The Nord Stream natural gas pipeline has been a controversial project. The debate was primarily escalated by Poland's strong negative reaction to the project in the spring of 2006 over safety and security and then alternated back and forth in Europe until the approval by the nations most concerned in the Baltic region during the autumn of 2009.In the case study an approach is used that primarily maps out the media image of the various viewpoints that deal with the pipeline and how these viewpoints position themselves, primarily through political and environmental dimensions. Simultaneously there?s an attempt to map out the spatial spread of the media image views as to the proximity and distance to the pipeline in Sweden, Poland and Germany. A key question is whether distance or proximity to a large facility can affect people's attitudes.A parallel focus of the study is to explore the role of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline in the cross-border hinterland region of Szczecin-?winouj?cie.

Animal welfare in Sweden has gone through major changes during the later years. In 2004, Swedish Animal Welfare Agency took over the central responsibility for the animal welfare from the Swedish Board of Agriculture, and in 2007 the board again became the central authority for animal welfare in Sweden.Even the practical supervision has changed, from the 1 of January 2009 the supervision is to be performed by the county administrative boards, instead of by the individual municipalities. Since 2006 every horse in the European Union has to have an identification card, in Sweden called a ?horse passport? which describes the color and markings of the horse as well as any veterinary treatments.The ELOF-project, a collaborative project between the Swedish Board of Agriculture and the county administrative boards, intends to make the animal welfare supervision effective, standardised, fair and risk-based. Because of the takeover of the supervision and of the ELOF-project the Örebro County Administrative Board has began to make an inventory of the number of horses and horsefarms in the county. Another Ethology and Animal Welfare-student and I did, in collaboration with the county administrative board created a checklist that in connection with the inventory will lead to a risk-based animal welfare supervision.

AbstractThe research project Liberation, supported by the European Commission under the Environment and Sustainable Development Programme (Fifth RTD Framework Programme) aimed at developing a decision support system for ecological risk assessment of contaminated sites has proposed a tiered system including the triad method. This method integrates contaminant chemistry and bioavailability analyses with observed ecotoxicological effects in soil and groundwater. In this study the triad method was used to perform a risk characterization of a former surface treatment and metal industry, now used for the student union buildings of the Mälardalen University in Eskilstuna, Sweden. On the site, high concentrations of copper, zinc and nickel have been detected in the soil in a preliminary investigation of contaminant levels with XRF. For performing the risk assessment of the site according to the triad method, contaminant bioavailability, soil metal concentrations and soil toxicity were determined and an ecological assessment was carried out on four selected soil samples (one reference soil and three samples with low (B), medium (C) and high (D) contaminant levels). Contaminant bioavailability was measured through leaching (ISO TC 190/S7) and biouptake tests (DGT).

This essay addresses and treats the employer's obligation to work adaptation for people with a physical disability according to discrimination law and the work environment law. Furthermore it also treats the employer's obligation to rehabilitation of employees that has a reduced working ability as consequence of their work. The essay also intends to investigate if there are any differences in the employer?s obligation to work adaptation when recruiting and the employer?s obligation to work adaption for an existing employment. In this work, there is a background chapter which describes the UN and the European Union's approach to work reduction ability and disability. Furthermore, there is a detailed description of the work environment law, the discrimination law, the social insurance code and the employment protection legislation.

During the 20th century Sweden faced an increased proportion of workers registered as part-time unemployed, especially in the care sector. However, due to many valuable efforts, aimed at solving the problem of part time unemployment and political decisions, the number of people who are part-time unemployed has declined since the late 20th century. We have investigated part-time workers preferential right to extending their working hours. According to Section 25 a of the Employment Protection Act, part-time employees who have submitted an interest in increasing their working hours has a preferential right to increased working hours, with the assumptions that full-time employment with the employer will meet a labor need that the employee has sufficient qualifications for.Qualitative interviews have given us information about how Karlstad Community and a private care company deal with part-time unemployment and their workers preferential right to extending their working hours. We have found that people who work for Karlstad Community have an opportunity to choose their number of workings hours, thanks to a political decision made in Karlstad Community, aimed at solving the part time unemployment in the care sector.

Muslims and islam are unquestionably a part of European social life. In recent times, however, different events, such as the enlargement of the EU and the fact that muslims to a higher extent demand their rights, have brought a number of questions to the fore concerning muslims and islam in Europe. Moreover, we can see an increasing level of islamophobia in contemporary Europe, but also that the EU has launched several programs to increase both the diversity and the unity throughout the Union and to combat islamophobia. However, most of these programs focus on islam as religion and muslims in general, and such a narrow viewpoint runs the risk of missing important issues.In this new context it would be interesting to widen the scope and ask what place not only the muslim community and islam, but also sharia (an important element in islam), may have in future Europe ? especially when it comes to muslim identity?My main objects are to see how the concept of sharia is constructed in the debates in the European Parliament, how that discourse relates to a social practice ? the increasing islamophobic ideas in Europe ? and what effect this may have on muslim identity in a European context.The results shows that the Parliament constructs sharia as, for example, something archaic, threatening, inhuman and misogynistic.

Muslims and islam are unquestionably a part of European social life. In recent times, however, different events, such as the enlargement of the EU and the fact that muslims to a higher extent demand their rights, have brought a number of questions to the fore concerning muslims and islam in Europe. Moreover, we can see an increasing level of islamophobia in contemporary Europe, but also that the EU has launched several programs to increase both the diversity and the unity throughout the Union and to combat islamophobia. However, most of these programs focus on islam as religion and muslims in general, and such a narrow viewpoint runs the risk of missing important issues.In this new context it would be interesting to widen the scope and ask what place not only the muslim community and islam, but also sharia (an important element in islam), may have in future Europe ? especially when it comes to muslim identity?My main objects are to see how the concept of sharia is constructed in the debates in the European Parliament, how that discourse relates to a social practice ? the increasing islamophobic ideas in Europe ? and what effect this may have on muslim identity in a European context.The results shows that the Parliament constructs sharia as, for example, something archaic, threatening, inhuman and misogynistic.

The aim with my research is to illuminate the meaning of IKEAs settle in Haparanda, for the region Haparanda-Tornio, its economic growth and its inhabitants. The research has been carried out only through qualitative methods. Some interviews with a range of people from varying companies have been conducted.Haparanda is a smaller Swedish city situated in the north, on the border to Finland and to a city called Tornio. These two cities, Haparanda and Tornio, has realised they are stronger in pairs, so they initiated cooperation across the border. Haparanda-Tornio is not a region of historically welfare and well-being.

The importance of energy- and environmental issues has increased, and the work towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions plays a major part. The European Union has set up goals for the membership countries to work towards this to happen. The carbon dioxide emissions in Sweden have been reduced the last few years, but there is still a lot to do. About 30 per cent of Sweden?s carbon dioxide emissions generate from energy usage related to housing, this is why the housing sector is of interest to examine.

Issue of study: The development of technology and society is closely linked. Mutual dependency and complex interrelationships make straightforward analysis of issues regarding the future of technology and society hard to perform. Therefore, the study addresses the question of how organizations should describe and analyze the interactions of technology and society in order to gain a better understanding of what the future may bring. Purpose: ? To develop a method for analysis of the future course of issues regarding technology and society in interaction.? To apply and test the developed method through a case study, where it is used to analyze the future of the Russian fuel market.

It is clear that media advertising is one of the crucial marketing tools for companies in order to promote their products and services. As we are moving towards more and more economic integration, both on a regional and global scale, the question about standardisation of media advertising has become increasingly important and is nowadays subject to discussion in most international companies. This thesis deals with the issue of standardisation in a region where the process of political, legal and especially economic integration is taking its course, but where cultural and linguistic diversity is still a remaining fact: Europe. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the potential gains from a standardised advertising approach but also to identify its limitations. Especially on a market place like Europe, with its diverse cultural and linguistic background, a fully standardised approach might be difficult to implement.

In light of the European Union`s 2012 theme year: Active aging and solidarity between generations I wished to gain an understanding of weather elderly immigrant are provided with equal possibilities and access to local community information as the majority population and their participation in activities arranged for senior citizens in the municipality where they live. I have done this by meeting with those who work in this capacity. I also chose to meet with representatives for immigrant organizations in the local community to enquire of their work with senior citizens within their own ethnic group. This is a qualitative study on a phenomenological ground based on nine interviews and four observations. I have had two theories to help me analyze my empirical material.

The competition in the milk industry has increased during the last couple of years. This is a result of the trade barrier that dissolved when Sweden entered the European Union. The membership signifies an increased internationalization for the dairies, which has also increased the existence of low price chains in the Swedish food market. The increased share of private brands has strengthened the competitive situation for the manufacturer- owned brands. Three of Sweden?s seven largest dairies have now decided to launch a low price milk to cope with the competitive situation.

The textile business is one of the oldest industries of our time, and it employs nearly 1.4 million workers within the European Union alone. It is not unusual that this is the foundation of a country?s industrialisation. Even though the industry brings many positive factors, there are also negative factors that will influence the industry?s growth in the future.

European Union has made a new decision that all new built houses by 2020 shallbe near-zero energy houses. Boverket?s definition of near-zero energy housesintends buildings with good energy performance in which a proportion of theamount of energy that must be added to the building is made of renewable energy.Passive House is a set of requirements from FEBY designed to build energyefficient buildings. This is achieved by reducing loss of heat through the buildingenvelope and to take advantage of the passive heat from solar radiation,installation and heat sources like people living in the house.This project has been made with help of Anebyhus and one of their model houseshave been examined from the report?s issues, including Anebyhus?s energyperformance, requirements for the manufacturing and assembly, how theenvelope must be improved to fulfill the requirements for the Passive House andwhat energy calculation programs are available on the market.The report aims to provide solutions for energy efficient houses that are adaptedfor production of house building.Two visits to Anebyhus has been done to study their manufacture and assemblyof building elements.