We have the tradition in Sweden to build villas and houses with a wooden framework. It has become natural for us because we have so much forest in our country. Building with wood has advantages, it is easy to process, but also disadvantages, as it is sensitive to moisture.Finland has long made use of the thermal blocks to build villas. It is a type of bricks that are a bit like a sandwich element, with a core of EPS and concrete on both sides of the core material. The concrete is hollow, so that after the walls has been bricked up you pour concrete into the hollow bricks.The issue of this report is to find out if concrete can be an alternative to wood as framework material in villas.

Författarna har haft ett samarbete med Panduro Hobby i samband med deras årliga miljökampanj. Syftet med examensarbetet har varit att med hjälp av befintliga produktutvecklingsprocesser och livscykelanalyser (LCA) ta fram en hållbar textil produkt med växtfärgning. Tanken var att konsumenter sedan själva skall kunna ta fram och växtfärga denna hållbara textilprodukt. Miljömedvetenhet och hållbarhet inom textilindustrin är ett aktuellt ämne. Trots det saknar dagens konsumenter förståelse för textilindustrins påverkan på miljön och har bristande kunskap om textila material för att kunna göra miljövänliga val ute i handeln.

This study was conducted in the "Kåtaberget" forest reserve in Västerbotten in the summer of 1999. In the summer of 1995, a prescribed burning was performed in the reserve. In some places where coarse dry woody debris (logs and stumps) was present, the fire consumed the wood, as well as parts of the humus layer, creating deep-burned patches. The low intensity ground fire also created dead woody debris by burning off living trees with open fire scars, as well as standing dead trees. In this study, the post-fire tree seedling establishment was examined, with special attention given to the former presence of woody debris. The study also includes a survey of the areal extent of deep-burned patches, as well as an examination of tree seedling establishment in these patches, compared to other burnt ground.

Uganda is one country with fastest growing populations in the world and with more than 25% of the population living in poverty. There is a rapid rural urban migration with increasing demands for food for low income earners especially in these areas. One way to mitigate food insecurity is to increase milk and meat production efficiency, and thus reproductive performance of cows is crucial for good production. A well-documented strategy for improving dairy cow productivity through faster genetic improvement is to breed dairy cows using proven semen via artificial insemination (AI). AI has been used in Uganda for over 60 years but only less than 10 %, a small population of the country?s herd has been bred that way. The aims were to study knowledge, attitude and practices factors influencing cow fertility results on dairy farms around Kampala using AI and to propose ways of promoting increased use of AI in Uganda.

In central Jönköping, on Munksjöns northern waterside a shopping centre will be built, on the block Atollen. The construction will begin in autumn of 2007 and will be finished according to plan in 2009. Atollens goal is to counteract the competition from external retailers and strengthen the retail trade in the city centre, leading to more attractive and competitive city centre.Atollen will not be a shopping centre in traditional style and design, it will be focused on shopping and experience. The shopping centre shall be a natural venue with a wide and exclusive store mix, concentrated against trend conscious customers. This will be created with the help of a futuristic design and architecture, with light, open and transparent spaces.

In this thesis, the flows of reactive nitrogen (Nr) in Scania were investigated and quantified. The thesis was also intended to form a basis for comparison between the urban nitrogen flow and other flows of nitrogen within Scania. The management of nitrogen in society has disturbed the natural nitrogen cycle. This is linked to a series of environmental problems such as eutrophication, acidification, global warming and smog. The method used was Substance Flow Analysis (SFA) for Nr. For calculation and flow charts Scania was divided into three subsystems; air, water and society.

Magnesium is an essential mineral that is important for several physiologic and biochemical processes in the body. Deficiency of magnesium is mainly associated with grass tetany, but can also appear in cows during the indoor period. Since long it is known that potassium has a negative effect on the absorption of magnesium. Due to the fact that potassium fertilisation leads to a higher potassium content in forage, it is of interest to study interactions of potassium on the magnesium balance in dairy cows. There are few studies about magnesium feeding to dairy cows in Sweden and the purpose of this study was to investigate how much magnesium and from which feed-sources dairy cows in Sweden get their magnesium. Data was collected from seven farms in the northern part of Uppland and from seven farms in Skaraborg in Sweden.

In this report two Sustainability Life Cycle Assessments are carried out for two types of tiles for Riksbyggen, to contribute to a sustainable urban transition. Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment involves performing a life cycle assessment based on four principles based on scientific research and presented by the non- governmental, non-profit organization, The Natural Step. The principles concern raw materials, chemically produced substances, degeneration of nature and social conditions.Origin of products, manufacturing sites and manufacturing procedures were initially completely unknown and much of the work has consisted of finding the entire cycles, understand manufacturing processes of ceramic tiles and evaluating what materials and what type of energy sources that are required for the production. A socially sustainable perspective has been of high relevance alongside an ecologically sustainable perspective.The report begins with the basic underlying facts and the purposes of this investigation and that the reasons why Sustainability Life Cycle Assessments are carried out are to provide Riksbyggen and the own workers with documents presenting Riksbyggens ideas regarding sustainability and to hopefully get the ideas further down in the supply chain. The methods used to fulfill the investigation are presented and scientific facts about LCA and ceramic building materials are reviewed.

Corporations meet complex challenges as they operate on a global market. Global multidimensional problems are referred to wicked problems and which cannot be solved only managed. In this case, of certified palm oil, palm oil production can be seen as a wicked problem due to deforestation of rainforest, land grabbing and social conflicts. There are also conflicts regarding the value and interest of palm oil. This thesis investigates the Swedish transformation for certified palm oil and how actors in the Swedish food market address this transformation to have certified palm oil in their production. The aim of this thesis is to explain enabling factors to address the governance gap of ethical sourcing in the food industry.

Earth?s resources have been exploited unsustainably. If an entire conception of exploitationof natural resources does not change now, this will entail enormous costs in the future.This insight has lead to a recently increased interest in clean technologies among privateequity capitalists. In the fourth quarter of 2006 about 10 percent of all private equityinvestments made in the US market were placed in the cleantech industry. Despite a goodinvesting climate in Sweden, Swedish capitalists have shown little interest in cleantechinvestments.

The shape and arrangement of the outdoor environment at a preschool has a critical impact on the possibilities to practice different pedagogic activities (Grahn et al.1997). At the preschool at Edwin Ahlqvists road, the employees are inspired by Reggio Emilia in their way of thinking, and they consider their outdoor environment is not suitable for the pedagogic activities they use. Reggio Emilia is a city in the north of Italy (Wallin 2001). The preschools there are famous for their pedagogy, their creativity and their democratic way of working (Dahlbech & Johansson 1986). The Reggio Emilia pedagogy is constantly renewed and developed, but with the children?s needs in focus and simultaneously with the quick changes of the modern society.

North Western Kungsholmen in Stockholm is confronting big changes and Stockholmsstad is planning that the area will be an extended part of the existing structure in centralStockholm. Dwellings and offi ces are built and the population increase heavily. Th isresult in a need to look at how public green areas can develop and be designed. Th epurpose is to design a proposal for a master plan of S:t Göranområdets public greenareas. Exploateringskontoret, Stockholm stad, who has initialized the task, claim thatthere is a need of clarifying and shield the qualities in the green areas of today and howto create new green structure.The problem formulations which are current in this master thesis are:? Is there a need of a distinct identity for the green areas of S:t Göransområdet? If so,how is this created?? How can the green parks and nature areas inside S:t Göransområdet be improved anddevelop?? How can the connections between the green areas inside S:t Göransområdet beclarifi ed and how can they connect to the surroundings?To get inspiration and information for the design this thesis include a study of theincluding parts in the design process.

We have the tradition in Sweden to build villas and houses with a wooden framework. It has become natural for us because we have so much forest in our country. Building with wood has advantages, it is easy to process, but also disadvantages, as it is sensitive to moisture.Finland has long made use of the thermal blocks to build villas. It is a type of bricks that are a bit like a sandwich element, with a core of EPS and concrete on both sides of the core material. The concrete is hollow, so that after the walls has been bricked up you pour concrete into the hollow bricks.The issue of this report is to find out if concrete can be an alternative to wood as framework material in villas.

North Western Kungsholmen in Stockholm is confronting big changes and Stockholmsstad is planning that the area will be an extended part of the existing structure in centralStockholm. Dwellings and offi ces are built and the population increase heavily. Th isresult in a need to look at how public green areas can develop and be designed. Th epurpose is to design a proposal for a master plan of S:t Göranområdets public greenareas. Exploateringskontoret, Stockholm stad, who has initialized the task, claim thatthere is a need of clarifying and shield the qualities in the green areas of today and howto create new green structure.The problem formulations which are current in this master thesis are:? Is there a need of a distinct identity for the green areas of S:t Göransområdet? If so,how is this created?? How can the green parks and nature areas inside S:t Göransområdet be improved anddevelop?? How can the connections between the green areas inside S:t Göransområdet beclarifi ed and how can they connect to the surroundings?To get inspiration and information for the design this thesis include a study of theincluding parts in the design process.

In the profession of architects there is an element called architectural competitions, where several architects compete in submitting the best solution for a certain task. In this master?s thesis I am studying the competitor?s perspective of an international architectural competition, while at the same time gaining experiences for my future career as a landscape architect. The aim of this thesis is to through an introspection of my own process examine a competitors view of the international architectural competition and how to approach the difficulties concerning international competitions. Through that I hope obtain experience about the international competition as part of the profession of landscape architects and other involved professions. To examine a competitor?s reflection of an international competition, I entered and competed in LE:NOTRE Student Competition, a competition for students where the task was to develop 25 kilometers of complex urban periphery along a chain of natural and artificial lakes in Bucharest, Romania.