I have always lived around mines and around people work­ing with mines. They are a natural part of my life and, inev­itably, a great interest of mine. When time came to make a decision for a degree project, focusing on the mine context felt as natural as breathing.In LKABs underground mines, safety in fire accidents is a great priority. Of outmost importance for the escape is to have a personal gas filter for filtration of smoke and/or gas. My design project resulted in a concept which is aimed at shortening the user journey from the start of the accident until the user has applied the personal safety solution and is ready to escape.Throughout the project I?ve been working with a context which is heavily regulated, and all problems are serious, important ones.

During the period after the Second World War Sweden underwent a quick transformation due to a strong economic development. Decades-long rule for the Social Democratic Party now led to the creation, in Sweden, of a modern welfare state. This period in Swedish history is often considered to be the time when ?the Swedish model? was formed. Tage Lindbom (1909?2001) was a historian and intellectual in the Swedish labor movement.

Public participation in urban planning is meant to increase democracy in the planning process. Even though all citizens have the option to participate in urban planning debates, few seize their chance to partake. This thesis describes a study on how user needs are met and prioritized in design processes concerning urban planning. The aim was to determine whether user-centered design (UCD) methods could be used as an avenue for public participation in urban planning and ultimately invite more citizens into the planning process.The thesis details a design process where a team worked to develop Farsta, a suburb of Stockholm. The design problem was the question of how Farsta could become an attractive business location.

Competence is a complex concept that encompasses many facets. This study aims fora better understanding of the concept. Many branches of business administration science would benefit from a better understanding of competence and, through that understanding, find solutions where competence is one of many variables. By combining a positivistic and phenomenological approach, this study has created a broader understanding of the concept of competence.The study combines systematic study of the relevant literature with in-depth interviewswith people representing both the employer and the union within the staffing company world.The results show that quantifying competence is a complex and next to impossible task, as it would involve including the whole concept of competence in the calculations. When this is done, the phenomenon itself becomes so complex that it loses its validity.This is why theorists who want to perform this type of calculations put most of the competence complexity in ?the black box?.

Denna studie avser att undersöka och analysera fyra verksamma lärares uppfattningar om det vidgade textbegrepp som uttrycks i kursplanen i svenska 2000 och vilken betydelse deras uppfattning om det begreppet får för elevers undervisning i svenskämnet. Studien ska dessutom undersöka och analysera deras uppfattningar om hur ett vidgat textbegrepp kan förstås och relateras gentemot styrdokumenten i svenskämnet. För att fånga fyra lärares uppfattningar om ett vidgat textbegrepp och vilken betydelse deras uppfattning får för deras elevers svenskundervisning, har intervjuer genomförts i grundskolan med fyra lärare i år 6-9. Förhoppningen var att dessa intervjuer skulle ge en bild av verksamma lärares uppfattning om ett vidgat textbegrepp och hur det gestaltas i deras undervisning. Resultatdelen i uppsatsen upplyser om de fyra lärarnas olika uppfattningar om ett vidgat textbegrepp och vilken betydelse det får för elevers undervisning i svenskämnet.The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the understanding, of four teachers, about the wide text concept as it is put in the Swedish curriculum of 2000, and what meaning their opinion has for their teaching in Swedish arts.

Due Diligence is today an important part of the transaction process through sales of properties and isan important process for both sellers and buyers. The process intends to review an asset before atransaction to minimize the risks associated with the acquisition by detecting weaknesses and verifythe asset's characteristics. The use of Due Diligence has become increasingly common over the pasttwenty years in the Swedish real estate market and there is no indication that this trend will decreasebut rather increase. Although there is widespread use of the process both in acquisitions ofcorporations and properties, both in Sweden and in the rest of the world, it is costly for thepurchasers and the concept is far from fully developed.This thesis aims to clarify what the real estate market thinks about the potential development of theprocess itself and the role of the actors. The main question is what opportunities exist to develop theconcept of Due Diligence in real estate transactions.

This thesis investigates how recipient countries' domestic type of democracy affects its inclusive ownership in international development cooperation. This is done by examining Swedish development cooperation with Rwanda and Tanzania during the period from 2010 to 2014, a time when ownership - a concept which emphasizes recipient countries' leadership over its own development - was a central part of the international development agenda. The two cases were selected through a most similar case design where the value of potential explanatory variables was similar, except for the recipient countries' types of democracy. Furthermore, the case study uses a comparative analysis to analyze strategies and reports done by SIDA and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previous research focuses on the exclusion that national ownership can result in, in undemocratic national contexts. The main argument for this should be seen as the fact that ownership can not be representative if the power of the recipient's development agenda is limited to a decision-making elite.

Fortifikationsverket which is the landlord for the Swedish national defence has a great problem in their forestry due to the relatively large amount of metal objects in their timber. These metal objects cause different types of economical losses in the timber refinement chain. To enable out sorting of logs containing metal objects already in the harvesting phase, Fortifikationsverket is interested of the possibility to utilize some type of metal detector in a harvesting head for that purpose.The goal of this study was to, with help of a case study, enlighten the problem that metal objects in timber cause for Fortifikationsverket and their customers of timber and to investigate conditions of to mount and utilize some kind of metal detector in a harvesting head at present.The saw timber deliveries by Fortifikationsverket during the time period 2003-2005 was used as a reference volume for calculations of economical losses. In this case study was included two sawmills where timber from Fortifikationsverket were delivered to for further refinement. Factors investigated were the type of damage metal objects caused in these two sawmills and the economical signification of these damages.

This thesis was performed at SverigeGrepen AB. SverigeGrepen is a company that hasone product on the market; a manure fork that is designed to be used for mucking inshavings or peat. The aim of this thesis was to develop a new manure fork that isadapted to be used in straw.The development started with a pilot study where experience of mucking wascollected to be able to understand what and why certain characteristics are importantfor the function and use of the manure fork.A basic concept was developed where the main function was fulfilled, which meantthat a separation between dung and straw could be performed in a way that wasbeneficial for the user.The work resulted in four concepts of how a manure fork could be used in the strawthat can be designed and constructed. The conclusion that the work gave was that allconcepts met the main requirements required by a manure fork to use in straw.However, concept four provides a good visual impression, while its benefits areassumed to be important qualities..

Lättelement located in Örnskoldsvik AB is one of Sweden's leading companies in the development of building elements in the form of roofs, walls and floors made ??out of light beams. The company has clients from Lund to Kiruna, and from Norway. This means that the elements have high standards when they have to take many different loads from wind and snow due to such wide geographic variation.The roof elements are structured so that the main body is made of light beams with an I?profile.

The purpose of this study is to explore active after-school teacher?s perceptions of the concept of meaningful leisure time. The purpose of the study is also to investigate if the interpretations of meaningful leisure time affect the perception of their work roles and after-school teacher?s actual work in a leisure activity. The study also provides an insight into how afterschool teachers perceive their roles in general.

During Spring semester 2011, Linda Engstrom and Malin Heder performed ?Golden Ratio?, a thesis which included 22.5 hp. The thesis followed the syllabus for the Degree Project for degree of Bachelor of Science in Innovation and Design Engineering (MSGC12) which was a unit in the Innovation and Design Engineering program within the Faculty of Technology and Science at Karlstad University.The client was Crem International AB, a company located in Åmotfors that develops the design, manufactures and markets coffee machines. The supervisor at the company has been Peter Larsson and supervisor at Karlstad University has been Monica Jakobsson. Examiner for the thesis has been Professor Fredrik Thuvander at the Faculty of Technology and Science at Karlstad University.Crem International AB controls a patent, representing a new technology to streamline and minimize use of energy during the coffee preparation and results in a good coffee quality.

Testing and analysis of measurement data is a major part of the workday for development engineers within the section Fluid and Emission Treatment to assure the quality of products developed by Scania CV. The ineluctable variation and therefore uncertainty of results can be quantified and discussed with the use of statistical methods.The overall objective of this study is to examine how the competence of development engineers can be improved within the area of statistics. This has been done by relating the concept of competence with the use of statistical methods to analyse experimental data and by investigating which factors that influence the competence of the engineers. Observations of the daily operations, interviews and a focus group with development engineers and a workshop with management personnel, has been used as research methods in this study.The results show that the desired competence, from the perspective of the individual, consists of knowledge, motivation and support. It is important that none of these parts are neglected when the competence of engineers is to be strengthened.

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to study the importance of having a website for traditional service companies as well as the factors that might influence its importance. This is done by answering three research questions that all contribute to the answer of the main purpose. A qualitative study has been performed including eight interviews with respondents from eight different service companies presenting four different types of businesses. The empirical findings of the study are analyzed with the help of the theoretical frame of references in order to identify the most interesting conclusions. The results of the thesis state that the main purpose of the website among the studied companies is to rationalize and save costs.

The concept Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) describes a company's social and environmental work. More and more companies have embraced the concept of CSR and for some businesses, it has become equally important to present its efforts within CSR as to present its latest profits.The purpose of this essay is to establish an overall picture of a company's CSR efforts and to discuss the potential conflict between CSR and the aim for profit We investigate how businesses can improve their CSR effort so that it contributes to a positive development for the society while still creating economic value for the company. The study is based on a qualitative study of four Swedish companies in the fashion industry: Kappahl, Gina Tricot, Åhlens and Indiska. The results show that according to the theoretical framework, the four companies do not reach a complete strategic approach to CSR. To achieve this it is necessary for the companies to change their current CSR-activities..