Bioenergy from the forest has been heavily debated in Sweden for several decades due to the interest of society to decrease dependence upon fossil fuels and limit the effects of climate change. The actual use of bioenergy from the forest has shifted over the years but increased during the last decades. Private actors within forest and nature conservation sectors play an important role for the development of bioenergy from the forest as well as for the debate and the implementation of political goals. Forestry in Sweden is characterised by ?freedom under responsibility? for private actors and the perspective of governance is valuable for studying actors and discourses.

Master thesis in business administration, School of business administration, Linnaeus University, accounting, 4FE03E, Spring 2011.Authors: Linda Åslund and Shirin Yousef.Supervisor: Professor Sven-Olof Yrjö CollinExaminer: Christopher von KochTitle: The Swedish code of good governance ? Who finds it useful? Background: Corporate governance has emerged to maintain the stockholders interests in corporations where the owners are separated from control in order to create confidence in the corporations. In 2005 the Swedish code of good governance emerged to prevent in part additional corporate scandals from happening and to make sure that the board is acting in the interest of the owners. The code is a complement to the Swedish Companies Act since it has a more strict demand in certain areas but it gives the companies a possibility to deviate by either complying or explaining their actions.Purpose: The purpose with this thesis is to examine who finds the Swedish code of good governance useful.Method: The research method of this survey is quantitative where the purpose is to investigate deviations in the companies? corporate governance reports.

In 2002 the local council of Lund, Sweden, decides to implement the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. A number of actors, such as the state, the civil society, the political society and the bureaucracy, participate in the political process with different authority and points of departure. This thesis studies the actors´ interactions from an inside perspective by applying concepts such as political power, democracy and implementation. The methodological departure is action research from within, a local NGO, the local board of Save the Children Sweden. The results of the study indicate that governance and steering of the implementation process at the communal level is weak.

Since the Bruntlandreport was published 1987, companies have shown their environmental commitment through an environmental account. Companies started these accounts because their rivals started having them and today most large companies have a environmental account or sustainable development report. The information given by the companies have been seen as slanted, and others see it only as a part of the image production for the companies. There have been several investigations of the stakeholders of environmental reports and it is not clear who is the primary stakeholder, in other words who actually reads them. All different stakeholders have different views of what an environmental account should encompass.

The failure of Structural Adjustment Programs and its neoliberal policies to effectively reduce poverty have led to the creation of Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) by The World Bank and International Monetary Fund. PRSP, connected to both the Comprehensive Development Strategy and the HIPC initiative, are built on the notion of national ownership and stakeholder participation and thereby expand potential conditionality to include matters of governance. This thesis examines the evolution of PRSP and how the process of participation affects national governance structures. By analyzing the role of rules and norms within the World Bank and IMF from a historical point of view the thesis explains why the participation process has developed the way it has. It concludes that neoliberal norms, still at heart within the World Bank and IMF, have an impact on the process of participation within nation states and thereby its governance structure.

This study focuses on the politics around ecological sustainable development in Sweden today, with emphasis on urban development, building and living. The starting-point for this study is the environmental adapted city district of Stockholm, Hammarby Sjöstad. The primary focus of the study is to investigate what means of control the environmental investment in Hammarby Sjöstad is expressing, and to elucidate their ideological, political and social implications. The empirical material is primarily based up on the local Hammarby Sjöstad environmental program along with qualitative in-depth interviews with citizens of this district. The study is based on critical discourse analysis The result of this study is that the ecological investment in Hammarby Sjöstad partly constitutes a hidden exercise of power, taking shape as built-in physical measures in the dwellings and the neighbouring surroundings.

The municipalities of Sweden have a great responsibility when it comes to adapt the physical planning to a more sustainable development. The development of the society depends upon the growth of new communities and other public services, but to build new communities in a long-term sustainable manner you need good methods and guidance. This study presents four sustainability certification scheme intended to improve and adapt the planning, implementation and performance of new communities and infrastructure project to more sustainable methods based on economic, ecological and social sustainability. These systems are the latest versions of environmental classifications and similar rating schemes, but with a broader focus since they also include the social aspect of sustainability.This study aims to investigate what role sustainability certification schemes can play in local planning for sustainable development. The study compares the certification systems criteria to the tools and goals that the Swedish municipalities have been provided with, to lead efforts towards a more sustainable society.

AbstractSince the 2006 election the country of Sweden is governed by four Liberal and Conservative parties. Parties that by cooperating maintain power in office and forms a so called coalition. A coalition that not only can be seen at the national but also at the local level. According to pervious research coalitions that holds control of the seats in the government at the national level tends to increase the total expenditures compared to other types of government formations. Can a similar connection be seen at the local level? This the fundamental issue of this essay.

One of the biggest challenges in the human history is to prevent environmental pollution. Everybody has an indirect or direct influence on the environment through his or her consumption. The stakeholders are not just interested in price and quality, they are also interested in the circumstances of production and how this affects the environment. By taking environmental concern in public procurement it is possible to speed up the environmental adjustment of services and products. Environmental awareness has become more and more self evident in the environmental work.

Allteftersom makten i viss mån har förskjutits från "government" till "governance", bör det följaktligen medföra ökat krav på demokrati inom governance. När internationella organisationer med tiden får mer makt och inflytande i olika delar av samhället bör dessa också ta mer ansvar för att främja demokratin. Detta eftersom demokrati anses vara grundpelaren i "moderna" samhällen. I viss mån ställer världssamfundet krav på att nationer ska gå mot en utveckling av demokrati. Varför ställs inte samma krav på governance, som börjar bli allt viktigare i den globala värld vi lever i.

Agencies towards Sustainable Development ? A Study of Environmental Management Systems in Governmental Agencies 2005A vision of the Swedish government is to build an ecologically sustainable society. A tool in this effort is to implement environmental management systems (EMS). The aim of the thesis is to present in which phase of the implementation of EMS Swedish governmental agencies are. This will be done by compilation and evaluation of agencies? yearly environmental reports.The thesis is written in co-operation with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Swedish EPA).

This essay is about local history in history teaching in two cities; Kalmar and Vetlanda. The purpose was to see how teachers in Kalmar and Vetlanda define local history and what kind of local history they teach their students. I have also examined what benefits of didactics the teachers see in teaching local history. In order to find out I interviewed four history teachers at three schools in Kalmar and two history teachers at one school in Vetlanda. Some of the interviews were carried out over the telephone and the rest at the teachers´s schools.

The purpose of this study is to examine if, how and why history teachers work with local history projects in education. The results will be analyzed based on a theory of the uses of history. I also investigate, through group interwiews with students, if and how students? historical consciousness may develop through teaching about local history. The result is a variation map of teachers? different uses of history and how students historical consciousness can manifest itself.The results of the study shows that all the teachers interviewed uses local history projects in education.

Hair care is a hygienic treatment and is supervised by the Local Environment and Public Health Committee in the municipality. According to the Swedish Environmental Code, hairdressers as all practitioners are required to take measurements to protect the environment and public health. In hygienic treatments hazards may arise from inadequate hygiene practice which spread infection. Hazards may also arise from the use of hair care products such as permanent wave solutions, bleaches and hair dyes. Some hair dye components are known to cause contact allergy, mostly in hair dressers who are exposed professionally but also in some cases in consumers.

The purpose of this study is to examine if, how and why history teachers work with local history projects in education. The results will be analyzed based on a theory of the uses of history. I also investigate, through group interwiews with students, if and how students? historical consciousness may develop through teaching about local history. The result is a variation map of teachers? different uses of history and how students historical consciousness can manifest itself.The results of the study shows that all the teachers interviewed uses local history projects in education.