Orchestration of Digital Sustainability in Grocery Retail (ORCA)

Farida Wally

From soil to shelf: the journey of the humble strawberry

From a business studies perspective, we examine the journey of groceries from soil to shelf as an organisational and infrastructural process shaped by sustainability discourses and digital transformation.

Focusing on the Swedish grocery sector, we explore how the concept of "sustainability" is interpreted, implemented, and governed throughout the value chain—and how digitalisation influences these processes. The aim is to understand how digital technologies are reshaping sustainability practices—not only in terms of measurement and communication, but also in how they are enacted within and across organisations.

About me

As a doctoral student and junior researcher, I often picture myself carrying a giant magnifying glass, looking closely at discourses that shape how we understand the world. Guided by curiosity, I ask many questions, and try to follow them where they lead. Research for me is an extension of that curiosity and it gives it structure. I sometimes find answers, though perhaps never an absolute truth - but that's just social science, really.

My academic background includes a master's degree in business administration - namely in entrepreneurship, sustainability and social change at Linnéuniversitetet in Sweden. Prior to that, I had graduated with a bachelor's degree in Management Sciences with specialisation in Marketing back in my home country, Egypt.

With that said, I am a social scientist in business studies and my research interests are how people use language to construct and convey meaning, and analysing the discourses that shape organisational practices through linguistic exchanges, and shifting power dynamics. Currently, I am still chasing answers for the ORCA project, but I expect that within four years, I may finally have something resembling one.

Wibke Du Rietz

Reflection and technologies of the self

As a member of GRASS (Graduate School for Sustainability Studies), and as a researcher affiliated with the field of Information Systems within the Department of Informatics and Media, I am writing my dissertation on issues at the intersection of sustainability, interdisciplinarity and glocality (themes addressed by the research school), as well as digitalisation and the societal impact of technology.

This has led me to investigate whether and how conversational AI (CAI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) facilitate reflection among practitioners, and under what conditions and in which contexts these technologies can serve as useful, effective and appropriate tools for improving professional practice.

One promising area of investigation is professions in which self-reflection already plays a central role, such as psychotherapy and pastoral care. As the outputs of CAIs and LLMs are highly dependent on user input, studying these professional groups could provide both a boundary case and deeper insights into the conditions necessary for the successful use of such technologies.

About Me

Several attempts were made to pursue a life outside academia, but none proved successful in the long run. So here I am again, this time as a PhD student in the Department of Informatics and Media at Campus Gotland.

My academic background includes an MA in Educational Science (with Psychology and Sociology as subsidiary subjects) from the Universities of Marburg and Oldenburg in Germany, and a Bachelor of Social Science in Software Engineering (Information Systems) from Uppsala University, Campus Gotland.

I identify as a social scientist and am determined to unravel the mysteries of technology by bringing a pinch of metatheory and philosophy of science to the study of artefacts and systems. We shall see how that goes...