This report is the result of a degree project in building engineering, at an advanced level. The project evaluated a building from a technical and historical point of view, and focused on its energy consumption, particularly the energy used for heating. The building in question was a small apartment building in Strömsholm, Sweden. It was made in 1902, from vertical logs, a not so common form of the traditional log house. The goal of the project was to evaluate if the energy consumption could be reduced in accordance with building preservation regulations, that is without damaging any of the building?s cultural or historical values.The building was surveyed with the help of archive and literature studies, interviews and inspections.

Sweden was transformed to a democratic industrial society in the late 19th century. Political influence had been bound to the four estates, nobles, clergy, burghers and farmers. The reforms of the 1860s moved Sweden towards political democracy with universal suffrage. At the national level a two-chamber parliament was established in 1866. Political power should now be a function of economic status.

Background and problem discussion: Sustainability reporting has recently risen in importance and a rising number of companies choose to issue voluntary stand-alone sustainability reports. Their non-regulated nature increases the opportunity for management to angle the information in these disclosures to their own advantage. Lately the focus has shifted from examining what kind of information is provided in environmental disclosures, to analyzing how the information is presented.Purpose: The purpose is to examine if managers in the energy sector use optimistic tone when issuing sustainability reports. The aim is to find out if the tone applied in environmental disclosures is in congruence with either the environmental or economic performance or if an excessively positive tone is being used to mislead readers.Limitations: This study is limited to information found in environmental disclosures from private companies in the energy sector, issued in 2012 or 2013. Environmental performance is defined as the amount of CO2e emissions and economic performance refers to annual company revenues.Methodology: The quantification of optimistic tone is conducted using a content analysis, relying on a pre-specified wordlist and a pilot study.

Digitizing and digital libraries create great opportunities toprovide access to cultural heritage globally, but the quicklychanging information technology environment also raises manyquestions. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to analyse whatvisions and ideas behind one specific digital library, Europeana,that can be found in documentation related to the project. Whatideas can be identified concerning aspects such as userparticipation, access to information, knowledge andinformation literacy? What is the project?s role in relation toeducation, preservation of cultural heritage and democracy?The method used to answer these research questions is adescriptive idea analysis. The empirical material, consisting ofprimary sources written in relation to the project, has beencategorized within dimensions and analysed according toDouglas Raber?s three public library strategies: social activism,the conservative response and the populist initiative.

The current field of research concerning the impact of railroads in Sweden beside from the State main-line network is relatively narrow. Including cultural impact to the area narrows the results even further. The purpose of this study is to open the field even more into the local societies and to what extent the impact of the introduction of railroad might have had on smaller county villages. Sweden holds a unique position concerning ?station towns? or ?railways towns? in terms of railway policy and the industrial development in towns that were affected by the railway, as the affected towns continued development were based on a hybrid between direct democracy and adaptations of city-law policies.This study takes place in Kisa, a small town in southern Östergötland that during the beginning of the 20th century turned into a municipal community due to the building of Östra centralbanan (roughly translated Eastern central-line).

Local participation in nature conservation has gained more attention over the last decades due to international conventions as well as local and national initiatives. This development can be seen as a reaction to a more expert oriented nature conservation characterized by centralized control and strict preservation of so called "original" nature. The overall objective of this thesis is to contribute to research on new forms of conservation where democracy and local participation is included. The case study focuses on the process of producing a pre-study for a suggested national park in southern Jämtland in the Swedish mountain region, and aims to investigate to what extent local participation was included. The pre-study was led by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and the County Administrative Board (CAB) in Jämtland.

Det övergripande syftet var att ta reda på genren genus demonstrativums betydelse i politisk kriskommunikation och frågeställningarna var:  ? Hur använder Göran Persson genren genus demonstrativum för att bearbeta den politiska kris som ett ministermord innebär? ? Vad vill Göran Persson uppnå med sina tal och med vilka retoriska medel försöker han skapa mening kring mordet? ? Vilka attityder försöker Göran Persson få åhörarna att inta och hur gör han det?  Materialet bestod av fyra tal och den övergripande metoden var strukturell och stödmetoderna stil-, ideologkritisk-, och retorisk analys. Jag lutade mig bland annat mot teorier av Elmelund Kjeldsen och Johannesson. Studien visar att genren genus demonstrativum stärkte och enade medborgarna i ett krisdrabbat samhälle. Istället för att fokusera på dådet hyllade Göran Persson Anna Lindh och använde henne som symbol för det demokratiska samhället.

In June 2006 the Council of the European Union agreed on the review of the EU sustainable development strategy. This renewed strategy voices a commitment to sustainable development that includes a diverse list of safeguarded interests. Sustainability is to be attained in the spheres of democracy, solidarity, the rule of law, gender equality and at the same time it should promote a dynamic economy. Given this multifunctional application of sustainable development, curiosity may soon give rise to questions such as; What is the legal significance of the concept? Is it to be considered a general principle of Community law? And can it be used as an instrument in adjudication and legal reasoning? Anyone who looks deeper into the concept of sustainable development is soon to find a labyrinthine complex of ideas, expressions and opinions.

Denna studie behandlar delaktighet och inflytande mellan hem och förskola, vilket är ett av förskolans uppdrag enligt styrdokumenten. Vi har valt att genomföra denna studie för att få insyn i hur föräldrar på en förskola uppfattar sin delaktighet och sitt inflytande. Som verksamma i förskolan har vi funderat på om och hur vi möjliggör för föräldrar att förstå det demokratiska uppdraget och de både rättigheter och skyldigheter som det för med sig. Studiens syfte är att beskriva föräldrars uppfattning om delaktighet och inflytande i förskolans verksamhet och pedagogiska planering. I bakgrunden presenteras tidigare forskning om föräldrars delaktighet och inflytande.

SIDA?s relief work in Bosnia aims at making the country ready for a membership in the EU where the main focus lies in the creation of a sustainable state as well as liberalizing the market to create an increased economic cooperation between Bosnia and the rest of Europe. These ambitions are closely related to the neo-liberal theory of state building which aims at creating democratic societies in line with the western democracy model, with a liberal economy constituting its base. Despite generous financial aid, the democratic and economic development in Bosnia is moving very slowly and the ethnical tensions seem to grow despite international involvement in the country. The purpose of this study is to evaluate SIDA?s present relief work in Bosnia out of a peace perspective.

Forskningen om lobbyism i Sverige har hittills i huvudsak fokuserat på riksdagen. I den här uppsatsen undersöks lobbyism på kommunal nivå utifrån ett mottagarperspektiv med fokus på beslutsfattare och deras erfarenheter av lobbyism. Syftet är att belysa hur beslutsfattare i svenska kommunfullmäktige uppfattar att lobbyism går till i sina egna kommuner. Studiens utgångspunkt utgörs av lobbyismens relation till demokrati och i den kvalitativt genomförda undersökningen används en analysram baserad på tre värden för demokratisk lobbyism, benämnda transparens, jämlikhet och etik. Empirin har samlats in genom intervjuer med åtta kommunala fullmäktigeledamöter.

In recent years more countries have started to blur out their national boundaries to create andrely on international collaborations. China is one of the fastest growing markets in the worldand play an important role on export and import of commodities across the globe. ManySwedish companies have more business collaborations with China than ever. Differencesbetween the cultures can lead to many difficulties for both the employees and the employer.There is both a challenge and a necessityto find ways to communicate, and to get moreknowledge in how to follow and lead people from different background and perspectives. Theaim of this study is to investigate how leaders through their leadership deal with contextualdifferences between China and Sweden and which effect these differences can have.

There have been debates on the big differences in mathematics knowledge concerning pupils in Sweden and Finland. Especially, one common issue in the discussions of education is the Pisa test results, which take up in the media. In the Pisa research the Finnish pupils get through well year after year. Because of the discussions about the distinct school systems in Sweden and Finland, I found it interesting to investigate the divergence of the curriculums in these two countries. The main research questions asked were, what are the main differences and similarities in the Swedish and Finnish curriculums in primary school? Such as, is the assignment of primary school similar in Sweden and Finland?In my study I analyzed and compared by means of the curriculum especially mathe-matics teaching in primary schools in grade three in Sweden and in grade two Fin-land.

Background: The HIV-pandemic is a global concern. Everyday about 6000 adolescents become infected with HIV. The HIV-prevalence in Zambia among adolescents, between 15-24 years, were 3,8% for men and 12,7% for women in year 2005. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore adolescents` knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about HIV/AIDS in Livingstone in Zambia. Method: The sample consisted of 67 adolescents, 33 males and 34 females in age 15-24 years.

There have been debates on the big differences in mathematics knowledge concerning pupils in Sweden and Finland. Especially, one common issue in the discussions of education is the Pisa test results, which take up in the media. In the Pisa research the Finnish pupils get through well year after year. Because of the discussions about the distinct school systems in Sweden and Finland, I found it interesting to investigate the divergence of the curriculums in these two countries. The main research questions asked were, what are the main differences and similarities in the Swedish and Finnish curriculums in primary school? Such as, is the assignment of primary school similar in Sweden and Finland?In my study I analyzed and compared by means of the curriculum especially mathe-matics teaching in primary schools in grade three in Sweden and in grade two Fin-land.