The Swedish integration policy acts upon that all citizen should have equal rights and possibilities no matter ethnic and cultural background. In today's Sweden it is more or less a self-evident that immigrants ought to prepare the possibility to preserve their original cultural distinctive character according to the Governments Proposition 1997/98:16. Simultaneously the term integration and its actual meaning and its political significance are not always clear.Immigrants as a categorization are often overloaded with negative overtone and risk to seem discriminated. The category reinforces also a ?we? and ?them? thinking.

There are some students who leave their studies. How can this be explained? Are present day high school students satisfied with their choice of school or the courses they have chosen? How did they decide what to study in upper secondary school? The main focus of this study is to examine the factors that influence the decision making of young people when it comes to choosing schools, their educational ambitions, and finally their focus on grades in Upper secondary school.   The study is based on the quantitative method, extracting its results through a poll conducted at an upper secondary school. The target audience of this poll was students that are completing their second year.  A statistical analysis of the results was carried out and the results were then presented by relevant diagrams.

That many creative workers have uncertain and uneven incomes is well-established, but how or why they make a living is not. This paper examines the elusive value exchanges between creatives, buyers, consumers, and other economic supporters, and offers a model of how creatives make a living. By mapping income statistics of Swedish creatives together with in-depth interviews some patterns emerge. This, combined with Bourdieu's theories of social, cultural and symbolic capital, and Knorr's objects of sociality, forms a basis for a structured model of value exchange. The paper shows how creative workers create economic and non-economic capital (capitalization), how they advertise this capital (signaling), and how they convert between different types of capital (conversion) in order to make a living.

Today's climate and environmental issues have now been up for discussion for quite long. Various environmental measures have been taken, but it is not always certain that those measures actually are for the better because of the complexity of our environment. Therefore, studies of whole life cycles are very important even if they are time and resource intensive.Real estate accounts for 15% of global carbon emissions, but also affects our environment in many other aspects. In Sweden this number is even higher. About 30 % of its carbon dioxide emissions originates from building sector and changes are therefore of great importance.

The aim of the present study is to describe and analyse how an inter-cultural perspective presents itself in the didactic considerations and in the practice of preschool teachers on a multiethnic preschool.The theoretical perspective upon which the study is founded is social constructivism, but in addition to this Ingegerd Municio?s idea of two existing discourses present within the institutions in the Swedish educational system, as well as René León?s concept of a diversified normality, has been used as theoretical tools and points of departure.The empirical investigation consists of a qualitative field study at a multi-ethnic preschool, where participating observation and group interviews have been used to collect data. In these teachers from the preschool have participated.The results and the analysis of the data show that an inter-cultural perspective surfaces in the didactic considerations and in the practice of the preschool teachers in their construction of a diversified normality. The diversified normality thus constructed is constituted through different social processes. I have here identified the following ones: the preschool teachers emphasize differences among the children in general, they allow that the children behave differently and they allow them to be different; they recognize ?cultural? differences, differences in origin, and frames of reference, and they recognize that the children at the preschool are bilingual..

The study aims to reduce energy consumption in apartment buildings where individual metering and charging of heat is applied. The aim is to develop planning and design for individual metering and charging in apartment buildings.The study is based on literature review, interviews and case study that include analysis of existing documents. Interviews were carried out with the property developer and the involved consultants who planned the apartment building Yasuragi. To investigate the differences the condominium association has noted in heat consumption between flats, the debit values of the heat were used to discern which houses that were furthest from the average consumption. On these flats there were temperature measurements and thermal photo shoots made for discriminating behavior and possible construction techniques which could be the explanation for the heat spread.Boverket shows that the consumption of heat can be reduced by 10-20% after insertion of individual metering and charging in an apartment block.

This study aims to give an account of five teachers? views and understandings of second language (L2) learners? previous knowledge, as well as, their linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This is carried out by the means of qualitative interviews, where the sampling consists of five primary school teachers at various schools. The findings are presented and analyzed using a thematic analysis. Furthermore, the study indicates that teachers in general have a positive attitude to learning more about their L2 learners? prior knowledge and backgrounds, both for the pupils, as well as, their own sake.

Adapting the concept of the ?popular cultural memory? and its necessary ?context knowledge? established by Karin Kukkonen, this bachelor thesis seeks to examine how this memory is ?at work? and expresses itself in contemporary fiction, by doing an intertextual reading of the swedish author Amanda Svensson's debut Hey Dolly. Within the intertextual structures of Hey Dolly the reader encounters allusions and references that address almost everything from contemporary popular culture to established authors in the swedish canon, mainly as means for the characters to help them express their emotions and thoughts, by ?choosing? from already available content of popular culture to use and modify. The intertextuality alluding to the popular cultural memory does at the same time address the concept of the ideal reader throughout the novel.

The aim of this master?s thesis is to examine the roles ofthree different public libraries in three differentcommunities. In order to get some answers about the roles ofthe public libraries I have used the following questions: Howis the local cultural policy formulated? How is the locallibrary structured? What or which profiles has the publiclibraries in the three communities?I have made three qualitative case-studies in three differentcommunities. These three communities are somewhatlocated in the same area in order to identify any cooperationbetween them.

Today's climate and environmental issues have now been up for discussion for quite long. Various environmental measures have been taken, but it is not always certain that those measures actually are for the better because of the complexity of our environment. Therefore, studies of whole life cycles are very important even if they are time and resource intensive.Real estate accounts for 15% of global carbon emissions, but also affects our environment in many other aspects. In Sweden this number is even higher. About 30 % of its carbon dioxide emissions originates from building sector and changes are therefore of great importance.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the possible effects of an unstable ventilation system and its influence on energy use and thermal comfort. The report also explores how qualified personal working with HVAC view and handles system control.In order to meet the requirements in energy efficiency and a comfortable indoor climate control regulation is a prerequisite. With optimized increased complexity of the climate systems, it becomes more challenging to control the system and the risk of unstable control increases. No previous studies about what affect an unstable system can have on energy use and thermal comfort have been found.The report is based on several tests were the controlling variable has been increased until the system becomes unstable. Two different types of unstable systems have been investigated.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the possible effects of an unstable ventilation system and its influence on energy use and thermal comfort. The report also explores how qualified personal working with HVAC view and handles system control.In order to meet the requirements in energy efficiency and a comfortable indoor climate control regulation is a prerequisite. With optimized increased complexity of the climate systems, it becomes more challenging to control the system and the risk of unstable control increases. No previous studies about what affect an unstable system can have on energy use and thermal comfort have been found.The report is based on several tests were the controlling variable has been increased until the system becomes unstable. Two different types of unstable systems have been investigated.

The European identity plays an important role for the EU and especially within its will to further integrate its citizens, hence it is a way for individuals to not only identify with its nation, yet also with Europe. Previous research has already established that an individual can possess two territorial identities, such as a national and a European identity, above all it has established how the identities can equally interplay. Further it has been explained how territorial identities are composed of two aspects: civic and cultural. While the previous research has stated how the European identity possesses both aspects, though to varying degrees, little attention has been put to examine how individuals who possesses multiple territorial identification, defines its European identity. This study therefore aims to study which aspects, civic or cultural, individuals with a citizenship who possess multiple territorial identification, assign their European identity.

AbstractAuthors: Åsa Höjer, Karl WijkmarkTitle: The intercultural communicator. A study of cultures? influence on communication.Level: BA Thesis in Media and Communication StudiesLocation: University on KalmarLanguage: SwedishNumber of pages: 67Date of seminar: 2009-01-15Advisor: Jens CavallinKey words: Intercultural communication, culture, Hofstede´s cultural dimensions, anxiety and uncertainty, self-confidence, high and low context, verbal and nonverbal communication, Telenor, Pakistan, Scandinavia.Case company: TelenorPurpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate what cultural differences, regarding communication, that are present between Scandinavia and Pakistan. Furthermore the purpose is to illustrate which factors that are important for personnel working for Telenor, that are about to work in a foreign culture, in order to create effective intercultural communication.Methodology: The following study is a case study that has used a qualitative methodology with interviews conducted via e-mail. To be able to interpret and understand human experiences and situations a hermeneutical approach has been taken.

This paper will answer which factors are important for the business relation between a small Swedish import company and a Chinese contractor. The problem is based partly in theories that points to cultural and organizational differences between Sweden and China, and partly in current examples from Swedish companies. The relevant data has been collected by interviews with three small Swedish companies that are currently using Chinese contractors.The result is that the differences between the countries and organizations exist, but that they do not interfere with the inter-company relations. The conclusion is that our result contradictsthe established theories in the field, and that a more comprehensive investigation is warranted..