AbstractThis study deals with outdoor education together with Swedish language teaching. In my future profession as a teacher I want to be able to offer my pupils varied, discovering and exploring lessons focused on nature. The aim of this study is to throw light upon outdoor teaching, hoping that more people will discover nature as the right place to learn.In my study I have asked these questions:? What is outdoor education?? How can Swedish be taught out of doors?? Why is this method a good complement to the traditional teaching in the classroom?With these questions in wiev I made three qualitative interviews with teachers with different backgrounds. In addition I have planned, taught and evaluated the lesson that is the basis of the result.Outdoor education should be given increasing time in school and be used as a complement to the traditional teaching in the classroom.

An organism that is transferred from one place to another, causing major problems to the native species is termed invasive. Its natural dispersal across barriers may have been prevented but as man has turned able to rapidly travel all over the world organisms are brought to sites where they were never before observed. Adding the increasing global warming organisms may find it necessary to move around even further. This might cause major disturbance to the biological diversity, and hybridization and homogenization is one of many scenarios that could disturb the native diversity. In Sweden more that 2/3 of all alien plant species have been introduced to disturbed areas and the major introduction mechanism is gardening.

Outdoor recreation habits in metropolis and rural areasThis study aims to examine the perception of nature and outdoor recreation habits from an urban-rural prospective. The urbanization process continues in Sweden and the populations of the cities are growing continuously. Trends to build more compact and ?climate smart? reigns and with this a risk that green areas and areas where outdoor recreation can be practiced are situated further and further away from the urban population. Analyzing the responses from a survey made by the research program Friluftsliv i förändring 2007 we have examined if and which differences exists between urban and rural areas regarding their perception of nature, outdoor recreation habits and factors influencing the practice of outdoor recreation.

The purpose of this study is to exam how two environmental organizations reason about the loss of biodiversity. The research questions are; what is the view in these organizations regarding biodiversity? What are the underlying environmental discourses behind their reasoning, and how do they reason about the risks associated with the loss of biodiversity? As a first part of this thesis a thorough review of existing literature and online resources about the actions of environmental organizations was conducted. Two organizations were interviewed, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Naturskyddsforeningen. The questions for the study were analyzed in light of Dryzek´s (1997) reasoning about environmental discourses and using the concept of risk by Beck (1998).

The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of nature for the health and well-being of young adults. A qualitative method was used and data was collected through semi-structured interviews with eleven people from the ages of 15-20. The interviews were transcribed with the results of the study revealing that nearly everyone felt calm and relaxed while they were in a natural environment. The most common motivation to be outdoors was socializing with friends, performing any kind of sport and/or taking walks. Reasons to stay indoors were rainy, cold weather, lack of time, and in some cases circumstances related to their surroundings, such as where they live.

Outdoor recreation habits in metropolis and rural areasThis study aims to examine the perception of nature and outdoor recreation habits from an urban-rural prospective. The urbanization process continues in Sweden and the populations of the cities are growing continuously. Trends to build more compact and ?climate smart? reigns and with this a risk that green areas and areas where outdoor recreation can be practiced are situated further and further away from the urban population. Analyzing the responses from a survey made by the research program Friluftsliv i förändring 2007 we have examined if and which differences exists between urban and rural areas regarding their perception of nature, outdoor recreation habits and factors influencing the practice of outdoor recreation.

This essay revolves around two questions: what is the nature of politics, and what kind of political order ensures a high rate of citizen participation? By using Cantal Mouffes theory on the political this essay shows how different understandings of the nature of politics can lead to diverging views on what forms democracy should take. Two such understandings are identified; one that sees the nature of politics as characterized by conflict and power, one that sees it as a space for cooperation in search for the common good. I trace these different ideas about the political in the parliamentary debate concerning Swedish constitutional reform. I conclude that the left-of-centre parties hold a view of the political closer to the conflict-perspective, while the green party together with the liberals/conservatives lean closer to the opposite view..

This essay is about the Swedish textile heritage but also with an analysis of handmade hemp textiles from Transylvania. Plant fibers such as hemp and flax grown in a soil nature that existed around the subsistence farm. The knowledge of the earth nature combined with textiles has not been specifically studied in the research from the last century. By examining simple folk textiles of hemp shows how the textiles also are an universal field. The focus is on the raw material which is a transformation between nature and culture.With a phenomenological approach, the study will describe how the textile heritage announcement molds a territory in the interpretation of "our" Swedish plantfibres for textiles uses.

School ground development is becoming increasingly popular in Sweden today and local community settings are also seen as an important resource for education. The debate today raises the question about the whole city?s pedagogic potential. Outdoor education is a pedagogy that comprises outdoor learning with focus on the sensual experiences. Connection to the classroom education is an important part of the pedagogy and so is the place for the tuition.But how should the place for the tuition, i.e.

How do the administrators of Nature reserves experience the communication with the land owners concerned? The article is a qualitative study within the environmental communication subject. The study has been performed through qualitative interviews with administrators of Nature reserves. Being in action the administrators must know how to communicate with people. The result of the study shows the administrators lack a language to describe their experience of the communication with the landowners. .

One of our big public health problems in Sweden is that human beings are too inactive in outdoor settings. That is why stress related diseases increase and influence humans both mentally and physical. The physical activity is halved among many children when they start school and the older they become the less they enjoy school. It is also an increasing problem that children and youth in today's society have lack of worthwhile experiences in the nature. The aim of this study was therefore to examine how the experience of outdoor environment had importance for health and learning on upper secondary school pupils.

Elephants are hindgut fermenters, which affects their diurnal rhythm. To reach their nutrient demands, elephants must eat almost constantly throughout the light part of the day. Sexual dimorphism may also affect their behavioral patterns. To understand the elephants' normal living habits and foraging behaviour, we conducted a pre-study in the Mara Triangle, the north-western part of the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Each of four to six observers randomly chose a focal animal within the group of elephants by the criteria that they were adults and visible.

Abstract Spiritual gardening, historical perspective and epistemology, - how do these concepts connect? A review of the ideologies of four pragmatic growers. The purpose of this thesis is: ? to present an alternative forthcoming perspective on knowledge, that may be of significance for future theories and knowledge about growing and gardening. ? to lift experiences with Nature Spirits into an academic context, that permits us a closer look at the phenomenon. ? to contribute to an academic platform connecting humanistic and natural sciences. The intention of this text is to bridge the differences between the strictly rational traditions of knowledge and those more experience based ones. The thesis wants to show that much can be won if feeling based and mental reflections once again are approached as equal sources of knowledge. The aim is to give an orientation about the subject of Nature Spirits. The interesting fact is not whether (that) one can talk to nature, but how one does it and that more can be understood about nature and the reality that the established sciences study. The form for this study of literature is a describing presentation; to put names on and give wording to the phenomena of Nature Spirits and Plantdevas. The sources of literature are four pragmatic practitioners of spiritual gardening who have written extensively about their own work.

Campylopus introflexus is a moss species that originates from the southern hemisphere and has spread worldwide during the 20th century. Today it is classified as an invasive alien species in many countries, and it has been seen during inventories that it has become widespread in Sweden as well. The purpose of this essay is to contribute to new knowledge about how this moss affects species diversity on Calluna heathlands in Sweden. The study includes both fieldwork and an analysis of scientific literature on the subject, and the question that is answered is if C. introflexus has an impact on species richness in the heather peat.

The aim of this study is to show how immigrants perceive and utilize Swedish nature. The study also intends to make suggestions on how immigrants can be encouraged to use nature close to where they live. The methods are qualitative interviews, group interviews and participant observations. The results show that immigrants are a very heterogeneous group and there is no distinct immigrant-specific perspective. Although they are all immigrants their lifestyle widely vary. Their reasons for not going out into nature are diverse.