The purpose of this research is to examine some historical aspects of Robert Putnam?s thesisabout voluntary associations and social capital. According to a micro perspective theory ofsocial capital the trust and reciprocity required and created by associations is important toexplain the disparity between institutional performance and socioeconomic development ofsocieties. The social patterns governing this therefore set a precedent for the future. Using themutual sickness benefit societies in Sweden as variable for voluntary associations around1884, the essay discusses the possible links between social capital, associations and long termeconomic development.

The sun is essential to life on earth and no matter where you are, there is a constant need ofenergy. Nearly 800 000 years ago man learned for the first time to use fire in a controlled way.Since then, fire has given us the opportunity to inhabit places despite a cold climate. In Swedenthe resident sector accounts for a major part of the total consumption of energy. In a time whenenvironmental issues and greenhouse effects are increasing, we also see a future of rising energyprices. With this perspective, we have in this bachelor thesis in the Building Environment at theRoyal Institute of Technology, KTH, in Stockholm decided to focus on the renewable energysource, solar energy.The energy from solar radiation is a free resource and does not have any negative effects uponthe environment.

The purpose of our essay is to study the institutional-, demographic and accounting theoretical factors that influence an organisations actuarial commitment.The research was performed through a web based survey, with complimentary telephone interviews, directed to companies listed on Stockholm Stock Exchange A- and O-list on the 30 of November, 2003.Our data was analysed with a Median test, Kolomogorov-Smirnov test, T-test and a Mann-Whitney test. The purpose of the Mann-Whitney test was the low number of respondents that took part in the research. The Kolomogorov-Smirnov test was done to determine whether the population variances was equal or not. The data showed that organisations with a majority of female employees assume a lower salary increase, and a higher average age than other companies with a male majority. Only 2 of 11 hypothesis can be accepted as temporary truths but several other visible relations are indicated in our research, but can not be statistically proved.We think that the major problem with our is the time it was performed.

The purpose of this study is to examine what pupils in the ninth grade eats for lunch and also whether there is any connection between their lunch habits and perceived ability to concentrate and fatigue. A further aim was to study pupils' experience of dining environment in schools.The study is based on a quantitative method with questionnaires. The study was implemented on four schools in elementary school in themunicipalityofKristianstadand Tanum.Our results demonstrate, in accordance with several previous studies conducted in the same age group, that it is about half of the pupils who eats school lunch every day and that the majority are eating school lunch 3-5 days a week. Furthermore, our study shows that the pupils who rarely eat vegetables in school feel tired and distracted to a greater extent than the group of pupils who eat vegetables almost daily. Our result also shows that the group of pupils who eat the main course 3-5 days a week feel both tired and distracted to a greater extent than the group of students who eat the main course more rarely.In accordance with previous studies our study shows that differences exist between boys and girls regarding food that is eaten instead of school lunch.

Much attention has been directed to Charity Foundations and how they use the donations given to them. Donators and external organisations put pressure on and evaluate the performance of Charity Foundations. The purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding of how Charity Foundations handle the pressure from external parties through a qualitative case study of one Swedish Charity Foundation. The most important external factors have been identified and the accountability relationships between each party and the Charity Foundation have been examined. The empirical material was collected through semi-structured interviews and from written sources.

The paper is a discourse analysis of the liberal environmental discourse in Sweden today. It is based on articles in two of the main liberal Swedish newspapers, Dagens Nyheter and Sydsvenska Dagbladet, and a liberal periodical, Neo.The purpose of this study is to analyze how the environmental problems that have been produced by the industrialised society, especially global warming, are seen upon in the liberal discourse in Sweden today. The theoretical point of departure is a discourse analysis that as a method seeks to analyze the material to reveal what assumptions the discussion departs from, and what assumptions the discussions reject.The thesis concludes that the main trends in the discussions are to position the environment against the financial system and state that the capitalist system is the only system that can solve the environmental issues. The existing environmental problems are not denied, but constantly belittled and only considered to be a problem if it poses a direct threat to humans. The solution for these environmental problems is believed to be the strengthening of the financial system and the development of new technologies..

The aim of this literature review was to discern which legislations and regulations related to animal welfare that comprises reindeer and their significance in reindeer husbandry. The Swedish Animal Welfare Act (1988:534) was enacted July 1, 1988 and its main purpose is to ensure a good animal health and environment. Animals that live in a good environment with good health is considered to have good welfare, which can be described as an individual's condition in relation to its surroundings. Reindeer herding is an extensive form without daily management. In reindeer husbandry there are eight specific seasons over the year and reindeer are handled as they migrates between pastures, get earmarks, are sorted for transport and slaughter.

When a disaster occurs the main focus is on the loss of human lives. Here the environmental effects have been in the centre of attention. This work has had two main purposes. The first one was to formulate attributes, variables that together present a complete picture of the consequences that an event has had on the environment. The other main purpose was to investigate how people value the impact that a disaster can have on the environment.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the impact on children playing at a preschool yard that is designed with traditional playground equipment, and a nature-like yard without traditional playground equipment. How these respective environments influence children?s play, which other factors in the external environment that affect the game and whether the theories in the literature correspond with the results were important questions for the essay. To answer these questions a case study was applied onto two specific preschool centers, both located in Malmö. Through literature studies, inventories, observations and interviews with staff and children, a picture become clear of how the children use the yard and how their play is affected by the design of it.

Here is presented the result and discussion of a survey concerning the psychosocial environment in a school in the vicinity of Stockholm. The theoretical background of this study was the model of demand-control by Theorell, and various aspects of stress by Frankenhauser and Ödman. The survey was constituted of an inquiry form which was handed out to six different classes at the school. A total of 86 students filled in the form, and their answers were treated with standard statistical procedures to reveal the results. The inquiry form was made up by five parts; one that concerned the background of the respondent, one that reflected the psychosocial health and stress level and three parts that concerned discrimination, victimization and school democracy.

This bachelor thesis consists of an analysis of museum environment. In the research, case studies have been done at the, Stockholm based museums, Swedish museum of Natural history?s exhibition Natur i Sverige (Nature in Sweden) and the Nordiska museet?s (Nordic history) exhibition Modemakt (Power of fashion) and learning environment Lekstugan (playhouse). The purpose of the research was to study how cultural heritage is used and developed within the museum pedagogy aimed at children. The research is based on a multimodal approach with focus on learning resources.The research examines the museums focus on children and youngsters, what the goals for this focus looks like on respective museum and how the focus is visible in the actual museums.

The Saami, a Nordic indigenous people scattered over four countries, has for centuries been regarded as parts of the national populations of the countries in which they live. During the 19th century saami demands for greater influence resulted en several changes, among them the founding of a Swedish Saami Council in 1993. The council became a popularly elected, representative institution with an agenda of its own, but also a public authority answerable to the government. The decision to attribute the council this twofold role was unusual and, from a certain point of view, even controversial: it makes it difficult to determine the location of the power to act in saami-related issues and the legitimacy to do so.This essay is about how the twofold role came into existence, what it leads to and how the seemingly contradictive duality is managed. It has an institutional approach with theories concerning institutions and etnicity as well as institutional change and handling of complicated and ambiguous demands.

Purpose: From an activity-perspective examine the meaning of housing accessibility and older persons´ perception of participation. Method: Systematic literature review of articles searched in the databases, Medline, Pubmed, Ahmed, Cinahl, Scopus and Google Scholar. Search on individual keywords, and in various combinations of the words home environment, home modification, occupational therapy, aging, accessibility and participation. Nine scientific articles were examined. Results: The articles were published between 2005 and 2009.

During my practical training I have seen what after-school offers children. Large groups of children and little staff, often results in that the children had to play freely until they go home. Few activities are offered to the children and the staff is busy looking after the children and ensures that they are not fighting.The purpose of this study is to find out how children feel about their leisure activities and if they think they are being offered a meaningful leisure. The main research questions were:How do children experience their leisure-time?Do after-school offers children a meaningful leisure and is it the children's interests and needs that govern the activities and the environment?How do the number of children in the leisure group affect the leisure time?The methods to collect data in the study are observations and interviews.

The purpose of my essay is on one hand to research and evaluate the measures that one intermediate school in Sweden, uses in order to prevent bullying and stop it in the event that one pupil happens to get bullied or harassed. In other words, I would like to show how that school is capable of creating a safe environment. Qualitative research is used to obtain these findings.On the other hand, I also wish to examine what pupils at the school think about these measures and how they perceive the attitudes of the school?s teachers and management regarding the prevention of bullying. In order to acquire this information quantitative research is used.The conclusions that I draw after conducting my research are as follows:1- Regarding the ?Anti ? bullying Performance Plan?, my essay shows that school teachers and management actively work in order to maintain a safe environment and as a result bullying is successfully prevented the school.