This is a qualitative study made to find out individuals experience of life in the residential Kronoparken in Karlstad. The study is a part of a municipality supported project aiming to find points of improvement and work for the area's development. This study is a first step to hear in what way the residents themselves describe their neighborhood and their lives. A total of thirteen people participated in focus groups with semi-structured interviews as data collection and the study was based on an availability sample which in this case meant that citizens of the residential Kronoparken were asked to participate. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis and in the analysis three themes appeared that summed up what the participants talk about and emphasized most: a divided area, anticipation and valuation as well as a comfortable and healthy every day living.

The theme of this thesis is citizen participation in the planning- and design process. It turns to everyone that studies landscape architecture or work as landscape architects and I hope that it can function as a ground for discussions as well as a source for inspiration. Rågsved is a suburb south of Stockholm. Just outside the centre of this suburb, a small industrial area called Snösätra, is located. In a few years time the leaseholds for the small industries will expire and the key question is: What will happen then? This is my general concern and it was the main cause for me to start this particular work. How do you attend to a place that appears like blank sheet of paper? To an empty page that can be filled with an infinite number of different formulations.

The aim of this thesis is to examine how the identity of the public librarianwith regard to reading is manifested in the library field. The approaches thatare taken to reading and readers are examined as well as the consequencesdifferent approaches might have. The empirical material is based on 93articles published in Swedish library journals. The theoretical andmethodological starting point is discourse analysis. The application ofdiscourse analysis according to Michel Foucault?s hypotheses reveals threediscursive formations regarding the professional identity of public librarianswithin the framework of reading promotion: The public librarian asguarantor of democracy is related to the public library's original mission offostering, cultivating and educating citizens.

At the beginning of the 21st century, youth unemployment is paid attention to by the Swedish government and media. A grand part of the unemployed youth live at their parents´ house because of economic reasons contrary to their primary goal to be able to make their own living. It can be argued that the young unemployed´ s social citizenship is inferior to working citizens´ social citizenship. The thesis will not deal with suggestions on practical solutions, but rather seek for theoretical answers to whether the responsibility for the young people referred to should be a responsibility of the State or of the family. Communitarianism is a relatively young theory which is interesting for this thesis because it sheds light on the dichotomy individual - community.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: In the Swedish government?s public health policy the municipalities are emphasized as one of the most important actors. Based on their broad range of operations the municipalities have good opportunities to influence the health situation of its citizens. Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate how the local public health coordinators in Region Västra Götaland are working and what barriers they experience in their work.

The purpose of this thesis is to study how swedishness is constructed and narrated in two Swedish documentary series that picture the Swedish participation in the international ISAF mission in Afghanistan. The main focus lies on how the Swedish soldier as such is portrayed, on which values, characteristics and qualities that they are said to embody and how these are linked to notions of swedishness, particularly the strong historical narrative, formed during the second half of the twentieth century, that defines Sweden as a peaceful, neutral and humanitarian state, with peaceful, enlightened and democratically minded citizens. Theoretically it draws on the concept of metanarrative to explain how ideas of shared national origin translates in to a broad organizing discourse, that defines, interprets and communicates notions of what it means to be a Swede and what is needed to make claims on swedishness. Another concept, that of national bodyscape, is also used to further define and explain how ideas of nationality are embodied and take the form of specific characteristics and  personal qualities. The meaning-making in these two series makes use of the above mentioned definition of swedishness as defined by humanitarian concerns, democratic ideals and moral superiority to construct an image of the Swedish soldiers as on the one hand soft, humanitarians, who are needed in Afghanistan because of their especially strong sense of justice and moral, and, on the other, as tough soldiers, who are able to participate in every aspect of the war as fighters.

The purpose of this thesis is to study how swedishness is constructed and narrated in two Swedish documentary series that picture the Swedish participation in the international ISAF mission in Afghanistan. The main focus lies on how the Swedish soldier as such is portrayed, on which values, characteristics and qualities that they are said to embody and how these are linked to notions of swedishness, particularly the strong historical narrative, formed during the second half of the twentieth century, that defines Sweden as a peaceful, neutral and humanitarian state, with peaceful, enlightened and democratically minded citizens. Theoretically it draws on the concept of metanarrative to explain how ideas of shared national origin translates in to a broad organizing discourse, that defines, interprets and communicates notions of what it means to be a Swede and what is needed to make claims on swedishness. Another concept, that of national bodyscape, is also used to further define and explain how ideas of nationality are embodied and take the form of specific characteristics and  personal qualities. The meaning-making in these two series makes use of the above mentioned definition of swedishness as defined by humanitarian concerns, democratic ideals and moral superiority to construct an image of the Swedish soldiers as on the one hand soft, humanitarians, who are needed in Afghanistan because of their especially strong sense of justice and moral, and, on the other, as tough soldiers, who are able to participate in every aspect of the war as fighters.

AbstractTitle: External communication and brand strategies in Swedish municipalities? Author: Philip Hagne & Einar Svensson? Tutor: Jessica Gustafsson? Purpose: The aim of this thesis was to study and obtain greater understanding on how Swedish municipalities use external communication and branding strategies to gain and attract more residents. The key questions to be answered in this thesis were: What does the external communication look like in the selected municipalities? Are the selected municipalities trying to establish their own brand? What does the work on creating the brand look like??Method/Material: This thesis is based on material collected trough interviews with people working with external communication in eleven swedish municipalities. The selected municipalities where divided into two groups based on their negative or positive population growth between 2005 and 2012.

Within the field of welfare research, few people take into account both the aspect of gender and class. Thetraditional class-oriented research has a one-dimensional perspective on gender and the feminist welfare researchrarely carry out large comparative studies. A multi-dimensional perspective on the construction ofgender and class would benefit from both the feminist and class welfare-oriented research, and contribute toincreasing the knowledge about the individual's experience and attitudes to work and work time. The aim ofthis paper is to examine the correlation of the intersectional relationship between sex / gender position andclass position with the attitudes and motives for working time reduction. Especially in, (1) the value in work,and (2) the attitude to a high number of working hours, as well as (3) its combined effect on the conflict betweenwork and family.

Nationalism during the early 20th century, was often shaped around efforts to create feelings of fellowship within the frontiers. Fellow feelings was considered as a necessity to convince the people that their efforts served mutual goals.Beginning in the 19th century, the European nations experienced a great many projects for this purpose. In the early 20th century the efforts grew. The danger of war and the competition for economic power, contributed the increase of nationalist movements. At the same time, many influential intellectuals also expressed apprehensions about the urbanized way of life; measures were necessary to secure the future success of the nation.The national movements in Sweden, played a prominent role in the creation of a greater patriotic feeling.

Malmö has often been described as a segregated city, with relatively low democratic participation and high poverty and alienation. Behind this kind of statements we often find a material reality, with unequal distribution of assets and potentials that needs to be taken into consideration for political action. At the same time this categorisation of people into different groups can take stigmatising effects and result in increased inequality.I find the theoretical basis for my thesis in Lefebvre?s writings on ?the right to the city?, that shortly means that all inhabitants of a city have the right to take active part in the constantly ongoing process of producing and reproducing the city ? on all levels, from a hands-on everyday life level to a more abstract political level.With an interdisciplinary approach, where the right to the city is discussed in relation to citizenship, presence, representation and public space, I try to understand the connections between democracy, participation, justice and equality. These discussions are then applied to examples from Malmö; both publically initiated projects and individual physical markings in the city.

Swedish law is very keen on the fact that every person should be treated equal when facing the legal system. When it comes to cases concerning children, social workers and judges are expected to strictly obey the rules of the law but at the same time make individual judgements based on the best interest of the child, something that requires a great deal of empathy and knowledge. Is it possible to live up to the maxim about equality and to simultaneously see the individual needs? With so many different parties and angles in the case, how does one manage to make a solid appraisal of the situation that truly serves the best interest of the child?The purpose of this study was to examine the capability within the social services with focus on objectivity. More specifically it's aim was to find out how the social workers and judges see their capability of being objective in the investigations concerning children.

This essay is about the asylum and immigration politics within the EU. Due to the heavy criticism the EU has been exposed to from among others different kind of human rights organizations I have become interested to find out what kind of asylum and migration politics right now is being formed by the member states of the union. Thus the purpose is also to see if the EU is creating a policy within this area that intends to live up to the human rights obligations.My overall research question is:Which ideas characterize the asylum and immigration politics within the EU?The theoretical perspectives of universalism and particularism are used as two analytical tools in order to understand the phenomenon I am investigating and to identify its characterizing ideas. In my essay universalism and particularism are used as opposite ideal types.

An effective Integration policy is important in Sweden while our government has decided and committed to be a country where everybody will be given the same opportunities. There is a greater awareness in today?s society of integration policy goals such as equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities for all. In a number of areas, however, the disparities between immigrants and Swedish-born citizens are still too large.The Swedish Riksdag decided on integration policy in 1997. The main task for this thesis will be to examine the motive behind the Government's decision to revoke immigrations policy and introduce integration policy.

The visions of the United Nations concerning sustainable development and conservation of biodiversity can only be realized if the human population succeeds in creating coexistence between human and wildlife. Landscape architects are able to influence on how landscapes are to be maintained and developed. The negative impact of infrastructure on wildlife has become a critical problem in Sweden and other parts of Europe. Wildlife crossings has been developed as a solution for the problems of road barriers in the landscape. The crossings are made to give animals a better opportunity to cross roads.