This thesis concerns how local governments use the concept sustainable development, and what the concept means. The concept of Agenda 21 and local Agenda 21 will also be discussed in this essay, because it's an instrument for local governments to specify their work towards sustainable development. I have interviewed civil servants in leading positions in the municipalities? work with environmental questions and sustainable development. In the choice of method for this thesis, I use the qualitative method and for the interviews I chose the ?semi structure way of interviewing?.This thesis shows that local governments? implementation of sustainable development and Agenda 21 differ between the municipalities.

We have the tradition in Sweden to build villas and houses with a wooden framework. It has become natural for us because we have so much forest in our country. Building with wood has advantages, it is easy to process, but also disadvantages, as it is sensitive to moisture.Finland has long made use of the thermal blocks to build villas. It is a type of bricks that are a bit like a sandwich element, with a core of EPS and concrete on both sides of the core material. The concrete is hollow, so that after the walls has been bricked up you pour concrete into the hollow bricks.The issue of this report is to find out if concrete can be an alternative to wood as framework material in villas.

Several studies have analysed the relationship between Normalised DifferenceVegetation Index (NDVI) and radiative surface temperature. A main goal for moststudies have been to find the best method for carrying out land cover classificationsand to study land cover changes, based on a combination between the twoparameters. Since atmospheric components have a significant influence on bothparameters, most applications were based on multi-temporal data. The quality of theindividual values in such a combination is improved, but the biophysical justificationis uncertain. This study presents a different method, based on only the combination ofvalues that have been registered the same day and about the same time of the day.125 daily images of NDVI and 250 images of radiometric temperature were used inorder to analyse the relationship between (1) NDVI and radiative temperature and (2)NDVI and relative temperature difference between early morning and mid-day.Results between NDVI and radiative temperature show a significant negativecorrelation on areas where a distinct growing season develops, and a strong positivcorrelation where vegetation is abscent throghout the season.

The purpose of this essay is to analyse how the leadership and the structure of the organization affect the process of changes within a specific department in Lunds kommun socialdepartment, from the director of social work to the co-workers at Utredningsenheten för ungdom och familj. We aim to answer the following questions;How does the structure of organisation affect the process of change?What do the co-workers and the leaders believe is the best way to engage the co-workers in the change?How does the leaders view their own leadership in the process of change?How does the co-workers view the leadership in the process of change?How does the leadership affect the process of change?To develop an organisation and to make it a functional, change is a necessity. The leaders are they who create the change but the co-workers are they who make it happen. In the process of change, leadership and the leaders capacity to create motivation for the co-workers, is therefore a matter that is decisive to its success.This is a study based on a qualitative method, where the interview is the main source of empirical material.

Milk yield levels in dairy cows are influenced by many factors such as nutrition, breed, health status, management and environment. This study was conducted among small scale farmers in Zambia, where the climate can be dry for up to six months per year and cause a lack of green pasture for livestock and on-farm produced feed. The purpose of this study was to identify management factors that can influence milk yield at small scale dairy farms in Zambia, and present advice that could improve productivity, without the need of expensive investments. The study included semi-structured questionnaires presented to the farmers (n=29) including questions about cattle management and milk production. Testing of somatic cell count (SCC) with DCC (DeLaval Cell Counter) from herd milk samples (n=56) and observation of housing and animal body condition on-farm was also made.

The goals of this Bachelors? Thesis were to establish the production loss through the VTIS1 Pasteur at Arla Foods Linköping dairy and then suggest simple but effective solutions to minimize the losses for each production run. If the timeframe allowed it, some of the solutions would be implemented and tested in full production to determine their impact on economic and environmental savings.The very first step of this project was to establish the statistics over what losses there is in the production pipeline through VTIS1, from milk and powders in mixer tanks to finished and packed products in cold storage. Then, when knowing how much product was actually lost and where, those bottlenecks could be pinpointed and examined more closely. At this stage the focus was switched, from the otherwise complicated and broad manufacturing process, to the VTIS1-aggregate, since early data indicated there were quite substantial losses there.In conjunction with this project Arla Foods purchased an absorption photometer-measuring device (OPTEK AS16) that could be inserted straight into the product stream out of VTIS1, allowing real time measurements of its optical density.

The main environmental problem for aviation is the great amount of exhaust gases, mainly nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons - mostly "greenhouse gases" leading to climate changes. I decided to sort out what is being done to decrease these problems and what regulations there are concerning air pollution by the means of searching the internet and using publications from aviation authorities for current figures. I chose to scrutinize authorities on political, authority and company level, resulting in summarizing the work of UN and EU respectively, ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), JAA (Joint Aviation Authorities) and LFV (Swedish Civil Aviation Authority), and finally SAS, representing the airline companies. Conclusion that I have drawn are thatthere are regulations for air pollution, written down in ICAO's Annex 16, that are to be followed. Secondly, LFV are environmentally controlling their nineteen airports and since economy is an important reason for not giving priority to environmental issues in aviation emission charge and noise charge are added to the landing fees.

Environmental impact and management of energy is a highly topical issue in today's society. Climate impact must be reduced. The Government has set a target to reduce energy consumption in buildings by 20 % by 2020 and 50 % by 2050 compared to the energy use in 1995.With this in mind, we chose to examine how property owners can work on improving energy efficiency in existing apartment buildings. We also wanted to investigate profitability of different increasing energy efficiency measures and the calculation methods and the risk assessment performed by such investments. To tie in with government objectives, we also saw the possibilities of achieving these goals.20 companies were interviewed, of which 14 were property owners and 6 were consulting firms that works with energy efficiency.

Environmental issues and ecology is something that is discussed by the Climate board of the UN and by our Swedish politicians. The first part of the thesis deals with the effects of emissions of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. There is a discussion about what counts as greenhouse gas. Interviews have been made with two growers of annual plants and one interview with a person who has worked hard to increase the use of perennials in his work place, Mjösund?s cemetery.

In this essay I have summarized important factors for an effective, but also successful, way to raise and house heifers. This study can be used for other dairy farms to use as guidelines in their process to raise heifers. To let outside heifer growers house, feed and have the heifers pregnant before return, can save a lot of work. But also moneywise, when the care and individual programs makes them strong and increases the growth.The result is a faster breeding and an earlier time for their first calving.In Sweden the heifers tend to be older if you compare with Denmark or United States where the custom heifer raising is well known and growing. One reason can be the Swedish laws regarding outside grassing for all cows during the summer months.

Risk-based sampling program of microorganisms in the water source in northern SwedenAfter several disease outbreaks caused by parasites in the drinking water during the last years, it is more essential than ever to insure that the water supply companies have enough barriers to counteract the presence of microorganisms in the outgoing water. It is also discussed whether climate changes such as increased precipitation can have a connection to the increased cases of parasites in water sources. The water source at Gäddvik is Luleå municipality?s largest and provides drinking water to 64 500 of Luleå?s 74 000 inhabitants. The investigation of microorganisms in the water source, especially in the Lule River has not been as prioritized as the sampling of chemical parameters.

Background: Last year (2006) has been a year when the environmental issues figured more often in the media, and the environmental awareness among common people increased. Environmental climate reports have lately been on the headline all over the world. As a result of the increasing population in the world, it?s becoming more important to be aware of the environment. To do that, it is important to maximize the efficiency in the work with the environment.

In this thesis tests has been performed on the pull strength of screws glued into glulam beams.The experiment is based on the already approved method whereby the diameter of the drilled holes is the same as the screw outer diameter of 1 mm or bigger. The screws strength class shall not be less than 4.6 (EN ISO 898-1:1999, 1999).The difference in the experiments that were performed where that the drilled diameter were 1 mm smaller than the outer diameter of the screw so that the screw thread was worked into the wood.In the tests the gluing where made on M8 glulam beams. The screws where drilled at and angel of 90°tangental to the fiber direction with a diameter of 7 mm. The gluing of the screws where made in three different depths and where later exposed to pulling forces. The results showed both pulling breaks and screw breaks when they reached their maximum capacity.

People who live in northern part of the world spend much more time indoors than those who live in warmer countries. In addition that home should be safe, it should also protect one against heat, cold, sunlight and pollution. The indoor environment is affected by installations, material and how the building is formed. Those anomalies that are visible, felt or smelled can be noticed and be rectified. But it?s much more difficult if these abilities are missing.

In the government's bill on infrastructure for 2010-2021, the government presents that road investments should be prioritized before investments in the railway. The grants for operation and maintenance of the railways are much higher then in the last government's bill. Furthermore the current founding of investment in railways is higher then for road investment which is in opposite of the bill on infrastructure's directives. Therefore the purpose with my thesis is to find which factors that can explain how come the government has chosen to take these actions. As a model to help me achieve my purpose I have been using a modified version of the DBO-theory, where the basic factors to explain an action is Desire, Belief and Opportunities.