The purpose of this thesis is to study how today?s consumer society can be understood from ananalysis of the phenomenon Every Day Carry (EDC). The aim is thus to problematize the daily useof the artifacts that surrounds us and investigate how these can be understood as networks of humanand non-human actors, aswell as identity- and meaning-making practices in today?s consumersociety.The theoretical and methodical framework is built upon an eclectic variety of consumptiontheories,Michel Callon?s, John Law?s and Bruno Latour?s work on Actor-Network-Theory,Discourse analysis inspired by Michel Foucault, Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe and anethnographic methodology specifically adapted for online research. The empirical material consistsof photographs and commentaries from two EDC blogs aswell as commentaries regarding EDCfrom a commentary field on Youtube.com.

This thesis work researches what motivates swedish Facebook users to pass along and shareinformation on Facebook, their attitude towards shared information and what affects this behavior. The goal of this thesis is to research todays behavior and motivations to enlighten  what makes information worth sharing to others on Facebook, instead of simply attracting attention. By using a web survey we have collected data by sampling a part of the actual population  of  swedens Facebook users.Our results show that swedish Facebook users main reason for using Facebook is to socialize with offline friends and share information to show otherssomethingtheybelivetheywillhaveuseforand/orwillappriciate.WecompareourfindingstoexistingresearchandtheFIROtheoryabouthumaninterpersonalneeds.Wefindthatuserssharinghabitscanbeidentifiedasmotivatedbyinterpersonalneedstomaintainsocialbonds,influenceothersopinionaboutthemselves,feeluniqueandstandoutinthecrowd.WeconcludethathumanneedsarecontributingtosharingactivityonFacebookandinfluencethesharinghabitsoftheSwedishFacebookusers.Theusersshowacriticalviewonsharingbehavioringeneralbutdonotbelievethattheyshareforthesamereasonthemselves..

This thesis project explores technologies that enable people to experience the world through animals' senses in order to spark interest in and awareness about the marine environment and its inhabitants. The project is carried out as part of a planned ocean themed science center. The purpose is to explore how a greater understanding of the marine environment can be achieved using interactive technologies. The thesis is based on a theoretical framework consisting of academic works on experience, learning in a museum context and sensory perception. Our proposed designs are a series of, primarily, wearable devices that translate sensory experiences and principles from the marine world to humans.

This paper constitutes graduate work at the landscape architecture program at the Department of Urban and Rural Development at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala. The main purpose of this paper is to create a project from an idea to reality. The place for the project is the environment of Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi in the north of Sweden. Icehotel is a unique hotel concept and each winter a hotel, a church and a bar is built at the area of only ice and snow, and each spring it all melts down and returns to the Torne river. During the project a plan for the environment, in ice and snow, will be made and then a part of it will be built in January 2010. The purpose is to improve the outdoor environment with landscape architecture to enhance the experience of Icehotel and create an exciting entrance to the area.

The purpose with the paper is to theoretically investigate how sensory experience and positive affect in contact with outdoor environment can promote health by 1) develop a model of the sensory and emotional processes based on multiple code theory (Bucci, 1997) and 2) examine if this model can increase understanding of the processes that takes place in outdoor recreation, the way this is described in environmental psychology research and theory. The paper starts by introducing research and perspectives concerning outdoor recreation. Different theories of nature?s health promoting effects are described. These include the restoration theories of Roger Ulrich and Steven and Rachel Kaplan, theories more concerned with outdoor activities and a theory combining these two perspectives called instorative theory. After this sensory and emotional information processing is examined through the works of Wilma Bucci and Jean Ayres. Antionio Damasio?s theories of emotion and Daniel Stern?s concept of vitalityaffects are than introduced to extend this reasoning.

The purpose of this study is to illustrate the impact on children's development around playing and how significance the formation of the schoolyards is focusing on how it inspire and calls to play within the children's. The study will also show how the youth workers experience the schoolyards and how they can incorporate the playground in their work to inspire the children's play and activities. The methods used in this study is based on both real conversations and by mail with educated youth workers and observations. The results shows that the schoolyard environment is very important for the children's play and development. The study reveals the importance of having nature like forest nearby and that the environment should be suited for everyone.

The out-of-town retail establishments are part of the dramatic structural changes in the retailing of food and groceries. There are however strong indications suggesting these establishments result in negative externalities concerning areas such as pollution and urban environment. The purpose of this study is to describe and, from an economic perspective, analyse the Swedish political regulations and planning policies concerning the out-of-town supermarkets. The analysis establishes that the current regulations regarding out-of-town retailing do not, due to the occurrence of market failures, produce an optimal situation. It might therefore be necessary to change the planning policies in a more restrictive direction.

The study has examined how some immigrants have managed to reestablish their professional careers in Sweden. Through in-depth-interviewing with six immigrant informants representing different genders, age and professional experience the process of successfully reestablishing a career within the same professional area in Sweden as in their native country is examined.The study looked at structural and individual possibilities and obstacles which affected the individual. In addition the study looked at the personal characteristics and strategies used by the informants to overcome and succeed in adapting and reestablishing their working life.  The study has drawn on human capital and social capital theory for a basic understanding of how education and skills affect. In addition the informants have surpassed structural barriers affecting many other immigrants.

This thesis has aimed to study steering process and institutionalization in the context of educational policy work. This has been conducted by using empirical material from the political decision-making process that preceded the implementation of a new national program on how principals should be educated and certified. By using an aggregated theoretical point of view containing new institutionalism and traditional Swedish curriculum theory, the process was analyzed from different perspectives. The results depict a process that contained several actors who tried to shape the principal education program differently. From the theoretical perspectives, the decision-making process could be understood as an act of both self-interest as well as trust in their own beliefs and cultural values.

Through previous studies during my education, I have experienced that chemical deicing road salt is a known problem, mainly in southern Sweden. Road salt causes damage to the environment and also damage to vehicles and structures such as bridges, etc. Road salt causes vehicles and steel constructions to rust, leading to increased costs for repairs of damage to structures. Road salt also causes damage to the plants and the economy to suffer, when plant material and soil needs to be replaced. In order to get closer to a solution, I put up three questions.

Man spends most part of the day at work and is therefore influenced by it?s ambience. That?s why it?s important that the environment at work is health promoting and can function as a supportive environment. The purpose of this study was to describe job satisfaction among employees and to analyse a possible connection between job satisfaction and employees experiences of SOC.

Abstract? ?there is no reason?to assume that prehistorians cannot study ancient symbolism and beliefs. The question remains, however, how best to study symbolism within the material confines of archaeological research?(Fogelin 2007:63)With my essay I would like to bring up the meaning of the soapstonelamp for the Thule culture in Greenland. Humans in the arctic area, from the same in the north of Scandinavia to the inuites in Greenland, have a common way of viewing the world that stems from anemismen.

Uppsatsen behandlar Afrikanska Unionen (AU) och dess arbete för bevarandet av mänskliga rättigheter i konflikter, ett arbete som AU till största del misslyckats med. Darfur i Sudan är det konfliktområde som huvudsakligen tas upp. År 2002 övergick Organization of African Unity (OAU) till AU och därmed blev fokuseringen på mänskliga rättigheter större. I sitt arbete med mänskliga rättigheter utgår AU från African Charter on Human and Peoples? Rights (ACHPR) och Kommissionen (African Commission on Human and Peoples? Rights) är den institution som enligt ACHPR har till uppdrag att verka för de mänskliga rättigheterna.

Light pollution in urban areas - How to prevent light pollution at construction Jakob Sjöling Light pollution is a relatively new but rapidly growing form of pollution. Society's increasing demand for light coupled with the pace at which lighting technology evolves is accelerating that growth. The purpose of this study was to analyse how the construction industry plan and design outdoor lighting when erecting new buildings, specifically with regards to the issue of light pollution. It also investigated how local authorities work with these issues during urban planning. In both cases special interest was placed in ways to improve the planning and use of outdoor lighting in order to minimize light pollution.

The purpose of the study was to determine the attitudes of the teachers of Reggio Emilia inspired preschools concerning the science work with children between the ages of one and three, as well as their opinions on how the physical preschool environment and the choice of materials influence their scientific work. The study was conducted in three departments of two different kindergartens. Although both kindergartens called themselves Reggio Emilia inspired, their working methods and their environments differed largely. None of them were originally built as Reggio Emilia inspired preschools. One of the kindergartens strived to design their indoor environment the same way as the preschools of Reggio Emilia are constructed, there for they were setting up different stations where the children themselves have the opportunity to explore various scientific areas.