This thesis describes the planning and development of a volume meter of pine and spruce cones. The product was designed and developed for Stigsjö Skog och Frö AB in Härnösand. It was developed taking into account a number of requirements set by the supervisor David Zetterlund. The main requirements were that the volume measurement would be fast and give accurate results. These are two requirements that are missing in today's volume measuring method which is very problematic for the company.The plant was visited several times in Härnösand, mainly to discuss the generated concepts with the supervisor and perform tests on the prototype.

Denna rapport avser att undersöka för- och nackdelar med att utveckla ett för ändamålet specialanpassat system eller utnyttja de standardsystem, som i det aktuella fallet tryckerikoncernen JMS redan äger och använder. Genom en mer noggrann definiering av ickefunktionella krav på bland annat användbarhet har en specialanpassad prototyp framställts. I projektet användes metoder för kravinsamling som ledde till en kravspecifikation och i sin tur slutade med en färdig prototyp. Prototypen jämfördes med två standardsystem genom användartester och intervjuer. Prototypen visade sig leva upp till de krav som upptäcktes.

Every plan and program decided on by an authority or municipality, where the environmental impact can be considerable, must be environmentally assessed according to Environmental Code, the Planning and Building Act (PBA) and the Regulation on Environmental Impact Assessment.The purpose of this study is to examine the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for The Region Development Plan for the Stockholm Region, RUFS 2010. The plan was approved by at that time the Regional Planning Office (Regionplanekontoret), which procured the process by consultants. RUFS 2010 includes two merged plans ie. a regional Development Plan (RUP) and the Regional Spatial Plan for Stockholm. It was necessary to establish an environmental assessment of RUP, but not for the regional plan.

Background and problem discussion: Sustainability reporting has recently risen in importance and a rising number of companies choose to issue voluntary stand-alone sustainability reports. Their non-regulated nature increases the opportunity for management to angle the information in these disclosures to their own advantage. Lately the focus has shifted from examining what kind of information is provided in environmental disclosures, to analyzing how the information is presented.Purpose: The purpose is to examine if managers in the energy sector use optimistic tone when issuing sustainability reports. The aim is to find out if the tone applied in environmental disclosures is in congruence with either the environmental or economic performance or if an excessively positive tone is being used to mislead readers.Limitations: This study is limited to information found in environmental disclosures from private companies in the energy sector, issued in 2012 or 2013. Environmental performance is defined as the amount of CO2e emissions and economic performance refers to annual company revenues.Methodology: The quantification of optimistic tone is conducted using a content analysis, relying on a pre-specified wordlist and a pilot study.

The purpose of this literature review was to describe the paths of exposure and accumulation of organic pollutants into the tissues of farm animals. Organic pollutants can be spread in the environment by air and rainwater. Farm animals can be exposed to these pollutants for example by eating soil or contaminated plants. Many of the pollutants can then accumulate in the fat tissues of the body because of their lipophilic character. Brominated flame retardants and perfluorolated compounds are both pollutants of current interest.

External forces have significant impact on organisations. This study analyzes the implications of one type of external forces in aid-focused NGOs through two qualitative case studies where it is investigated if Sida?s reporting requirements have the intended effects: learning and control using a theoretical framework where it is recognised that the requirements may also result in dysfunctional behaviour: decoupling and colonisation. The study shows that when the demands are the result of institutional pressure rather than an ambition to generate learning and control, the demands tend to be unrealistic and the NGOs therefore decouple the formal fulfilment of the demands from the actual activities. It is argued that a partnership, which incorporates trust and dialogue, is a prerequisite, not only for learning, but also control.

External forces have significant impact on organisations. This study analyzes the implications of one type of external forces in aid-focused NGOs through two qualitative case studies where it is investigated if Sida?s reporting requirements have the intended effects: learning and control using a theoretical framework where it is recognised that the requirements may also result in dysfunctional behaviour: decoupling and colonisation. The study shows that when the demands are the result of institutional pressure rather than an ambition to generate learning and control, the demands tend to be unrealistic and the NGOs therefore decouple the formal fulfilment of the demands from the actual activities. It is argued that a partnership, which incorporates trust and dialogue, is a prerequisite, not only for learning, but also control.

The purpose of this thesis is to shed light on a present trend of professionalization in Swedish local environmental politics, which have recently seen a decline in active participation of the citizens in favor of an increased governmental regulation. With the aim to closer investigate this relatively new phenomenon, the paper is a qualitative single case-study of environmental policies in the Swedish municipality of Karlskrona. In this case, the municipality is obviously balancing between regarding the interests of the national level and the interests of its own citizens at the same time. This motivates the use of system-theory, and relates to the classical political paradox between participation and efficiency which is also a present theme in the paper.This text-analysis based on interviews with personnel and documents from the municipality shows a visible trend of professionalization in the local politics of the municipality of Karlskrona, from a large grade of participation and a strong bottom-up approach in the days of Agenda 21 to now being more strongly top-down defined by national environmental objectives and principally operated on a professional level..

According to the theory of environmental Kuznets curve there is a relationship between carbon emissions and GDP. The relationship has an inverted U-shape. Carbon emissions rise initially and then decreases once a certain level of GDP is obtained.This essay interprets earlier studies in the field of environmental economics and uses public choice to seek answer on how the population acts on aggregate level. This essay analyses 115 countries in cross-sectional data. The analysis shows that there is a significant relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and GDP that is increasing at first and then decreases for a certain level of GDP.

Sweden experienced a decline in exports of 16 percent in the period after the financial crisis. The decline has created a lot of question marks regarding the traditional exports which has started a process with the aim of finding Sweden?s next cash cow in export.Sweden adopted stringent environmental laws early which positioned them as a strong nation in environmental awareness. The stringent environmental legislation meant that the Swedish companies were required to minimize the environmental impact, which created a demand for eco-efficient products. Despite the early demand for eco-efficient products, the international success of the Swedish cleantech companies has been modest.The government can increase firms international competitiveness by encouraging, supporting and promoting activities on the domestic market.

Abstract Considering the social dimension of sustainable development this thesis focuses on the qualities of life and how the environmental qualities that the inhabitants value can be incorporated in the physical planning of the municipality. The thesis deals with the problems that occur when the physical planning, whit its focus on the environmental aspects, also needs to consider peoples opinions, that springs from the individual experience of the place. The municipality of Mark, where this thesis takes its place, is characterised by the countryside landscape. Mark is situated in the western part of Sweden close to Göteborg, Borås and Varberg. The commuting is extensive and the demand for dwellings in the municipality is increasing. Those who strive to live in the municipality have a conception of what life on the countryside means and of which environmental qualities they want to assimilate.

Sweden has formulated ambitious energy goals which signify that by year 2050 the energy usage should be halved. One of the objectives is the reduction of energy usage by 20% by year 2020 and that it should be compared to the usage of energy from 1995. In parallel with increased energy requirements for buildings the demand on housing conservation, by highlighting also buildings from the last 50 years as part of the building heritage, continues to enhance, which in theory means that there is a conflict between these.The law will never be able to point out unique buildings and PBL (planning and building act) is not especially concrete. The National Housing Board has tried to make this more concrete by the new BBR regulations though there are still an enormous variety of interpretations.This report deals with the conflict between conservation requirements and additional insulation of the building envelope and is limited to multi-residential buildings built between the years 1945 and 1975. It is the stock with the greatest energy consumption and that is where the big challenge lies.

The Swedish industrial society has left several areas with contaminated soil and water which today is of danger for the environment and human health. One of these areas with contaminated soil and water is the region where the former Glava glassworks operated during 1859 to 1939. The main object in this study has been to study the responsibility for the contaminations according to the Environmental Code. The method used is a qualitative content analysis of relevant literature to answer the following questions:What types of contaminations can be found in the area of Glava glasswork and what health issues can these cause?What kind of activity has been conducted in the area that have caused the contaminations in soil and water?According to law, what are the responsibilities for the contaminations in soil and water at Glava glassworks?The contamination in the region has been confirmed to originate from the glasswork due to the environmental engineering survey made in the area in 2009.

Background: In a world that are becoming more and more aware of the climate changes that occur as a consequence of the increasing emissions around the world companies? experience that the opinion blame the internal processors for this. Many companies feel forced to align their strategies to the environmental goals set by the community. Some of the emissions the companies? operations can be linked to business trips and it is therefore interesting to see how these can be reduced by using different performance measures.

Every plan and program decided on by an authority or municipality, where the environmental impact can be considerable, must be environmentally assessed according to Environmental Code, the Planning and Building Act (PBA) and the Regulation on Environmental Impact Assessment.The purpose of this study is to examine the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for The Region Development Plan for the Stockholm Region, RUFS 2010. The plan was approved by at that time the Regional Planning Office (Regionplanekontoret), which procured the process by consultants. RUFS 2010 includes two merged plans ie. a regional Development Plan (RUP) and the Regional Spatial Plan for Stockholm. It was necessary to establish an environmental assessment of RUP, but not for the regional plan.