AbstractIn the fall of 2003 a project was started in the Swedish building sector that is called BASTA (the building sectors’ termination of especially harmful substances). The project is operated by the building companies NCC, Skanska, PEAB and JM, the Swedish Building Industry and the Swedish Environmental Institute IVL. The purpose of the project is to create a common environmental assessment system for the entire building industry and with the help of this system phase out the use of especially harmful properties from building products.In a large sense BASTA works like this; On the BASTA web site there is a database, to which a supplier can register the company and the company’s products. Only those products with a substance content that fulfil the demands of the BASTA system, is to be registered. As it is the supplier himself that carries out the registration of the company and the company’s products to the system, the BASTA-organisation annually controls that the companies that are registered in the database, fulfils BASTA’s demands.Since NCC is one of the companies that operates BASTA, BASTA is probably going to be the environmental assessment system that is recommended for the company in the future.

Sammanfattning Författare: Ann-Sofie Hjalmarsson och Judith Rodriguez Handledare: Leif Edvinsson Examinator: Christer Kedström Kurs: Magisterkurs i Strategisk ledning Nyckelord: Intellektuellt kapital, miljöpsykologi, hjärnan, hjärnergonomi. Syfte: Vårt syfte med uppsatsen är att öka insikten för hur man genom strukturkapitalet, i det här fallet kontorets design, kan förstärka humankapitalet. Vi avser ta fram en ?tankeram" med de element vi har funnit betydelsefulla. Metod: Vi har använt oss av abduktiv kvalitativ metod.

As companies exert themselves to find new ways of achieving market dominance and stronger brands, the phenomenon co-branding has become increasingly popular. By cooperation between two different firms the combined effects can result in synergies not only on the balance sheet, but even through softer values such as Brand recognition, equity and larger market share. Recently the fashion company H&M launched a collection together with the esteemed fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. The objective of this paper is to examine the effects the collaboration had on consumer?s attitudes towards the two brands.

Sustainability work is something that is emphasized more and more. Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, is discussed and the question of how much responsibility companies should really take is frequently in the news. Companies tend to ask themselves how much responsibility they should take. CSR is a common concept of companies environmental and social work and a concept we tend to see here and there in our modern society. CSR includes companies? social responsibilities, both in terms of carbon footprint, working conditions, social responsibility and more.

Miljö och hållbarhet är något som kommit att uppmärksammas allt mer sedan startskottet på 70-talet i samband med ökat fokus från regeringshåll och grundande av miljöorganisationer. I takt med konsumenters ökade medvetenhet har kraven höjts på svenska klädföretag och deras arbete med hållbar utveckling och hållbara produkter. Problematiken ligger i att svenska klädföretag utför sitt arbete på olika sätt och därav finns olika tolkningar av hur en hållbar produkt är framställd och vad denna ska innehålla. Det är även svårt för kunder att få ett grepp av en hållbar produkt, då de inte finns någon konkret definition.Den övergripande problemformuleringen i arbetet har berört hur olika svenska klädföretag och miljöorganisationer definierar en hållbar produkt. I uppsatsen presenteras olika definitioner av hållbar utveckling och den lagstiftning som ligger till grund för de produkter som produceras och säljs på den svenska marknaden.

Today the human being see energy as a matter of course but the resources that is used for extract energy is today not enough for the world demand. Of all the energy that is used in Sweden today approximately 40 % goes to the building stock. This number will most likely increase if not necessary actions will be made on the already existing building stock since new houses constantly are built which will be added up on the already existing energy supply. This takes cause of action on the already existing building stocks, to fulfill the demands of the future use of energy that has been set by the authority. At the same time the thermal conditions cannot be influenced by the necessary changes that must be made.

The anatomy and physiology of reptiles and mammals are in many ways different, and will therefore possibly complicate anesthetic administration. Lizards are ectothermic and one should keep in mind that a decrease in the lizard?s environmental temperature may result in reductions in anesthetic metabolism. Respiratory depression is a profound problem because lizards lack a diaphragm, making inhalation and expiration completely active processes. This, in combination with cardiac shunting and breath holding makes the effects of anesthesia unpredictable.

Several theoretic and environmental psychological models establish a connection between the environment and the reactions of humans and the research support that there is a mutual influence between individual, environmental and behavioral factors. You often assume that a person both can influence and be influenced by the surrounding environment. This is evident, but it is less obvious how a given physical design influence people?s immediate behavior in the city. The aim of this study was to investigate if the physical design of a place influences people in an urban environment and to investigate how the behavior is influenced.

Social work as an traditional aid is an area that provides welfare services financed from public funds, which is one of the methods of microloans. Microloans have since the mid-1970s has become an increasingly common tool in the fight against poverty. Instead of purely assistance is now offered microloans from more banks and other institutions, as well as NGOs (non governmental organization). This paper aims to study whether and how microcredit can contribute to the empowerment of women in Bangladesh and India. This study is based on a qualitative text analysis, and has hence been based on a number of reports and articles. The paper examines, from a radical feminist perspective how microcredit can fight and eliminate poverty, and how empowerment can help women in developing countries to become independent and liberated. The introduction of micro-loan is considered to have positive effects on women's empowerment in the short term. But it is, however, the longer term effects that are considered to have the greatest positive impact on society's unequal structures.

 Today a major part of the energy produced steams from fossil fuels, finite resources, and a change towards an energy sector based on renewable energy is necessary. Sweden is one of the leading countries with regards to investments in renewable energy but most other countries have a long way to go. This makes it interesting in developing renewable energy projects in new markets in countries like Poland where still a lot of fossil fuel is used. Large infrastructure development projects are very costly and therefore external investors needs to be involved. The investors play an important role in changing the usage of fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources.

In this undergraduate thesis you will venture on a journey through the land of democratic values and urban planning. My research question is stated as: whether or not urban planning can show effects on democratic values and whether or not the municipalities in Sweden takes these possible effects into account when planning their city centres. You will in my theory part of this thesis be able to read about different views on urban planning and on democracy. Famous authors like Robert D. Putnam and Richard Florida will be examined as well as other theorists on democracy and urban planning.

The incineration of waste is steadily increasing in Sweden and so is the production ofashes. The bottom ash has for many years been used as construction material inlandfills. Now many of the nation's landfills are closed and there is a great need to findanother beneficial use for the ash. Bottom ash is a gravel-like material and with itsmaterial properties it can replace natural gravel in parts of roads and surfaceconstructions. Today this use is only approved within landfill areas where leachate iscollected and checked.

Corporate Social Responsibility is a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns into their core business and in their interaction with stakeholders on a voluntarily basis. The purpose with our thesis is to study how Swedish insurance companies work with Corporate Social Responsibility and to analyse the underlying strategies of the companies? social, environmental and economical activities. We will analyse where, how and for whom value can be created with CSR. Where does the value creation take place, how can it be created through these activities and who will benefit from Corporate Social Responsibility? Theories point out that companies need to assemble and value the total package of benefits to be able to create successful corporate initiatives.

AbstractIn the fall of 2003 a project was started in the Swedish building sector that is called BASTA (the building sectors’ termination of especially harmful substances). The project is operated by the building companies NCC, Skanska, PEAB and JM, the Swedish Building Industry and the Swedish Environmental Institute IVL. The purpose of the project is to create a common environmental assessment system for the entire building industry and with the help of this system phase out the use of especially harmful properties from building products.In a large sense BASTA works like this; On the BASTA web site there is a database, to which a supplier can register the company and the company’s products. Only those products with a substance content that fulfil the demands of the BASTA system, is to be registered. As it is the supplier himself that carries out the registration of the company and the company’s products to the system, the BASTA-organisation annually controls that the companies that are registered in the database, fulfils BASTA’s demands.Since NCC is one of the companies that operates BASTA, BASTA is probably going to be the environmental assessment system that is recommended for the company in the future.

The national spatial planning guidelines and the subsequent legal regulation in the Natural Resources Act and the Environmental Code has been a part of the Swedish planning system for almost 40 years. In the recent years, critics have claimed that the regulations are outdated and does not work the way it was intended. This paper examines closer why it is perceived that the regulations does not work, with a focus on how the national interests are managed in the municipal planning. Why is the national interests not applied in the municipal planning as intended? Is the error in the system or in the implementation of it? The aim of this essay is to study the gap between theory and practice by studying how the land management provisions in the Environmental Code is applied in five selected municipalities. The aim is also to find interesting issues for futher studies of the topic.