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Carl-Johan Sommar

Postdoc

Sustainability and Agenda 2030 are crucial for continued societal development. My research concerns the social dimension of sustainability and its implications for the welfare society.

My research

A scholar in Political Science, Dr. Sommar’s research focuses on the ramifications of implementing public sector sustainability and digitalization initiatives.

Experiences

  • Teaching students at bachelor, master and executive level.
  • Director of Studies at the Department of Political Science at LiU.
  • coordinating and managing various issues related to higher education.

Dr. Sommar specializes in how public administration can tackle and govern wicked problems. His research is motivated by a desire to translate theoretical tools into practical knowledge and is closely aligned with the needs of public sector professionals. He has written on topical issues such as sustainable healthcare systems, food poverty, and pandemic governance. Currently Sommar is editor of Linköping studies in Social Policy.

 Research groups that Dr. Sommar is part of

Legitimacy of soft policy tools - the case of Climate Change Declarations

Currently, Dr. Sommar is involved in a research project concerning the legitimacy of climate change declarations as a soft form of policy tool. The Swedish Parliament introduced climate declarations for buildings starting from January 1, 2022, applicable to new buildings for which building permits have been applied for after this date. These declarations complement existing energy declarations and certification systems in the market, aiming to enhance their legitimacy among stakeholders. Together with Dr. Fredrik von Malmborg, Dr. Patrik Rohdin, and Dr. Lina La Fleur, Sommar investigates the effectiveness of this new regulatory tool in comparison to other systems, aiming to provide insights beneficial for researchers, policymakers, and companies in their work with climate declarations for buildings.

Read more here.

Crisis Management in a Polycentric Nordic Local Democracy: Different Governance Structures - Different Results?

POLYGOV compares the local and regional coordination and management strategies employed as the pandemic has unfolded. The primary objective of POLYGOV is to identify differences in the Nordic countries’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the outcomes thereof, comparing and analyzing these differences with legal arrangements, public governance, and organization.

Together with CO-PI Dr. Elin Wihlborg, Dr. Johan Nordensvärd, and MPhil Fredrik Garcia, Dr. Sommar oversees the Swedish part of POLYGOV. As a research team, they examine political and administrative leadership and citizens' experiences of management, as well as the legitimacy of crisis measures in the Swedish local public sector. Additionally, they shine an organizational lens on how Swedish local government handled the crisis.

Read more here.

Food for Urban Lives and Localities (FULL)

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed large cities worldwide to unprecedented challenges. It has also strained access to food among vulnerable urban groups such as older people, people with disabilities or underlying health conditions, single parents, low-income households, ethnic minorities, and migrants. Together scholars from with University College London, National University of Singapore, Stockholm University, The Swedish Royal Institute of Technology, and University of New South Wales, Dr. Sommar focuses on the role of digital technology and social adaptation in assuring food security and how community initiatives, and municipalities have responded towards rising food poverty. Here, we examine urban community responses to prepare global cities for issues that challenge local access to food.

Read more here.

Publications

2024

Johan Nordensvärd, Carl-Johan Sommar, Elin Wihlborg (2024) The communicative climate: municipal leaders' experiences Crisis Management, Governance and COVID-19: Pandemic Policy and Local Government in the Nordic Countries, p. 132-141 (Chapter in book)
Fredrik Garcia, Erik Järnland, Johan Nordensvärd, Carl-Johan Sommar, Elin Wihlborg (2024) Sweden: relaxed crisis management Crisis Management, Governance and COVID-19: Pandemic Policy and Local Government in the Nordic Countries, p. 68-76 (Chapter in book)
Carl-Johan Sommar, Johan Nordensvärd, Elin Wihlborg, Fredrik Garcia (2024) Autonomy and paternalism - framing Swedish COVID-19 restriction policy Critical Policy Studies (Article in journal) Continue to DOI

2023

Johan Nordensvärd, Martina Rotolo, Carl-Johan Sommar, Yiran Li, Catalina Turcu, Bingqin Li, Young-hwan Byun, Jiwei Qian (2023) Technological and social adaptation to COVID-19: Food for Vulnerable Urban Groups in Six Global Cities
Johan Nordensvärd, Bingqin Li, Catalina Turcu, Jiwei Qian, Young-hwan Byun, Yiran Li, Carl-Johan Sommar, Martina Rotolo (2023) State and communities in urban food governance: lessons from COVID and insights for the future Urban Governance, Vol. 3, p. 93-96 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI

Research at Department of Management and Engineering (IEI) 

Car, taxi and bus traffic on road intersection at night in Hong Kong downtown, drone aerial view. Street commuters, Asian city life or public transport concept.

11 April 2025

The Swedish Excellence Centre for Computational Social Science

This is a research hub and training center at the forefront of Computational Social Science, a rapidly growing field that leverages computational tools to advance our understanding of human behavior and the complex social dynamics it can bring about.

Insida av en buss

08 April 2025

Circular public transport

Projektet syftar till att skapa en mer cirkulär kollektivtrafik genom att utveckla hållbara upphandlingsmetoder och förlänga fordons livslängd, vilket minskar kostnader och miljöpåverkan inom transportsektorn.

Image with the text CO2.

04 April 2025

Carbon dioxide capture in the transition toward a carbon-neutral university

Researchers at LiU are working to develop a new method for capturing carbon dioxide in buildings. By integrating Direct Air Capture into ventilation systems, we can reduce climate emissions and generate profit by selling the captured CO₂.

Research at Political Science (STATSV)

Globe thats illustrates networks.

31 March 2025

Resilient institutional design of welfare in the digital era, RIDE

As society becomes increasingly digitalised, people collaborate in new ways. We discover new opportunities while also facing new challenges. What was once stable is now being questioned. This is when new, sustainable welfare institutions are needed.

Hands holding a heart in a tree painted like the Ukrainian flag.

26 March 2025

Service transformation, resilience, and empowerment through active municipalities in Ukraine - STREAM-U

New project aims to strengthen the capacity for critical collaboration between local authorities and civil society in delivering services, enhancing resilience, and advancing democratization in Ukraine.

Streetfoto.

06 February 2025

Local and regional politics and administration

Research that put their focus where people live their daily lives. In local communities, whether it be in a small community on the Swedish rural areas or in a refugee camp in Syria.

My workplaces

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