This study reviews outdoor educational activity, its contents and qualities, whose basis rests on reform educators as Dewey and Freire. These pedagogues? methodology is based on the interaction between theory and practice, reflection and action. It appears from previous research that: Nature has beneficial effects on human health; Physical activity has positive effects on schoolchildren's health and on their test scores in mathematics and swedish. Training in outdoor education for teachers has contributed to outdoor education having become part of elementary schools´ activities.The purpose of this study is to find out to what extent a School of Nature is useful for three primary school teachers´ activities.

There is an expression called ?grief of climate? that refers to feelings of powerlessness and heaviness related to the environmental problems of today. A feeling that every move we make has bad consequences for nature. This essay is an investigation of how art in general and jewellery art in particular can be a way of discussing and visualizing current environmental problems and the complex relationship between human and nature. I am discussing how artworks dealing with a dark and dystopian picture of the relation can be seen as the memento mori of our time.

Abstract Spiritual gardening, historical perspective and epistemology, - how do these concepts connect? A review of the ideologies of four pragmatic growers. The purpose of this thesis is: ? to present an alternative forthcoming perspective on knowledge, that may be of significance for future theories and knowledge about growing and gardening. ? to lift experiences with Nature Spirits into an academic context, that permits us a closer look at the phenomenon. ? to contribute to an academic platform connecting humanistic and natural sciences. The intention of this text is to bridge the differences between the strictly rational traditions of knowledge and those more experience based ones. The thesis wants to show that much can be won if feeling based and mental reflections once again are approached as equal sources of knowledge. The aim is to give an orientation about the subject of Nature Spirits. The interesting fact is not whether (that) one can talk to nature, but how one does it and that more can be understood about nature and the reality that the established sciences study. The form for this study of literature is a describing presentation; to put names on and give wording to the phenomena of Nature Spirits and Plantdevas. The sources of literature are four pragmatic practitioners of spiritual gardening who have written extensively about their own work.

AbstractThis project discusses various aspects of children's way to explore nature with their senses. Therefore I conducted a study in two preschools, one nature-oriented and another preschool. This study was carriedout usien the three metods, interviews, observations and surveys. Interview four children from each preschool, observations of each group outdoors during four different occasions and question forms to teachers. The result of the study showed that both teachers and children have a great interest in being outdoors in nature, but it is not always possible to take out all children's groups. The reason is large groups and inadequate staff.

Our lives in urban areas are becoming more and more inactive with negative effects on our mental and physical health. Natural environments and physical activity have the power to both prevent and reduce mental fatigue. Meanwhile we engage ourselves with physical activity, the nature fascinates us with its complexity. In April 2006, some of the visitors to the recreational area of Skrylle were asked to fill in a questionnaire which included questions about their habits within physical activity and the experience of nature. The questionnaires were then divided into two groups: those filled out by persons who exercise on regular basis (i.e. three or several times/week) and those who rarely exercise.

Stress-related diseases in Sweden have doubled since 1997. Even longterm sickness related tostress has increased over the last decade. In future there is a need of alternative methods todecrease the amount of people being affected to gain a better population health. Natureassisted therapy (NAT) was shown to be a successful method as part of the therapy of stressand burnout likewise was nature an important factor to prevent people from mentaldisorders. The aim of this study was to analyse the latest research concearning nature and itshealth effects with focus on stress and burnout patients in order to plan health promotingactivities outdoors for these patients.

The use of hallucinogenic plants has throughout human history been used for religiouspurposes, in order to induce mystical states of mind, often interpreted as meeting with godsand spirits. In recent years, this practice has been taken up by people interested in theexploration of their psyche and spiritual side. This group of people, referred to as?psychonauts?, communicate with each other through internet based forum, where theyshare their experiences in so called ?trip reports?. The aim of this study was to see whatrole psychedelic drugs can play when used in a spiritual/religious context, and whetherthese sorts of mystical states of mind could tell us about more traditional mysticalexperiences.

In this thesis I have decided to take a closer look into my own ?backyard?. A river that runs through my hometown, Akureyri, has been a thorn in some people?s side. Glerá river has taken lives but it has also given the town possibilities to develop.

Since time immemorial, nature has been conceived of as a female entity. This ancient concept is also a recurring element in contemporary Swedish horror fiction. The purpose of this thesis is to compare the feature of nature in the selected works of Anders Fager, Andreas Marklund and Frida Arwen Rosesund and in what ways these respective depictions rely on a tradition where nature is gendered female. The theoretical starting-point for this comparative study is ecocriticism and its subcategory ecofeminism, which are modes of literary criticism where the role of nature in general, and its female connotations in particular, are appreciated as significant literary features. For executing an analysis that goes beyond what is explicit, the exploration of these three writers? texts also adopts a psychoanalytical perspective.

The aim of this study is to describe how nature is portrayed in swedish poet and critic Aase Berg?s two earliest poetry collections, Hos rådjur (1997) and Mörk materia (1999), and how it relates to notions of humanity, culture and civilisation. The concept of ?nature? is problematized in a short survey of how it has been used by and critizised in ecocritical literary theory, which is used as the main theoretical framework for this survey, with an emphasis on selected theoretical concepts by Donna Haraway. As a methodological starting point, ?nature? is tentatively defined as ?that which does not let itself be subsumed under the human, culture or civilisation?, and this definition is contrasted with how the concepts are handled in the texts.The investigation shows that the relationship of nature to the human is a fundamental theme that provides a structure for both poetry collections.

In the constitution of Sweden everyone has the right of common access in the nature. Toprotect these rights, as well as the nature, in areas close to shores the environmental law ofSweden (miljöbalken) protects areas within 100 meters from the waterline. Due to amendmentin this law, Swedish municipalities have to present countryside development areas close toshores. Within these areas, which are to be displayed in the municipality?s comprehensiveplan, it will be possible to get exemptions from the protection if the planned measure willbenefit the development of the region.

As a result of my fascination for nature I have chosen to study the possibilities to introduce natural environments on schoolyards. Too many schoolyards are lacking vegetation and many of them look like sterile asphalt deserts. The master thesis consists of two parts. The first part is based on literature studies and the second part in which findings from part one are put into practice. Five examples are presented; four schoolyards in Malmö; Kryddgårdsskolan, Kirsebergsskolan, Rörsjöskolan and Lindängeskolan and one in Kalmar; Åbyskolan. Malmö Naturskola has been working with the chosen areas on the schoolyards in Malmö.

Drawing on earlier research, and using observations as the method, this study presents a design of a nature playscape for children. Applying outdoor pedagogy to the fundamental structure of a specific location, the study proposes a design of a playscape, over a more obvious design, for instance one based around a quiz walk.The theoretical framework is Gibson?s theory of affordance, and the goal has been to create a "play flow". The study concludes that spatial rhetorics can be an important tool when teaching children about nature..

 The aim of this study was to describe the experiences and thoughts among midwives when encountering same sex couples at the maternity ward. Further, the aim was to explore the midwives attitudes towards education about special needs among same sex couples and their thoughts about contents and design of such education. The study had a descriptive design using a qualitative method. The data was collected through interviews with 10 midwives in February 2009. The midwives worked at two different maternity wards.

In the end of 1998 the company Holmen Skog AB was certified accordint to the FSC system with an area of 1 036 000 hectare. After that Holmen Skog AB has been working actively with the nature conservation in the forestry. In order to control the quality of the company?s nature conservation in final fellings they started a yearly inventory which is called BAKRUS (Judgement of ecological and culture care in relations to policies for a persevering silviculture). After 1999 the control was expended to include all actions in the forest.