This is a paper about the social services waiting rooms. Our aim with the study has been to:?Describe and problematize the physical environment in social services waiting rooms. A wider purpose is to lift the question about the waiting room as a significant part of peoples encounter with the social services.? To be able to achieve this purpose, we have used two questions: What does the physical waiting room environment look like in social services in Stockholms län? How can we understand and problematize the physical environment factors impact on people who visits these environments? We have observed and photographed ten waiting rooms in ten different social services in Stockholms län.

When one experiences a place, it is a complex composition of both social and spatial factors.One of these spatial elements, is scale, which is influenced both by the room size and itsproportions. This paper aims to explore both large and small scale concepts and thus increasethe understanding of how scale directly and indirectly affects the experiences and uses ofurban space.First, is a theoretical discussion of scale in relation to aesthetics and the differencesbetween real scale and perceived scale. Next, is an analysis of spatial perception usingexamples from two existing sites. One, which is understood to have been planned in a largescale and one which is understood to have been planned in a small scale.When preparing this paper, the focus quickly became the importance of scale as itrelates to street spaces. The perception of a street usually takes place while in motion, whichforces it to be perceived in sections.

This project was started within the Market-Design programme of Elforsk, with the aim of developing representative test systems of Swedish distribution networks. Using such test systems as a basis for reliability and customer interruption cost calculations makes it feasible to analyse the network tariff regulation of Swedish power  istribution companies. In particular, it enables studies of the incentives for companies to invest in system reliability. Until now, the available test systems are either not representative of Swedish conditions, or too small in scale and limited in function.Within this project we have created two test systems. In order to represent the diversity of actual Swedish distribution networks, we have created one test system for urban environments and another for rural environments.

This dissertation examines how creativity can be of benefit for the school. It discusses if there is a need or demand for it and how the present situation is in Swedish schools. Defining creativity accurately is difficult but it is relevant to look at the environments that use creativity. There is a vast amount of literature that uses creativity and it varies to some extent. Creativity originates from meetings and combinations, both within and outside of the individual.

Introduction: The world is changing rapidly and the uncertainty that characterizes today´s society makes companies preparations for the future crucial. Purpose: To examine how CEO:s in small companies look at the future and what kind of preparations they make in order to meet it. Hereby, our ambition is to find out whether there is a difference between companies working in industries characterized by different degrees of stability. Mode of procedure: The purpose of this thesis has been fulfilled by interviews with four CEO:s from industries characterized by different degrees of stability. Result: The companies working in relatively unstable environments tended to be relatively more flexible and have an emergent strategy formation process, whereas companies working in relatively stable environments displayed relatively less flexibility and tended to have a planning strategy formation process..

Background: Heart failure is a complex condition which means that the hearts capacity topump blood is reduced. The aim of this study was to investigate how patients with heartfailure considered their knowledge and the information they received about their disease andself-care.Method: Patients suffering from heart failure, hospitalized at section 30 E (n=13), andpatients visiting the nurse led heart failure clinic (n=4) at Akademiska sjukhuset in Uppsala,were requested to participate in the study. The patients answered questions about knowledgeand information concerning self-care and their disease. Data were analyzed using SPSS 15.0.Results: The patients valued their knowledge about the disease as lower than their knowledgeabout self-care. The study showed that all the patients found the information they hadreceived about their self-care better than the information they had received about theirdisease.

Society and technology develop together in interaction processes. Because of the development of information technology, the Industrial society has been left behind in favor of a society where information is the key production factor, i.e. the Information society. In the Information society, social functions and processes are organized in networks. These networks integrate geographically separate markets to parts of a complex global economic system.

In outdoor education the empirical outdoor experience is an important basis for a learning process ? the teacher can affect learning with the choice of location. In order to develop the model in school, we need to build on teachers' perception of how their every day schoolwork looks like. This paper takes as its starting point at three teachers' perception of their learning environment and outdoor environments as well as a theoretical model of the site's importance in the learning process. The paper addresses both the importance of a structured and a unstructured meeting with outdoor sites.

This essay discusses people's perception of what is important for their well-being where they live. The main aim has been to find out what factors in the outdoor environments of the city are appreciated and why they are valued positively. A comparison has been made between Uppsala in Sweden and Tarapoto in Peru to see if, and in that case what, differences can be found in the values of people. I chose to carry out a survey study that got a response rate of 57 persons in Tarapoto and 63 in Uppsala. The results show that there are some common basic values, but on the whole the outdoor environments are valued differently in the two cities. In short, the Peruvians value functionality, cleanliness, small distances to family and service, while the Swedes value a central location and short distances to friends apart from functionality and good service opportunities. Conceivable reasons for this might be for example different cultural prerequisits, material standard and climate. .

With this essay we have had the intention of observing Linköping University as an example of a public authority undergoing change. In the information society of today, the increasing competition and internationalization affects, not only companies and organizations, but also the public sector. After having been concerned with neutral information spread only, according to"the third mandate", employees at the Department of Information at Linköping University has also started dealing with marketing, so as to increase the recruitment of students. As a result of this, the work team has been divided into an editorial staff and a department with emphasis on market issues. To strengthen the trademark of Linköping University one has chosen to mediate certain values representative for the university - an interdisciplinary and innovative approach and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Nature-like plantations are areas that, by today?s maintenance procedure usually gains low prioritiy and are forgotten. Most nature-like plantations are currently disadvantaged and have in many cases grown up and formed dense,impenetrable and brushwoody green volumes. These green volumes is rarely used, but usually only fills out gap surfaces. With proper care nature-like plantations can become health promoting environments in the increasinglyhardened urban environments.How vegetation systems work and how trees and shrubs interact is dependent on many factors.

The theses discuss information seeking with a focus on Google and social networks. Students attending the librarian program in Lund have been examined by means of two methods; diaries and information horizons, where they had to solve a specific assignment. The information horizon as a method contributes to getting a structural perspective on the information search process instead of viewing information search as a procedure. Information horizons use social network analysis.The aim of the theses is to investigate the importance of the social network in information search, with a particular focus on Google as a search tool. Our hypothesis is that Google acts as a compensator to the social network when the students search for information and in the educational program.The research indicates that there is no direct correlation between usage of the social network and usage of Google.

In today?s constantly changing market place most organizations need to reorganize. Reorganization carries risks that could jeopardize the organization's well-being and profitability. To minimize these risks, companies need a tool to help them analyze how the reorganization will affect the business before they make major changes. Such tool has now been developed by researchers at KTH.

Risk management has become a key ingredient for businesses all over the world. High Reliability Organizations (HRO) has distinguished themselves as experts in this area. By continuously focusing on improving their ability to manage risks they?ve been able to successfully avoid catastrophes in environments where normal accidents can be expected due to complexity and risk factors.The aim of the thesis is to improve the risk management at Apotekens Service by applying theories from HRO and safety culture. In July 2009, following the re-regulation of the Swedish pharmacy market, Apotekens Service AB was appointed national pharmacy infrastructure supplier for the Swedish health care system.

The purpose of my study is to describe how educators think about the play environment, the nature and its importance for the children's development and learning in preschool. The study is based on qualitative interviews with four active educators. The results of the study show that the teachers regarded the children's interests to a great extent when the different play environments were structured. They are also based on different themes that they have seen that the children were interested in, such as the fire station, hair salon or shop and café. Educators designing not only these play areas for different types of play for the children, but the different environments also have a learning purpose. The outdoor environment however attracts greater interest from children, to where they have more space to move freely in and outdoors, there are no limits to the children.