This study has investigated how urban vegetation can be used in a multifunctional way to support ecosystem services in urban environments. Nacka municipality is in the start-up phase of building what is to become Nacka city. This provides a unique possibility to study and analyse what role the vegetation play in making the city a healthy living environment and how it needs to be adapted in order to be resilient against changing climate conditions and how the effects of those changes can be regulated. The study further investigates how airborne pollution, caused by urbanization processes, can be regulated or reduced by vegetation or species selection. Methods used in this study were a combination of qualitative interviews and literature studies, seeking to answer the questions: Which specific ecosystem functions are needed in the urban environment and which aspects will influence the ecosystems ability to deliver the functions in demand? And which plant species have the right mechanisms needed to deliver those functions? These questions have been studied and analysed in a local based context where the local conditions ands site specific needs of Nacka define criteria for plant selection.

Vargaslätten is a 15 hectare large privet garden in Halland in the south-west of Sweden.In the beginning of the 1990s Gunnar O.Westerberg, the owner of Vargaslätten,commissioned a work from the young landscapearchitect, Rolf Efvergren, to writeVargaslätten ? tillägnad naturen. It was a discribing work of the current status of the gardenand the summer-house of Vargaslätten. Vargaslätten ? tillägnad naturen was acomprehensive work with a detalied inventory of all the Plants, the buildings, the descriptionof the surroundings and the history.

Biodiversity is under threat in Sweden and many species are on the brink of extinction. This is mainly due to the large-scale drainage projects during the 19th and 20th century and the increasingly intensive land use in agriculture and forestry. The intensive land use with sharply defined boundaries between the production units has in many cases led to either overgrazing or overgrowing. As a result many species have been pushed back to "leftover" habitats like shooting ranges, power line corridors, roadsides, dumps, embankments and other similar areas. Therefore the question has been raised, wether or not it is needed to re-introduce large herbivores into the wild in order to maintain the biodiversity that is related to the extensive land use.This study has been conducted as a literature review and will focus on the European bison?s (Bison bonasus) impact on other species and biodiversity; conditions for reintroducing large herbivores in Sweden are also discussed.Free roaming populations of large herbivores have a positive impact on Plants, insects and many other groups of organisms.

In Sweden, there are limits to how much leachable substances waste must contain in order to be deposited as hazardous waste. Fly ash from waste incineration often end up over the limit, mainly due to the chloride content. Fly ash is therefore often deposited abroad. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility to handle fly ash locally. To clarify how the law is applied, environmental reports and permit documents from ten waste sites with permission to deposit fly ash were studied.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, OTEC, is a sustainable energy conversion technology that is not yet commercialized. OTEC is a technology that utilizes the temperature difference in oceans between the warm surface water and the cold water at 1 000 m depth to run a Rankine Cycle. This technology can produce electricity and provide synergies like fresh water, air conditioning and aquaculture. A simulation program for three alternative OTEC systems has been created in order to decide which OTEC system is most profitable; closed, open or hybrid system. In this simulation a production cost analysis is performed in order to investigate and decide which one of the three systems that has the lowest production cost. The production cost analysis also analyzes if the profitability is affected by the size of the facility. After these analyzes, the most profitable of the three different OTEC-systems is expanded by an installation of solar collectors in order to see if the thermal efficiency is improved. The result shows that the most profitable system varies with the size of the facility.

During the nineties, ecological handling of urban storm water became very popular in Sweden. Together with Chalmers University of Technology and two Swedish communities, DHI Water and Environment has been doing research of storm water ponds and constructed wetlands. This thesis work is a part of that research project. The work has been applied at the Bäckaslöv storm water treatment plant in Växjö, Sweden. The plant consists of one storm water pond and a downstream constructed wetland.

In many regulated rivers, authorities have stocked hatchery salmon to compensate for loss of wild populations. However, hatchery fish have not always behaved as wild fish do, and stocking them has not always fully compensated for the loss of wild fish. The purpose of this study was to compare swimming behaviour in the river before spawning, the choice of spawning areas and body size between wild and hatchery-reared salmon in the river Klarälven. Salmon behaviour in the river before spawning was analyzed using radio telemetry. The salmon were caught at Forshaga power plant, radio-tagged and returned to Klarälven at Ekshärad, 107 km from the river?s mouth.

Trade is the driving force for economic development. A greater equity in international trade can improve the livelihoods and the well being of producers in developing countries. The small-scale farmers have limited resources and have difficulties to get access to the international market. As a result of this, the Fair Trade movement has been developed and has now formed a trading partnership between the producer and the consumer. This study analyses if the Fair Trade movement can be a way for the workers in developing countries to achieve more justice in their production manner in the international trade of cut flowers and continue to be an important competitor of these products, but with better livelihood conditions. My method has been to do a comprehensive literature study of the Fair Trade movement, in which I describe the certification process, and the market of Fair Trade in Sweden.

ABSTRACT Tobacco Rattle Virus (TRV) is a soilborne plant virus. It is an important pathogen in potatoes where it causes spraing disease. This disease can lead to significant economical loss for the farmer, so it is imperative to get the proper diagnose before planting. TRV is spread naturally by free-living nematodes (Trichodorus and Paratrichodorus). Transference of TRV to a plant occurs when the virus-carrying nematodes feed on plant roots. The relationship between virus, nematodes and Plants is complicated, and has to these days not been fully characterized. The diagnostic methods available today do not work sufficiently.

All over the world, scientists agree that to succeed with a conservation project, it is important to have a good relationship with the local people. If they do not receive a good impression of the project, they will not be willing to collaborate and the project will probably fail. According to previous studies, there are different factors affecting attitudes to conservation, like the level of education of the participant. Many studies have shown that the higher education the people have, the more positive attitude they have to adjacent conservation areas. Economical factors are also important, it is often stated that having more money results in a better attitude.

The practice of landscape architectural involves forming the space in our cities and suburbs, as well as the landscape surrounding. The need of exploiting green environment leads up to, among other issues, flood problem during heavy rain and overfed water environments. The problem is partially caused by the shortage of knowledge, how the environment is responding of the innovations made by the city- urban planning and how to get sustainability. Research and knowledge how to take care of our environment, in a natural way, is increasing. The object of the thesis is to propose control and balance in urban wetlands, and discuss the difference a plant design can do. The thesis deals with discourses in the field of landscape architecture, biological diversity, dam construction, limnology, planting design and management, pollution of the environment and urban design practice.

Summary The place I have been working with is a garden, belonging to a family estate, called Tolvmansgården. It is located on an island northeast of Norrtälje in Roslagen. The frontage is red with white corners like so many other houses in the neighbourhood, but ours is one of the oldest houses on the island. Today the house and garden is own by my mother, Pia Johansson. Since I?ve started my education in garden design my interest for our country garden has increased.

Because of the currently large recruitment needs within the Swedish nuclear powerindustry, it is necessary to recruit trainers from other recruitment groups than that ofexperienced operators at nuclear power Plants. The foundation for a trainingprogram regarding these recruitment groups, here called ?aspirants?, has in this thesisbeen prepared. It contains a suggestion for main topics in the program. It also includesdiscussion on the balance between forms of education and a concrete example ofhow a lesson could be performed.These suggestions has been developed through analysis of interviews and surveyresponses from student groups most suited for the propositioned trainee program,and individuals with service as a trainer or closely linked to training activities withinthe industry.The analysis suggests that the candidates gets, besides the opportunity to practice asoperating staff before the theoretical training begins, a training program, tightly boundto the power plant with multiple instances of practice and the chance of going intothe power plant and see how things that are being raised in theory, look in real life.The practice, in addition to helping to create an understanding of the plant, it will facilitate networking with the operations staff to build a relationship and trust.Candidates should have plenty of opportunity to educate and see both other aspirantsand experienced trainers train.

Examensarbetet är utfört på Mälardalens högskola våren 2007. Arbetet hardiskuterats och utformats inom ramen av ämnet informationsdesign.Idea plant, uppdragsgivare för arbetet, förespråkar vikten av designadkommunikation. De anser att företag vet för lite om designad kommunikation ochvill därför, genom föreläsningar, visa hur lönsam denna kunskap är för företag.Under arbetet har jag utgått ifrån att besvara följande fråga:Hur bör ett informationsmaterial se ut för att vara god designad kommunikation?Min uppgift har varit att ta fram ett före- och efter material till Idea Plantspresentationer om designad kommunikation. En analys av tre företag som ärverksamma inom samma bransch har gjorts.

In ambition to produce more and better harvests, artificial fertilizers are used to produce a better growth of crops in the agriculture landscape. This contributes to leakage of nutrients. Our forests also exhibit a leakage of nutrients. Air pollution contributes to more nutrients. High precipitation with high water flows as a consequence seems currently to occur more frequently in the county of Halland.