The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Social sustainability

Social sustainability is an integrated part of many areas of research. The term is used both in research about Economy, Social Development, Sustainable Urban Development, Human Rights and many more.

Young boy diving in water. Photo: Martine Perret

Environmental Humanities

The concept of  ”sustainable development” may mean different things to different people depending on the individual’s background. “Environmental humanities” has become a common platform for research in the humanities related to, for example, climate- and environmental issues and sustainable development of the society. A characteristic of this research is that it often spans several research disciplines, and that it addresses societal challenges that traditionally have been described solely from scientific or technological perspectives.

Sustainability science

This interdisciplinary line of research places its focus in the borderland between social science, the humanities and natural science, as well as on the use of science in society. The research field is defined by the questions it poses rather than on the scientific disciplines it embraces, and one goal is to form new modes of cooperation between different research areas and actors.

Research at Lund University deals with:

  • Subsistence agriculture and food security
  • Cities as the focus in climate adaptation and risk reduction
  • Globalisation and sustainable development
  • Political and ecological analysis of island communities
  • Critical questions about sustainability
  • Urban farming in African cities: a source of subsistence and environmental problems
  • Sustainable water resources as a source of poverty reduction
  • Water conflicts in the Middle East

Environmental psychology & behavior

  • How individual behavior affects global and local policy for sustainable development
  • How policy and institutions affect the behavior of individuals
  • Triggers of human action against climate change
  • Evaluation of cultural ecosystem services based on how they contribute to life quality
  • Interaction between individuals, pyhsical urban planning and choice of transport
  • The general public’s view of biological diversity and measures to protect and manage it

Ethical aspects

  • Ethical principles for sustainable development

Human Rights

The subject integrates historic, filosophic, legal and political perspectives on human rights.

Research at Lund University deals with:

  • Governmental and Non-Governmental agencies
  • Development of Human rights 
  • Protection of minorities
  • Human Rights in education
  • Womens rights
  • Rights and Activism
  • Childrens rights
  • Political resistance and discourses of rights in civil society

Sustainable Urban Development 

Research at Lund University deals with:

  • Innovation and economic growth
  • Culture and consumption
  • Mobility and transport
  • Social interaction in the city
  • City development in developing contries
  • Urban design and governance