An increasing number of peole are resisting the attraction of living around nature and opting instead to spend their lives in cities. Parks and green areas play an important part in our well-being and we become fascinated with the diversity of nature, in which we find a peacefulness that is unique. Amongst other things, being surrounded by nature can reduce high blood presure, lower the production of stress hormones and stimulate the mind and our ability to concentrate. It is therefore vitally important to entice city residents to parks and green areas to improve their physical and mental well-being. Previous research has shown that humans are seeking for certain characteristics in the parks and green areas which they are visiting.

In recent time, agile methods have been devoted much attention, and the concept is widely used in the IT industry in particular. An increasing number of companies are interested in this way of working. The following report is the result of a study on the ability to create value for customers in business development through the use of agile methods. We ask what the advantages and limitations of agile methods are in the creation of customer value. Grounded Theory and an initial literature review was used to answer this question.

The area around the stream Orsundaan, which runs trough the valley Harsbacksdalen, is famous for its beautiful landscape. The upper area of Orsundaan and Harsbacksdalen is situated just south of Heby in Uppland, Sweden. Even though the area is protected by different nature conservation acts, it is difficult to find any information about the geodiversity in the area. Geodiversity, or geological and geomorphological diversity, includes the concepts of geoprocesses and geoelements. Very high geodiversity could be seen at an inventory of the geomorphology in the upper area of Orsundaan and Harsbacksdalen.

Local participation in nature conservation has gained more attention over the last decades due to international conventions as well as local and national initiatives. This development can be seen as a reaction to a more expert oriented nature conservation characterized by centralized control and strict preservation of so called "original" nature. The overall objective of this thesis is to contribute to research on new forms of conservation where democracy and local participation is included. The case study focuses on the process of producing a pre-study for a suggested national park in southern Jämtland in the Swedish mountain region, and aims to investigate to what extent local participation was included. The pre-study was led by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and the County Administrative Board (CAB) in Jämtland.

Semi-natural grasslands are threatened biotopes in the landscape and without conservation measures high values of nature will be lost. Meanwhile, the biological values associated with cultural values of the traditional agricultural landscape in Sweden. Studies of land use history may help to understand how today biological diversity has evolved and how it can be preserved. Färsna farm in Norrtälje has left some of the old heritage of biological diversity in the form of nature - forest and grassland, which hosts an unusual herb-rich flora. Through the study of historic maps and från1673/1767/1801/1901 1952 and orthophoto of the area has a picture of how land use has changed over time emerged.

Animals in zoos live in more barren environments than their conspecifics in nature. In nature, elephants spend more than 75 % of the day foraging and have been observed lying down two hours during night. Stereotypies are common in many different species in zoos. Stereotypic behaviors may constitute up to 50 % of the daily activity budget of zoo elephants. Modern zoos try to reduce stereotypic behaviors by means of environmental enrichment.

The use of out-door pedagogy in the school has been frequently high-lighted during recent years. To which extent out-door education was practised in the school depends on the opinions among the active teachers. The aim of this study was to examine the opinions on out-door pedagogy among teachers in classes 4-6 of the elementary school and to find out to which extent the teacher used out-door teaching. The study was based on qualitatively structured interviews with 4 teachers having different lenght of teaching experience. The results of the interviews showed that the teachers had different opinions on the definition of out-door pedagogy.

This study is an investigation of a sub community within the community of Hovsjö. The local government has financed a project in Hovsjö which is intended to bring about positive development. The prior object of this paper is to describe the project, it?s planning, it?s methods, it?s carrying through, and it?s goals. This study presents the district of Hovsjö in Södertälje.

The purpose of this essay is to analyze and show possibilities how a city can grow into the scenery of a oak dominated landscape and how this encounter can add values to the city. The city in focus is Linköping, a city that is approaching one of Sweden?s largest oak dominated cultural landscapes. To this landscape high ecological and cultural values are connected. The recreational values are also of importance especially because of its urban location also because the city is mainly surrounded by flat agricultural land.

The purpose with this study is to map the research front and the research base in information science, by using the bibliometric methods bibliographic coupling and author-co citation analysis. The research questions are: 1. What is the nature of the research front in information science, regarding which areas that are being studied? 2. What is the nature of the research base in information science, regarding which authors who are most cited, and how they can be grouped? The data used in the study were gathered from articles published in the journal Journal of the American society for information science and technology, published between 2004-2006, respectively 1986-2006.

Ammerån which is a small forest river in eastern Jämtland is a well-known river that has been a popular fishing river for a long time. The actual Ammerån begins downstream the lake Solbergsvattnet at Hammerdal and flows into the Indalsälven 10 km upstream Hammarstrand. The river environment switches between forests with wilderness feeling and open agricultural land. The entire Ammerån is today a Nature reserve and protected from hydropower development. Fishing in Ammerån has mainly been focused on trout and grayling, and is so even today.

In today?s hectic society more and more people experience stress and our lifestyle gives us a very limited chance to recover. For some it sometimes goes that far that they get burnt-out, they have pushed themselves to the ultimate limit. There are different methods and treatments to recover but one very efficient treatment is to spend time in a rehabilitation garden. There the patients get treated by therapeutics that uses the garden as the main tool.The fact that gardens and parks have a positive effect on humans have been used by people for a long time but it?s not until recently that the research has taken speed.

This thesis describes the process of developing a reservation system for common resources through a TV-interface. The system is developed in cooperation with the company Dreampark and is built to work in their platform for TV, Dreamgallery. The main goal was to develop a reservation system and to make it work with Dreamgallery, to develop a demonstration version of the system. The thesis describes the approach for developing an easy-to-use and customisable program and interface for making reservations. How this is inserted into an existing program in a suitable way.

There is no doubt about the significance of nature on the health of human beings. Not only is the tree an element of nature that is of great value to our survival, it also serves as a valuable object and symbol of human beings? enjoyment and appreciation of the environment. The purpose of this study is to present the relationship that a person may have with a specific tree. Three women and two men are interviewed about their trees and the places where they are located.

The purpose of this essay is to analyze three works that are regarded as fictional biographies. In all three selected works the protagonists are historical Swedish women who are known for being a part of the cultural sphere of their time. Two of them are also recognized as important and somewhat pivotal characters in the struggle for women?s rights at the turn of the 19th century. The analyzed works, however, accentuate the women?s private life.