The purpose of the study was to investigate how inventories of suspected polluted areas as a part of the planned control of existing companies cab be designed in order to achieve as great effect as possible. The study was conducted in cooperation with Piteå municipality. An analysis of regional inventory projects, local municipal strategies and a pilot study in Piteå was conducted. The experience from both the regional projects and the pilot study was that in order to achieve an effective control a number of factors were inportant: an efficient selection of companies, a good dialogue between the controlling agency and the companies, sufficient resources, education of municipal inspectors and guidance for decisionmaking. Another inportant result was that the municipal planning can prevent an efficient inventory if the control of city development projects is allowed to take time from the planned control.

IKEA is probably one of the most well known Swedish companies in the world. During thepast decades millions of people all across the globe have decorated their homes according tothe style of IKEA. But just exactly how big and influential are they? Many, if not to say all,municipalities in Sweden wants IKEA to establish and build their famous stores in one oftheir towns. But at what cost? When deciding on a municipality to establish in, IKEAnormally tends to have an advantage when it comes to controlling the conditions and terms ofthe establishment.To undertake this dissertation I use a theory based upon the inter-organizational theoriescalled resource dependency theory.

The purpose of the present thesis is to investigate the interaction between the branches in the different villages and its users and the importance of the branches for democracy. To illustrate these points, I have focused on Högsby municipality, a local council in Kalmar county. Högsby municipality is of particular interest in this connection, since all seven of the branches have been closed recently; only the main library remains. Moreover, three of the closed branches were, in 2005, taken over by citizen organizations local to the part of Högsby municipality where the libraries were located. The specific issues that were addressed were:- What needs were satisfied by the local libraries in Högsby council and is it possible to satisfy these needs in other ways and then, how?- Does the absence of a local library affect democracy?Interviews were performed.

Trough the contact with the HR (Human Resources) department of home care management in Halmstad municipality, emerged from the management a wish for a documentation for what should be included in leadership at middle management level in the future. People in middle management positions have a large impact on the operation staff and are also in charge of the individual corporate performance and its success. As we have previously been active in the management of multiple role configurations, including middle-management positions, we have some prior understanding of the complexity of this position. The study was conducted with the aim to investigate different aspects of what leadership for middle managers in home care management in Halmstad municipality may mean to them. With the help of different theories and models various aspects were analyzed due to the impact of leadership.Due to the studies purpose and questions, two focus groups was conducted and interviews with respondents from both the lower and superior positions in home care management in Halmstad municipality was done.

This study aims to examine how the interventions for homeless persons in the municipality of Kalmar are organized. The study is based on four half-structured qualitative interviews with both representatives from different instances and also from persons who have experience of being homeless.The theoretical bases we have used to analyze the material are organization theory, specifically the concept of bureaucracy. Our results show that homelessness is not seen as a problem in itself, since the general view is that homeless people often have a complex problem scenario where drug- and alcohol abuse and mental illness are common.It is often the latter that takes priority in the interventions and the housing question is therefore neglected. We also found that social services do not have a satisfactory structure around the organization of the work on homelessness. They do not have any specific device in Kalmar that focus on homelessness issues with the result that the existing units are forced to take care of the work of homelessness.

Our aim is to create a greater understanding for how Växjö Municipality is working with their vision, strategy and brand, and also how it is perceived by the business sector. This understanding will help us to highlight success factors and pitfalls that exist in the creation, implementation, and maintenance of a municipality?s identity, image and profile to convince the business sector to follow.Methodology: We have been using an abductive and qualitative research-method in which semi-structured interviews have been the basis of our empirical material. We had interviews with three employees, a communication manager and the mayor at Växjö Municipality as well as four organizations and two companies with sustainable focus. We did this to get different perspectives and thereby get a greater understanding.Analysis & conclusion: We have been able to identify both success factors and pitfalls in Växjö Municipality's strategic sustainability work.

The purpose of the study is to examine, describe and analyse how a selection of parents to children with Asperger syndrome understand, experience and cope with their parenthood. To attain this purpose we focused on these following questions;How does the respondents view their parenthood?; What kind of strategies does the respondents use to cope with their parenthood on the basis on their child with Asperger syndrome?; How does the respondents experience the mesosystem interact with them regarding situations contenting strenuous and stress?We chose to do a qualitative study by conducting separate interviews with eight parents to children with Asperger syndrome. Then we analyzed the answers using an abductive research, we tested the empirical data against our choice of theoretical perspectives. The results shows; that several of the parents in the study have experiences of high strenuous and stress in combination the several roles their parenthood contained.

This study is focused on small scale water and wastewater handling in Sweden. The study is divided into two major parts; the first describes common methods for water- and wastewater handling and the second part is a case study on three small and expensive systems in Gällivare municipality, in the north of Sweden. In the case study, abilitys for the local government to hand over unwanted systems to the water users is investigated and found to be a plausible solution to cut costs for two out of the three studied systems. In the third case, water and wastewater systems is not recommended to be handed over but other ways of cutting costs are suggested..

The daily travel, and especially travel between home and work i.e. commuting, is increasing every passing year. More than 90 000 people commute from their home municipality to work in Gothenburg. One of the aims of the regions of Västra Götaland and Halland is to interconnect municipalities and towns within the region, thereby creating growth, faster freight and passenger transports as well as a more attractive business climate. However, while the goal is to create growth, there are several municipalities in the study region with negative ongoing trends.

The representative democracy has become weakened during the last decades. At the same time the United Nations declared at the Rio de Janeiro meeting in 1992 that environmental problems can best be solved by involvement of all concerned citizens in decision-making. The main purpose of this study has been to examine if citizens panels is a possible way to involve citizens in environmental decision-making and what the outcomes can be. Furthermore the study has investigated what the participation has contributed to environmental politics and how representative the results have been. This has been carried out by investigating the Piteåpanel in the municipality of Piteå by conducting interviews.The result of the study shows that the involvement of the citizens in the decision-making influenced the environmental politics of the municipality.

Fairtrade is a certification of products that has grown from the criticism of conventional trade. By increasing the focus on the producers? economic and social conditions, poverty can be fought and the producers? voice in the marketplace can be strengthened. Fairtrade City is a certification for municipalities who wish to engage in ethical consumption. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the Fairtrade City concept and how this can be a tool for working towards sustainable development. To be more concise, we want to answer the following questions: Why does Örebro municipality work with the Fairtrade City certification and how can Fairtrade City be used as tool for working towards sustainable development? The thesis is based on qualitative interviews and e-mail interviews with members of the steering committee for Örebro Fairtrade City and on literature studies. We have in our thesis identified Örebro Fairtrade City as a result of 1) that Örebro municipality through Fairtrade City wants to change their surrounding environment by engaging in ethical trade 2) that the surrounding environment effects Örebro municipality through isomorphism regarding its way to deal with sustainable development 3) that the municipality through its work with ethical trade becomes legitimized by their surrounding environment.

AimThe aim of this study is to give a picture of how the brand of Bollnäs GIF apprehends according to the sports club, the municipality of Bollnäs, the Swedish Bandy Association and the local business owners. Following questions has been used: How does the brand of Bollnäs GIF apprehend? Which existing soft value has the brand? What does the association contribute for the community, for local business owners and for the local development? How can the association develop the brand best in the future?MethodThe study is based upon ten interviews with persons representing organization that is concerned. These are: Bollnäs GIF, the municipality of Bollnäs, the Swedish Bandy Association and local business owners. I have analyzed the results compared to selected brand theories.ResultsThe existing value of the sports club-brand is the history and tradition that lies within the brand and the communion and the commitment the sports club creates in the Bollnäs.

The purpose of this study is to, from the preschool teachers? point of view, deepen the knowledge about influential factors regarding a mandatory report from preschools to the Child Protective Agency (CPA) when suspecting child maltreatment and feeling uneasiness regarding the child. The purpose is also to furthermore investigate collaboration between preschools and the CPA in Hagfors municipality. The study has the following questions: How do preschools teachers handle their suspicions and uneasiness about a child being maltreated? Which factors can be influential on whether or not the suspicions are reported to the CPA? Which experiences do preschool teachers have of collaboration with the CPA?The study is based on qualitative methods in the formof individual interviews.

Environmental issues and sustainable development is a high priority in today?s society and has received substantial attention lately. In the inaugural speech it is expressed that the goal for the IT?politics is a sustainable information society for everyone, which can be achieved by using IT to support sustainable growth. The Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications has developed a document which outlines three specific proposals on what the government should focus on during a three?year period (2008?2010) that with the use of IT will contribute to a sustainable society.

From a democratic point of view the existing organisation with municipality sections in the city of Malmö, Sweden will be examined. The matter of how an alternative organisation should be structured will also be discussed. Two incompatible models of democracy theories will be arranged: libertarian democracy and participation democracy. The intentions with the reform were primary to increase the civic participation. By applying those values that are used to characterize participation democracy it will be shown whether the local participation has actually increased.