skoltid få träna upp sin förmåga att hantera stress och motgångar och diskutera andra sätt att tänka om sig själva och andra. ”Liknande försök i andra länder visar på goda resultat”, säger forskarna. Två skolklasser i Lund blir först ut att testa metoden. Läs artikeln – lu.se Examensarbete sticker hål på vanligt argument mot vindkraft  Det brukar sägas att det bara är kärnkraft och vattenkraft som kan hålla elnätet stabilt på 50 Hz. Något som är nödvändigt så att det inte brakar ihop med strömavbrott som följd. Men också vindkraften kan klara uppgiften, enligt ett nytt exjobb i reglerteknik. Läs artikeln – lu.se Oklart hur växande mängd nanoplast påverkar natur och människor Plastskatt, förbud mot engångsartiklar och alternativa material: att få bukt med plastnedskräpningen ligger högt på den politiska agendan. Men hur hanterar vi nanoplaster som kan tas upp av vattenlevande djur och människor? Forskare vid Lunds universitet undersöker riskerna med dessa ytterst små partiklar. Read the article – lu.se Missions - A small step, or a giant leap? Missions are being discussed widely within the European Union and beyond as a tool to steer policy, innovation, and research. Similar to other missions – to the moon, to cure cancer, and to eradicate smallpox – the missions-oriented approach seeks to set bold and radical goals to tackle our pressing environmental and social challenges. Listen to the new episode of the podcast 'Advancing Sustainable Solutions' where they discuss the missions-oriented approach for innovation and governance, and provide highlights from the City Futures Summit on the same topic. Listen to the podcast eposide – iiiee.lu.se City Futures Summit On October 8 the IIIEE organized the event City Futures Summit, an online webinar with keynote speakers from Australia, Chile and Sweden around sustainable urban transformation and the missions approach. Watch the recording and heck also out the Agenda - call for action, that summarizes the key insights and suggested actions from the event. Read the article – iiiee.lu.se How to be a change maker - The IKEA way of social sustainability Sustainable Future Hub at Lund University School of Economics and Management recently arranged a digital talk focusing on people, impact and sustainability. This was the panel: Lisen Wirén, Programme Manager at the IKEA Social Entrepreneurship at Inter IKEA Group and alumni from Lund University School of Economics and Management Caroline Wigren, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer at Lund University School of Economics and Management Harmke Lüken, Master's student in Innovation and Global Sustainable Development, member of Sustainable Future Hub's Student Network and moderator of the event Watch the talk – youtube.com Decarbonisation Portal Over the past four years a multidisciplinary team has been researching the complexity and diversity of decarbonisation options in the basic materials industries – plastics, pulp & paper, steel and meat & dairy. The REINVENT project now launch a decarbonisation portal with 15 questions that wrap up the outcomes of the research. Go to the decarbonisation portal – reinvent-project.eu Post-pandemic trends on sustainability Sustainable Future Hub’s Student Network have during the last six months collected, analysed and presented in various forms post-pandemic scenarios/emerging trends within the area of sustainability from a student perspective. During Lund University's Future Week they presented three of these post pandemic trends in a webinar. Read about what they found – lusem.lu.se Substantial funding for research for Agenda 2030 Only 11 projects were selected to recieve funding among 174 applications in the 210 million SEK FORMAS call for research focused on the 2030 Agenda. The coordinator for the Agenda 2030 graduate school, Kristina Jönsson, is part of the project "Transformative partnerships for sustainable development" coordinated by the Institute for Future Studies. Steering group member of the graduate school, Ester Barinaga, is part of the funded project "Special-purpose money: Complementary digital currencies and the sustainable development goals". Read more about the research projects – sustainability.lu.se Debate in Lund: Is democracy in danger? With the fall of the Berlin Wall, democracy swept across nations; Western democratic rule had bridged the cultural and political divide once and for all. The East was going to become like the West. Today, democracy is being undermined in Hungary and Poland, global powers like China and Russia have not joined the democratic ranks at all, and in the US – the standard-bearer of liberal democracy – Trump critics say authoritarianism is around the corner. Is it really as bad as some people claim, or are they crying wolf? Listen to the panel who will check the pulse of democracy. Watch the debate – youtube.com Inspelningar från Framtidsveckan 12-18 oktober hölls Framtidsveckan, denna gång med temat Krafter i rörelse. Flera evenemang har spelats in, antingen som ljudinspelningar (podcasts) eller som videoklipp. Läs mer om Framtidsveckan och se allt inspelat material – lu.se Utvalda programpunkter med hållbarhetsperspektiv som går att se i efterhand: Brytningstider − Kan stora kriser skriva om framtiden? Nanoteknik och nanoplaster: nanopartiklarnas roll i en hållbar framtid The future of traveling, mobility and flying Who’s in charge? – Accountability and the Sustainable Development Goals Social Movements – a force for change?

What's going on? Climathon 2020 Join Climathon in Skåne 9–13 november. The theme of this years Climathon is Food and Climate. Due to the Covid-19 situation Climathon will not be an 24 hour activity but be spread out over a five day period, Monday to Friday. The activities will consist of an online kick-off meeting, physical meetings with your group during the week, and a final online event. Partners of this years event is Malmö Stad, Lunds Kommun and SYSAV. Help solve their food and climate related challenges. Learn how to run solution oriented innovation activities. Work together in a diverse group of people. Win amazing prices. Have fun while making impact. Read more and signup – climathon.climate-kic.org Lund Innovation Challenge 2020 Lund Innovation Challenge 13-15 november is a fully-loaded three-day innovation challenge where students from Lund University work together in teams to develop new ideas and prototypes to solve new challenges. During the weekend you will network, have the opportunity to attend exciting workshops, fun activities and explore the possibilities of innovation and entrepreneurship. On the final day of the event the teams will present their contribution in a pitch-format to a jury of industry experts! The theme of this year is Smart Buildings and a Sustainable Future. Read more and signup – facebook.com Methanol: a sustainable, scalable, storable energy carrier 5 november 8.50–15.20 A joint initiative by Lund University and the Fastwater consortium. Hear experts from academia and industry discuss questions such as: How much "green" methanol is being produced today, what can we expect 5 years from now? What is the cost of carbon as a building block for renewable methanol, how can we capture it? What are engine efficiencies and pollutant emission levels for methanol engines today? What is the true potential of dedicated methanol-fuelled engines and fuel cells? What transport modes can be served with methanol? What is the status concerning rules and regulations for methanol-powered transport? Register here – fastwater.eu Read article about methanol (in Swedish) – lu.se Information for researchers Webpage for researchers related to sustainable development A new website for researchers is now available on the Sustainability Forum´s website, with focus on funding opportunities and activities, as well as networks and opportunities. Please contact Sustainability Forum if you have suggestions for activities prior to call announcement or ideas for research engagements.   More information on funding opportunities, networks and activities – sustainability.lu.se MISTRA MISTRA call for proposals on a research programme: Societal Transformation for Climate Action, deadline January 29 2021. Mistra invites research groups, jointly with civil society organizations, the public sector and other stakeholders, to submit proposals for a new research programme. The Sustainability Forum supports in the application process, please contact Cerina Wittbom if you are interested! cerina.wittbom@cec.lu.se The European Green Deal The first calls for proposals funded through the European Green Deal programme are now open, deadline January 26 2021. If you consider applying to one of these calls, please take contact with the Research Services EU team for help in preparing your application. Please see a list of European Green Deal calls – ec.europa.eu Horizon Europe Learn more about collaborative projects in the upcoming EU research and innovation framework programme – Horizon Europe. Universities in South Sweden (Lärosäten Syd) organize a webinar series, introducing the framework and presenting the six thematic clusters in Pillar II that will fund collaborative projects focused on global challenges and industrial competitiveness. Five webinars during November 12-26. Read about the program and register – larosatensyd.se Grants calendar for researchers Several departments at Lund University use a common grants calendar for an overview of available grants funding. Open for you with a Lucat-ID. Mainly medicine and environmental research at the moment. Go to Grants calendar Share your research? We receive a lot of requests for public engagements (talks, discussions, panels) from interesting actors throughout society. Are you a researcher who is keen on spreading your knowledge? Send an email to jenny.hansson@cec.lu.se with a few sentences on your research and we'll add you to our library of speakers! If you have research that ought to be highlighted in this newsletter, you can also contact us. Opportunities Do you have a great idea? There are lots of ideas among researchers and students at Lund University that could help us meet the societal challenges facing the world. That is why LU Innovation, together with Sparbanken Skåne, award prizes for Future Innovations every year. This year we are awarding a total of SEK 400 000 and a special prize – Future Innovation for Social Change – goes to innovative solutions that challenge traditional systems and contribute to solving social problems. All students and employees of Lund University are welcome to apply, no later than 8 December 2020. For further information about the application – innovation.lu.se PhD Course: Sustainable Development – a Systems View, 5 or 7,5 hp Society’s complex sustainability challenges concern all of us! By relating important scientific questions to sustainability, PhD students can play an important role in addressing these challenges. This course gives you the opportunity to learn about sustainable development from different theoretical perspectives and reflect on how these relate to your own research. Preparatory assignments are “on-demand” to make it easier for you to complete them despite busy schedules. Each module ends with a scheduled seminar, in which the topic of the module is discussed with national and international experts in the area. The extended course (7,5 hp) also includes an individual project. See more information about the course and register – design.lth.se Agenda 2030 interdisciplinary courses Are you a PhD student or master student who is up for the sustainability challenge? Apply for PhD courses within a wide range of subjects related to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. More info on current courses and how to apply Do you want continuous updates on courses and events from the Lund University Agenda 2030 Graduate School? Contact ylva.van_meeningen@cec.lu.se to be part of the "extended family". Lund University Sustainability Forum forms a bridge between society and academia in the sustainability areas. 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