Mozambique has the sixth highest prevalence of HIV in the world and ranks fourth in new infections. The government-owned print press Notícias has played an important role in the social construction of HIV and AIDS in the country as it was entrusted with the role of disseminating HIV and AIDS information to the public since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country in 1986. Using Notícias’ articles and frame analysis perspective, the article analyses the way Notícias has framed HIV and AIDS in the country since the late 1980s. The choice of media results from the fact that the way a phenomenon is constructed influences the way it is understood, as well as the way people may behave before it. The study found that Notícias’ frames on HIV and AIDS have suffered from a threefold tension: the need to maintain the Frelimo government’s former centralised and grassroots-orientated socialist ideology of health services in the context of the liberal market; the need to balance the influence of the global multilateral and bilateral actors and the Frelimo government’s political interest of translating HIV and AIDS response to the Mozambican context; and the need to portray a nationalist and positive image of the government’s performance in HIV and AIDS response before Mozambique’s non-fully plausible societal practices for an effective HIV and AIDS response. In a top-down approach, Notícias’ frames reflect not only the African post-independence ancillary and nationalist role of government-owned print press but also the power of global actors. Less is done from the societal bottom-up perspective.

Behavioural change is necessary in order to reach a sustainable society. Sometimes this will translate into doing less and it is likely that we need to stop some things entirely. We lay out the multiple challenges of making the act of abstaining count. The issue is partly philosophical - we ask ourselves how to intellectually and semantically frame abstaining; partly practical – how can we count abstaining? It concerns a broader understanding of modernity and interrogates the ideas of progress and growth, technological change, and innovation. Abstaining will also be a moving target as expectations and demands shift over time.

Over the past half century, the global environment has become subject to an accelerated pace of mediation and datafication. This ongoing transition has become so comprehensive that the knowledge, management and governance of the Earth system is dependent on enormous flows of data from a “vast machine” of measuring tools. These processes combined have formed what we call a “mediated planet,” subject to interpretation and shared human decision-making – that should ideally be democratic, inclusive and accountable. As environmental datafication continues to accelerate, private corporations are gaining increasing influence on and power over the associated collections of data. This is a cause for concern, as the global environmental commons are a public interest of concern to all people. This article argues for the need to critically research the challenges and risks associated with the rapid datafication of the environment, specifically in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for climate change (13), the ocean (14), biodiversity (15) and inclusive and accountable institutions (16). More knowledge is needed of how the SDGs and their supporting networks influence data-generation on a mediated planet, and how issues of access to and use of environmental data, as well as data ownership and AI implementation, can best be navigated. We contend that such knowledge can help enhance the democratic potential of the SDGs to build public trust and secure broad participation in global environmental governance in ways that also support peaceful and inclusive societies, as promised by SDG 16.

Brukar du också källsortera som en galning, och tänka att det i alla fall balanserar andra saker du gör som är mindre bra för klimatet? Du är inte ensam. Vi brukar resonera med oss själva om val vi gör, i både stort och smått. Vi försöker hitta ursäkter som fungerar. Det gäller också för klimatet. Och ibland hindrar det en större omställning till ett hållbart samhälle.

Den här boken är för dig som vill ställa om och leva ett hållbart liv och som tycker att det är ganska jobbigt. Här finns exempel på hur vi resonerar när vi inte lyckas riktigt. Men också hur man kan tänka och handla annorlunda. Du kommer nog att känna igen dig. Kanske är det fortfarande jobbigt, men också hjälpsamt att se hur andra kämpar, och hur man kan hitta nya vägar.

Nina Wormbs och Maria Wolrath Söderberg har i sin gemensamma forskning försökt förstå varför omställningen till ett hållbart samhälle går så trögt, trots att vi vet och kan så mycket. Båda arbetar för att få ut sin och andras forskning till allmänheten. Den här boken är ett exempel på det. Nina är professor i teknikhistoria på KTH och Maria är docent i retorik på Södertörns högskola.