The purpose of this report is to find out what different preferences forest owners have in the region where Norrskog have their operation area, what they prefer and think about Norrskog. The purpose is also to compare some of the questions to a similar study that was made in 2008. The study is made in cooperation with Norrskog which is a forest owner cooperative. Norrskog has about 13 000 members which is about half of all forest owners in the region. To get the answers from the forest owners, questionnaires were sent out by mail. 371 were sent out and 102 came back. There were more members of Norrskog that responded than it was nonmembers. The results indicate that the forest owners have long term perspectives, their priorities are to nurse the forest so they can get the profit later on.

Lately information- and communication technology (ICT) has been seen as an important tool to vitalize democracy. What kind of democracy it generates is however debateable. The objective with this thesis is therefore to examine what democratic ideal that dominates the use of ICT in Region Skåne and Västra Götalandsregionen and what kind of citizenship it brings. The two case studies were chosen because the Swedish regional level is facing a reorganization with democratic ambitions which in relation to ICT is fairly unexplored. To fulfil the objective there are two perspectives; e-democracy and e-administration, which are defined and integrated with democratic theory including Premfors´ "Fast, Strong and Thin" democratic ideals and Marshall´s three citizenship rights.

Ett projekt som visar hur Mälardalen kan utvecklas till flerkärnig stadsregion. En hållbar stadsutveckling, med ökad närhet till naturen, ett lugnare tempo och högre livskvalitet. Bakgrunden är att befolkningen förväntas öka med 600 000 - 800 000 invånare i Stockholm-Mälarregionen till 2030. I projektet föreslår jag omfattande investeringar i infrastruktur, bland annat en Maglevbana för att knyta samman städerna kring Mälaren. Att korta restiderna mellan dessa städer är centralt för att skapa en mer integrerad arbets- och bostadsmarknad i regionen.

This thesis examines the democracy theories that can be found in the internet websites of Region Skåne and Stockholm county council. Within the framework of deliberative democracy, participatory democracy and electoral democracy, the author tries to distinguish democratic aspects by empirically studying these websites and their communicative effect on the internet users.This research shows that Region Skåne is slightly better in implementing democratic aspects at their home page, which is probably due to an active work with these issues carried out by the politicians and the report on the democratic development from 2004. However, a great deal of work regarding democracy and the possibility of civic participation in the decision- making process is still to be done.The problems and challenges in using internet as a democratic tool shows that citizens run a risk of being neglected, due to their uneven participation in using internet in daily life. The conclusion of this thesis is that the politicians have to make an active choice in deciding to what extent the internet is allowed to be used when it comes to developing democracy. This work has to be done in cooperation with political scientists and IT experts, in order to assure a correct democratic model..

This study focuses on nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe. Anchored in theories that this region historically has been characterized by a nationalism that is based on the ethnic group rather than on liberal or civic concepts, it is the purpose of this study to explore whether these theories still apply in recent times when the region has been liberalized, for example manifested in the entry to the European Union. The research question has been tested through analysis of the constitutions of a number of Central and Eastern European countries in order to investigate what type of nationalism that the states have codified in their basic political documents. The results show that some of the states give expression to the historical ethnic nationalism in their constitutions, which indicates that the theories still are relevant..

The theory of ?security communities? is generally understood as ?dependable expectations of peaceful change? between groups and whether or not the African Union can be said to meet that criteria has been contested in the research community. One of the central disagreements lie in the nature of the region?s conflicts, of which a majority are intrastate but with tendencies of transnational involvement. This paper seeks to understand how extensive this involvement is and how it affects the possibility of classifying the African Union as a security community.

The purpose of this study has been to make an inventory of combustible waste in the region around Norrköping and to investigate the composition of domestic waste, industrial waste and two different types of sludge. The work was performed at the request of Norrköping Miljö & Energi, due to the planning of an incineration plant. The inventory of the waste was performed through inspection of environmental impact reports, from waste disposal plants in a number of local government areas in the region. The quantities were also compared to another inventory, carried out in a different way. The characterisation of the wastes was compared to the fuel specification determined by Norrköping Miljö & Energi.

Under 2011 implementerade den svenska regeringen en lag om fysisk planering och hur den ska ta hänsyn till det regionala perspektivet. Den regionala nivån har traditionellt sett varit svag i Sverige i jämförelse med den lokala och nationella nivån och den fysiska planeringen ligger på kommunernas ansvar. Den regionala nivån har också anklagats, från vetenskapen och forskare, att vara avpolitiserande och fokusera på förhandling och samförstånd. Den fy-siska planeringen är organiserad och drivs genom demokratiska processer på kommunal nivå och det är politikerna som fattar de beslut som den fysiska planeringen jobbar efter.När fysisk planering ska ta hänsyn till det regionala perspektivet förändras villkoren för poli-tiken och det blir en förändrad politisk arena. Syftet med denna studie är att analysera aktörer i Värmland och deras syn på denna förändrade arena och de nya villkoren för politik den för med sig.

The role of cultural policy within the general political planning of a community can vary both historically and regionally. The aim of this study has been to explore the cultural policy plans, during the 1990's, in the recently formed geographical region of "Västra Götaland". This is a qualitative study, carried out during 1999, and based upon structured interviews with five representatives of the cultural-policy sector in the "Västra Götaland" region. In order to identify connections and tendencies in a more general social context the aims of the five representatives regarding cultural policy have been explored from the perspective of three cultural policy paradigms, namely Dorte Skot-Hansen, Olav R. Spilling and Göran Nylöf.

This master?s thesis investigates the technology and security awareness associated with wireless networks (WLAN). It has been stated by the media and theories that many wireless networks are unprotected. This has sparked an interest to investigate the phenomenon in the Jonkoping region. The study is based on the following research questions:- What security weaknesses are present with the WLAN-technology and how can these be avoided?- How does the wireless infrastructure in the Jonkoping region look like?- Why do companies implement the WLAN-technology?- Are the companies aware of the risks involved with WLAN?We conducted this study in three steps; the first step was to hack a wireless network in a controlled environment in order to investigate the weaknesses of the commonly used security measures.

I denna beskrivande studie undersöks vilka möjligheter de politiska sekreterarna i Region Skåne har att utöva politiskt inflytande. För att undersöka detta har vi utgått från tre maktforum. Information och bakgrundsmaterial har främst inhämtas genom samtalsintervjuer och en enkätundersökning. De politiska sekreterarna som intervjuats kommer från Folkpartiet, Miljöpartiet, Socialdemokraterna ochVänsterpartiet. Detta för att visa hur det politiska inflytande skiljer sig mellan oppositions- och majoritetspartier.

The Swedish industrial society has left several areas with contaminated soil and water which today is of danger for the environment and human health. One of these areas with contaminated soil and water is the region where the former Glava glassworks operated during 1859 to 1939. The main object in this study has been to study the responsibility for the contaminations according to the Environmental Code. The method used is a qualitative content analysis of relevant literature to answer the following questions:What types of contaminations can be found in the area of Glava glasswork and what health issues can these cause?What kind of activity has been conducted in the area that have caused the contaminations in soil and water?According to law, what are the responsibilities for the contaminations in soil and water at Glava glassworks?The contamination in the region has been confirmed to originate from the glasswork due to the environmental engineering survey made in the area in 2009.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the subject matter of visual communication in presentation brochures of two Swedish regions: Region Halland and Region Dalarna. My focuses are the following questions: what is the aim of the brochures and in what ways does the visual material relate to that aim? How can strategic communication be defined through a visual perspective and in what ways is it useful in the context of presentation brochures of the regions? What sort of communicational functions are specific for the visual material in relation to the written language of the brochures? Lead by these questions, I start by analyzing the brochures through a textual analysis and a social semiotic approach. The result shows that the aim seems to be both political and commercial, but that the visual elements relate more strongly to the commercial aim than to the political aim by the way they strive to present a positive image of the region. The visual elements work in strategic ways that I define as visual strategies.

The purpose of this study is to examine how risk is perceived by the urban architect's in the region Dalarna, as well as how this is reflected in their everyday work with risk and decision- making according to urban planning. The ambition is also to show how their risk awareness could be improved. The study is written in cooperation with Länsstyrelsen Dalarna as a part of their regional long-term goal to improve the region's proactive risk' and crisis management. The study is based upon 12 semi-structured interviews with local urban architects conducted during the summer and autumn 2007. The result shows that some architects are motivated for working with risk and think that risk awareness should be integrated in their everyday work, while others are not motivated and think that risk is more of a passing trend.

Alla företag som genomför en förändring uppnår inte ett positivt utfall av denna. En möjlig förklaring enligt forskare inom området skulle kunna vara valet av förändringsstrategi som bygger på olika sätt att initiera och olika tillvägagångssätt att genomföra förändringar. Syftet med denna uppsats är att studera vilken förändringsstrategi som organisationen valt och hur valet av förändringsstrategi påverkat utfallet av förändringen. Uppsatsen grundar sig på en fallstudie av Vägverket Region Norr i Luleå, där vi studerade införandet av TQM i organisationen. Vi har intervjuat tre personer som varit delaktiga i förändringsarbetet.