Nature?s Best is a quality-label for Swedish Eco-tourism. It is one of very few active ecotourism labels and the only one that claims quality as its main focus. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the certification scheme Nature?s Best with regards to the values the certification creates for the companies that certify their products.

The purpose of this master thesis is to examine how the relationship between humans and Nature is expressed in the imaginative literature. My aim is to identify ideological reproductions in the analyzed works. Therefore I have chosen one work from late 19th century and one from late 20th century. This makes it possible to examine the contextual anchorage of the found ideological expressions. The study?s theoretical framework is primarily based on ecocriticism, and especially on Greg Garrard?s and Kate Soper?s thoughts.

The objective of this study was to contribute with suggestions of Nature preservation managements of selected forest objects of high Nature values managed by the Swedish state-owned forest company Sveaskog. Many forests with high natural potential are relatively rare today due to modern forestry, where wood production is the main purpose. Sveaskog?s policy is to consider and to priority Nature conservation on valuable objects. This assessment includes objects that in the future may develop into Nature reserves.

Spending a night out in the Nature is away for many to experience a slowerpace of life. Refuge cabins are a typeof open-air facility sometimes provided for more far off locations, yet it is in the vicinity of cities and towns that the opportunity for getting out into the natural environment is mostly sought after. Several Nature reservs exist around Stockholm with the good intention of promoting the opportunity for outdoor activities. The aim of this study is to investigate how the provision of refuge cabins can be a means of facilitating and augmenting outdoor life experience in a proposed Nature reserv to the west of Stockholm.

The landscape architect is similar to the moviemaker in that they both want to mediate an experience with their creations. The landscape architect designs playgrounds and the moviemaker makes movies for children, but how does the relationship between children and Nature look like in the landscape formed by the movie maker?s fantasy? The purpose with this thesis is to study how the relationship between child and Nature is depicted in a movie as a medium, by analysing ?My neighbour Totoro?, a Japanese animated movie from 1988 by Hayao Miyazaki. The analysis consists of two combined analyses, Experiential Landscape Analysis and Gordon Cullen?s Serial Vision, both of which analyse the relationship between a human being and her environment as well as the emotional changes that occur as she moves in it.

In the project Echoing Nature i have searched a design for an exhibi¬tion concept. That visualizes the natural phenomenon of self-assem¬bling materials in a simplified way. My question is, how can you emo¬tionally re-connect the modern man to Nature and raise awareness. I assume my thesis that the experience of a natural phenomenon can inspire us to see a bigger context, provoke curiosity and generate an initial sense of belonging to Nature. The result is an interactive sculp¬ture that consists of 3-dimensional Tetris blocks.

The aim of   the study has been to examine the duality that I seemed to find in Karin   Broos works, primarily on the basis of her renditions of Nature. The   objective is to study the duality on various plans and to examine which   traces of Intertextuality that may exist.In the study of the duality   I have taken note of how Nature is presented in terms of style and form, as   well as that I have seeked cultural references pictorial and symbolic. I have   also examined the images with reference to Intertextuality. The following   questions has been applied during the work:  How is Nature produced in the paintings?  What place occupies Nature in relation to the people, in the works?  What is being communicated by Nature's participation in the works?As a method, and as a   tool for analysis and interpretation of selected works, I have chosen to use   Panofskys iconological interpretative method. As a guide to seek relations of   intertextuality the theories of  Julia   Kristeva has been useful, which  includes thoughts  that new images are created or re-created   in relation to other images all the time and in new contexts.As a result of the   study I have found some kind of expression of balance, though it did not   seemed to look that way from the beginning.

The aim of this study is to describe how Nature is portrayed in swedish poet and critic Aase Berg?s two earliest poetry collections, Hos rådjur (1997) and Mörk materia (1999), and how it relates to notions of humanity, culture and civilisation. The concept of ?Nature? is problematized in a short survey of how it has been used by and critizised in ecocritical literary theory, which is used as the main theoretical framework for this survey, with an emphasis on selected theoretical concepts by Donna Haraway. As a methodological starting point, ?Nature? is tentatively defined as ?that which does not let itself be subsumed under the human, culture or civilisation?, and this definition is contrasted with how the concepts are handled in the texts.The investigation shows that the relationship of Nature to the human is a fundamental theme that provides a structure for both poetry collections.

This study reviews outdoor educational activity, its contents and qualities, whose basis rests on reform educators as Dewey and Freire. These pedagogues? methodology is based on the interaction between theory and practice, reflection and action. It appears from previous research that: Nature has beneficial effects on human health; Physical activity has positive effects on schoolchildren's health and on their test scores in mathematics and swedish. Training in outdoor education for teachers has contributed to outdoor education having become part of elementary schools´ activities.The purpose of this study is to find out to what extent a School of Nature is useful for three primary school teachers´ activities.

There is an expression called ?grief of climate? that refers to feelings of powerlessness and heaviness related to the environmental problems of today. A feeling that every move we make has bad consequences for Nature. This essay is an investigation of how art in general and jewellery art in particular can be a way of discussing and visualizing current environmental problems and the complex relationship between human and Nature. I am discussing how artworks dealing with a dark and dystopian picture of the relation can be seen as the memento mori of our time.

AbstractThis project discusses various aspects of children's way to explore Nature with their senses. Therefore I conducted a study in two preschools, one Nature-oriented and another preschool. This study was carriedout usien the three metods, interviews, observations and surveys. Interview four children from each preschool, observations of each group outdoors during four different occasions and question forms to teachers. The result of the study showed that both teachers and children have a great interest in being outdoors in Nature, but it is not always possible to take out all children's groups. The reason is large groups and inadequate staff.

Our lives in urban areas are becoming more and more inactive with negative effects on our mental and physical health. Natural environments and physical activity have the power to both prevent and reduce mental fatigue. Meanwhile we engage ourselves with physical activity, the Nature fascinates us with its complexity. In April 2006, some of the visitors to the recreational area of Skrylle were asked to fill in a questionnaire which included questions about their habits within physical activity and the experience of Nature. The questionnaires were then divided into two groups: those filled out by persons who exercise on regular basis (i.e. three or several times/week) and those who rarely exercise.

Stress-related diseases in Sweden have doubled since 1997. Even longterm sickness related tostress has increased over the last decade. In future there is a need of alternative methods todecrease the amount of people being affected to gain a better population health. Natureassisted therapy (NAT) was shown to be a successful method as part of the therapy of stressand burnout likewise was Nature an important factor to prevent people from mentaldisorders. The aim of this study was to analyse the latest research concearning Nature and itshealth effects with focus on stress and burnout patients in order to plan health promotingactivities outdoors for these patients.

In this thesis I have decided to take a closer look into my own ?backyard?. A river that runs through my hometown, Akureyri, has been a thorn in some people?s side. Glerá river has taken lives but it has also given the town possibilities to develop.

Knowledge of ecological processes are a basis for the understanding of important environmental issues. Through qualitative interviews, 8 preschool class pupils have replied to questions concerning the concept Nature, disintegration and environment. The aim of this survey was to examine what attitudes and knowledge children with different pedagogical background have about the Nature and the environment.The result of this survey in whole demonstrates that all pupils have good and equivalent knowledge of the Nature and the environment, independently of their different pedagogical backgrounds. A difference was however that children that have background from ?I Ur och Skur? (a Swedish outdoors preschool program) know the names of all small bugs that were in the survey.