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Two new PhDs! Congratulations to the Graduate School's two new doctors, Maria Takman and Christie Nicoson. On 26 April, they successfully defended their doctoral theses at Lund University. Both scholars have made significant contributions in their respective fields. Maria Takman has written "From Removal of Organic Micropullutants to Municipal Wastewater Reuse - Technological and Social Perspectiv
We are proud to announce that the Agenda 2030 Graduate School PhD student, Tanya Andersson Nystedt, successfully defended her thesis on 5 June and now has her PhD! Tanya has been an integral part of the Graduate School since its inception and we are incredibly proud of her achievements. Her research on migrants' vulnerability to sexual violence is both timely and necessary.To learn more about Tany
https://www.agenda2030graduateschool.lu.se/article/thesis-successfully-defended-tanya-andersson-nystedt - 2026-05-07
The Planetary Health Diet. That's the diet that will keep us healthy and put food on the table for a future world population of 10 billion. But will it reduce strokes, premature deaths and greenhouse gas emissions? To find out, Agenda 2030 PhD student Anna Stubbendorff compared different dietary indices. Her own index came out on top, and the results are now published in the prestigious Lancet Pla
https://www.agenda2030graduateschool.lu.se/article/stubbendorffs-index-paves-way-sustainable-healthy-diets - 2026-05-07
As the climate crisis deepens, discussions on sustainability are evolving to include the existential aspects of human life. In the autumn of 2023, Lund University's Agenda 2030 Graduate School introduced a PhD course on existential sustainability. The course ended with a student conference, where some of the papers are now being shared with a wider audience. Sustainability has traditionally been d
https://www.agenda2030graduateschool.lu.se/article/integrating-existential-aspects-sustainability - 2026-05-07
Can a new neighbourhood be a spearhead for sustainability if it has a huge shopping mall at its heart? And to what extent can urban planning influence the way people live in an area? In her thesis, Agenda 2030 doctoral student Alva Zalar has examined Hyllie in southern Malmö from a norm-critical perspective that interweaves architecture and queer theory. In the early 2000s, the city of Malmö decid
https://www.agenda2030graduateschool.lu.se/article/new-thesis-sheds-light-hyllies-sustainable-urban-development - 2026-05-07
PhD student Steinunn Knúts Önnudóttir not only has a background as a director, writer, theologian, life coach and actor. When she started her PhD in Lund, she was also an academic dean in her native Iceland. With the question 'How little is enough?' she has explored how little it really takes to create an artistic, transformative experience. Friday is the day of her defence. Steinunn Knúts Önnudót
https://www.agenda2030graduateschool.lu.se/article/how-little-does-it-take-create-artistic-experience - 2026-05-07
In the Colombian rainforest, cattle ranching is spreading and leading to forest fires and deforestation. This threatens the environment, climate and indigenous people in the Amazon. More efficient use of existing pastures and alternative livelihoods are some of the factors needed to protect the rainforest, according to a new thesis by Jesica López. Colombia's rainforest is part of the Amazon and i
What does it take to implement a complementary currency in a community, and how does it reshape social, technical, and economic dynamics? Juan Ocampo, a PhD graduate from Lund University’s School of Economics and Management (LUSEM) and the Agenda 2030 Graduate School, has spent five years investigating these questions. In his dissertation, Organizing Money: The process of implementing a complement
At the start of the new year, the Agenda 2030 Graduate School at Lund University welcomed thirteen new PhD candidates from seven faculties. This exciting addition to the Graduate School expands the school's interdisciplinary research efforts. The candidates' research cover a wide range of topics, from waste management and energy transition to biodiversity and the effects of a warming climate on ch
https://www.agenda2030graduateschool.lu.se/article/thirteen-new-phd-students-join-agenda-2030-graduate-school - 2026-05-07
Nearly four in ten female upper secondary school students suffer from iron deficiency. Among vegetarians and vegans, seven in ten have low iron levels, according to a new study led by Agenda 2030 PhD student Anna Stubbendorff. The research has received considerable attention in the press, radio and television. "We were surprised by the results," says Anna Stubbendorff. The past two weeks have been
https://www.agenda2030graduateschool.lu.se/article/nearly-four-ten-female-students-suffer-iron-deficiency - 2026-05-07
She grew up in oil-rich Norway, with a father who travelled the world working in the oil sector. Little did Lina Lefstad know that just two decades later she would be a researcher at the forefront of efforts to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and tackle the climate crisis. What if we could easily capture carbon dioxide from combined heat and power plants and industrial sites, cool it to liqu
https://www.agenda2030graduateschool.lu.se/article/can-oil-industrys-know-how-help-solve-climate-crisis - 2026-05-07
What are your thoughts on death? How would you like to spend your last days? These kinds of existential questions are explored at so-called death cafés - gatherings that Jamie Woodworth began organising before she was 25, as a way of dealing with her anxiety about climate change. Now she has been awarded an honourable mention for her doctoral thesis on end-of-life care in the Swedish welfare state
Wildfires and deforestation are spreading in the wake of an expanding cattle industry in the Amazon rainforest. Now, Jesica López is being recognised for her research, which has brought together politicians, landowners, farmers and Indigenous communities in an effort to halt this development. "We must understand that the Amazon is an ecosystem every human being on the planet depends on," she says.
https://www.agenda2030graduateschool.lu.se/article/jesica-lopez-honoured-her-fight-future-amazon - 2026-05-07
We are proud to have two newly awarded PhDs within the Agenda 2030 Graduate School! Congratulations to Linn Ternsjö at Lund University School of Economics and Management and Billy Jones at the Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology, who both successfully defended their theses with distinction. Linn Ternsjö’s research explores how the textile industry in Mauritius has affected working condition
https://www.agenda2030graduateschool.lu.se/article/congratulations-our-new-phds - 2026-05-07
Johan Rockström, Gunhild Stordalen and Christer Fuglesang are among the headline speakers – and so is Anna Stubbendorff, an Agenda 2030 PhD student specialising in sustainable diets. Ahead of the Key Symposium, “Planetary Health – connect the dots. What saves the planet saves our health”, we asked her three quick questions about her research, her message, and what she hopes the event will achieve.
https://www.agenda2030graduateschool.lu.se/article/sustainable-diets-global-stage-three-questions-anna-stubbendorff - 2026-05-07
For hundreds of years, people have made a living from livestock herding in rural Kenya. Today, their traditional way of life is increasingly burdened by the effects of climate change and population growth. In his doctoral thesis, Billy Jones examines why development aid projects in the region often fail – and how sustainable progress could instead be achieved with the help of local actors. Thirtee
https://www.agenda2030graduateschool.lu.se/article/research-shows-sustainable-development-requires-locally-rooted-aid - 2026-05-07
Production for the textile and fashion industry can, for many countries, represent a first step out of poverty. But what does this mean for those who work in the sector, and what happens when even poorer countries begin to compete by paying even lower wages for the seamstresses in the factories? Linn Ternsjö has studied the clothing manufacturing industry in Mauritius from a sustainability perspec
How can life-saving HIV treatments remain reliable when global aid is uncertain? What happens when animals are reduced to “carbon emissions” in sustainability debates? And how can urban forests be made safe at night without flooding them with artificial light, disturbing local wildlife? These are just some of the questions raised in Through the Kaleidoscope of Sustainability, an innovative new ant
Lund University was recently named number one in the world in the QS Sustainability Rankings. The Agenda 2030 Graduate School is now opening nominations for the annual Agenda 2030 Award. All university staff and students have the opportunity to highlight early-career researchers whose innovative work contributes to a more sustainable future. Sustainability has long been a clear priority for Lund U
That eating plenty of vegetables, wholegrains and legumes is beneficial for health is well known. More surprising, however, is that people who eat in a environmentally-friendly way also display nutritional values that are better than researchers had expected. This is shown in a new study by Anna Stubbendorff at the Agenda 2030 Graduate School. The EAT–Lancet diet is a global dietary guideline deve
