Today there is a keen competition between regions in the world for companies and inhabitants in order to improve regional development and economic growth. In many regions there is an active effort to create a good home base for companies and inhabitants. Since 2003 municipalities in nine counties in Sweden have come together in co-operative agencies in order to work towards more efficient regional development.This essay focuses on the relation between the state and the co-operative agencies in the regional development policy and which possibilities the state gives the co-operative agencies to pursue an efficient regional development policy, both legally and financially. I have researched and analysed this through models and ideas on how the state governs the administration and through the translation theory. The result of my study is that the co-operative agencies have a relatively large amount of freedom to make there own priorities, but the ability to act efficiently within regional development is limited..

For the past decades, culture has been given a role as a factor for local and regional development. But what is meant by development and in what ways culture can be of importance in this aspect can be unclear. This thesis examines the perception of the role for local and regional development of one specific cultural place and network ? the cultural cooperative Not Quite in Fengersfors, Sweden. I study the way the role as developer is expressed and interpreted in the discourse of the cultural workers who are members of the network and in the discourse of public cultural policy in the region Västra Götaland and in Åmål municipality.

This paper aims to investigate how human beings uses food to found an identity, with regards to how social class affects their choice of food and if trends play a part when it comes to cooking and purchasing food. The paper applies theorist Pierre Bourdieu's concepts such as habitus, capital and field.The main part of the material is composed of four interviews with seven informants; all of which is middle class. The paper also looks at how lifestyle, taste and attitudes to consumption are used when the informants build identity. The empirical part is split into three main subjects, where I first seek to find each informants food habits. What do they eat, and what do they not eat?It showed that a large part was due to their varied lifestyles, however generally speaking the day to day meals should be quick while meals during the weekends could take longer and also cost more.

The interest in businesses active on the countryside and their funding situation has increased in recent years. In a survey, conducted by Leif Berndtsson (2003), it was reported that there is a lack of external capital in rural areas. According to Berndtsson (2003) the lack of external capital inhibits the rural firm?s growth. The essay attempts to answer whether the shortage of external capital is a factor that inhibits development for rural businesses.

Abstract During the last 15 years, the former ?really existing socialist? economies have undertaken an extensive transition process. In this paper the development, measured as GDP growth, is analyzed using variables for economic policy. The analysis is both theoretical, taking as starting point current positions in academia, and econometrical with the linear regression model. We show that while economic policy variables of inflation, economic freedom and institutional quality affect economic growth, the results are not only the ones predicted by the theory.

Education in Swedish sport is mainly based on traditional learning that requires a lot of time and effort, which could be a barrier for trainers since they report a lack of time as a consequence of their commitment as a leader. The Swedish sports movement has noticed some trends that could be seen as influential on the future directions of sport. One of these trends is a changing way of communication where people today communicate to a greater extent with the use of digital technology. The Swedish sports movement has to relate to this and follow the evolution. The use of e-learning has increased in higher education and organizations over the past decades.

The boiling properties are an important quality issue of the potato. In order to obtain adequate boiling properties the growth of the potato needs to be controlled and interrupted at the right time. However, it is difficult to determine when to stop the growth. Specific gravity can easily be measured and can sometimes be used as a tool for estimating the boiling properties. This report discusses different aspects of the specific gravity of the potato and how it can be used as a tool to determine the appropriate time for vine killing.

The boiling properties are an important quality issue of the potato. In order to obtain adequate boiling properties the growth of the potato needs to be controlled and interrupted at the right time. However, it is difficult to determine when to stop the growth. Specific gravity can easily be measured and can sometimes be used as a tool for estimating the boiling properties. This report discusses different aspects of the specific gravity of the potato and how it can be used as a tool to determine the appropriate time for vine killing.

Pharmaceuticals are environmental pollutants that are a major threat to aquatic ecosystems and very little is known about their ecological consequences. In this study growth, survival and behaviour (sociability, activity and boldness) of perch fry (Perca fluviatilis) were examined in order to study the possible effects of exposure to a benzodiazepine anxiolytic drug, Oxazepam, during embryonic development. The study tested following hypotheses: (1) perch growth is affected positively by exposure during embryonic development; (2) early perch survival is affected positively by exposure during embryonic development; and (3) boldness and activity increases while sociability decreases in perch fry exposed during embryonic development. Embryos of naturally spawned perch were exposed to water with two different concentrations of Oxazepam. The embryos were exposed during different parts (24-hour periods) of the embryonic development, because embryos may be more vulnerable at certain times during embryonic development and/or because the exposure at different times can produce different effects.

The pig is unique in the way that it gives birth to a large number of newborns in each litter. Because of this the sow has developed a special behaviour during suckling to ensure that not only a part of the litter gets all the milk. Milk is only available during milk letdown. The piglets have to massage the udder for a long time before letdown and the more piglets at the udder the sooner the milk comes. The sow has developed a special grunting pattern to let the piglets know when she is ready for suckling and to signal milk letdown. Our aim with this study was to investigate if sows have individual grunting patterns repeated over time. We also wanted to know if sows with a more distinct grunting pattern have better growth in their litters.

In this paper I argue that the development of innovation ideas within the financial system of scientific research might have a counterpart within the financial system of the social sciences and the arts. The ideas of innovation share a common way to evaluate science in terms of how well it can contribute to economic growth. In the past two decades a similar development can be observed within Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ), one of the largest external financiers of the social sciences and the arts in Sweden. The idea of evaluating research used by the innovation ideas has grown popular within RJ, only it seems they evaluate research in terms of how well it fits into an international research community rather than how much it can contribute to economic growth as is the case within the innovation ideas. By examining the different ways of financing research that RJ has used during the last 2 decades, this paper aims to introduce a new perspective in which it is possible to understand the development within this type research funding as a part of a bigger system of development..

The subject of this Master?s thesis is the process of change in a public library context, the implementation of the Stockholm City Library?s homepage Biblioteket.se. The aim is to examine the factors that influence this particular change and how they affect the process and extent of change in practice. The study designed as a qualitative case study is based primarily on document analysis, and supplemented by an interview. DiMaggio?s and Powell?s three mechanisms of change; coercive, mimetic and normative isomorphism, is applied.

The large-scale soy cultivation has negative consequences for the habitat of local populations because of the intensive use of pesticides and the destruction of rain forests and eco-systems. GM soya, varieties are often used. The majority of Swedish people, however, do not want GM products in their food. It will be hard in future to ensure GM free food, particularly foods that come from countries where GM crops are grown on a large scale. It is very difficult to avoid cross- contamination when both GM and non-GM crops are grown in the same area.

The housing estates in the outskirts of Sandviken, consist of relatively large scale apartment buildings. This report, that is a B.A. thesis at 10 Swedish university points, aims to investigate and describe the opportunities to improve safety and security for inhabitants in Norra Björksätra. The purpose with this report is to make Norra Björksätra to a more attractive place to live in, by changing the negative trends in the area. Since demolition of at least some of the houses could be of current interest in some years; the purpose is also to investigate whether demolition or renewal of the area is the best solution.

This thesis has been made on behalf of SCA Skog AB to assess the need of boron in Swedishforest fertilization. Boron has been added to Swedish forest fertilizers since the beginning of the1980s. This makes the fertilizers more expensive and therefore has the necessity of boron inSwedish forest fertilization been raised.The Swedish bedrock generally contains small amounts of boron. The boron in the bedrock istightly bound to the mineral tourmaline and mostly unavailable for plants. This leads to that thecontribution of boron to the soil from weathering is very low besides soils with marinesediments.