Carl-Johan Sommar

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.

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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.

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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.

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