Communication during the process of Environmental Impact Assessment: Interviews concerning three infrastructure projects Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a method to describe the possible impact of a planned project. The aim of such an assessment is to aid a sustainable development, by supplying a comprehensive basis for decision-making. Today there are many people working with EIA in different forms, representing both different interests within the community, as well as having different individual points of view. The proponent is responsible for the EIA, but it is of interest to study the relationship between the different participants who are involved in this process. The aim of this report is to study how the different disciplines involved have communicated with each other and amongst themselves, what characterises good communication, and if anything should be improved.

The purpose of this thesis is to inquire how a small town can be affected by some planned changes in the physical structure of the town, and how its inhabitants can benefit from those major changes. The town in question is Ulricehamn, and of the four projects considered, two concerns infrastructure. A new railway and a new locality for the major road, today passing through Ulricehamn. The other two projects are run by the local authorities, that is the planning of a modern town park by the lake, and a new public building for cultural purposes. There are no guarantees that any of the four projects will ever be realized, but in the process with this work, they have been considered as already a fact.

There are numerous questions to be asked when your task is to plan a small community?s future development. Is it possible to suggest something new and modern? What considerations should be taken concerning the existing situation? What is an appropriate size for the new development? Where is it possible to build and what is the most appropriate method to use?In this master´s thesis I have tried to develop and describe a working-process where I execute a complete landscape character analysis for the whole community in question to get the answers to where and how it would be most appropriate to develop a village like Flädie without destroying its current character.Flädie is a typical small village in the countryside of Skåne, Sweden. It is strongly effected by the expansive and urban region it?s located in but is still rural in character.

Järnvägen transporterar människor samt gods billigt och miljövänligt. I Sverige identifierar Trafikverket flera alternativa sträckningar när de planerar en ny järnväg. Landskapets karaktär, miljöförhållanden, geologi, tätortsstruktur, befolkningsutveckling, resande och transporter är exempel på kriterier som kan påverka beslutet om var dessa sträckningar ska placeras. Geografiska Informationssystem (GIS) kan standardisera processen för att identifiera flera möjliga korridorer.Syftet med detta examensarbete är att ge rekommendationer på hur GIS, särskilt cost path och känslighetsanalys, kan användas vid planering av nya järnvägskorridorer. Ett testfall i Blekinge län valdes för att illustrera potentialen i dessa metoder.

There are numerous questions to be asked when your task is to plan a small community?s future development. Is it possible to suggest something new and modern? What considerations should be taken concerning the existing situation? What is an appropriate size for the new development? Where is it possible to build and what is the most appropriate method to use?In this master´s thesis I have tried to develop and describe a working-process where I execute a complete landscape character analysis for the whole community in question to get the answers to where and how it would be most appropriate to develop a village like Flädie without destroying its current character.Flädie is a typical small village in the countryside of Skåne, Sweden. It is strongly effected by the expansive and urban region it?s located in but is still rural in character.

This final project includes an analysis and a programme proposal for the area Bergsbrunna södra. The area is situated along the railway between Uppsala ? Stockholm, just south of Uppsala city. A new railway station is planned here, which make the area attractive as residential area. There are several values to take into consideration when developing an area. An extensive analysis and valuation may define and protect different characters and values, and also find the places most suitable to build upon. The area consists of three separate characters of landscape: the wide open cultivated fields, the hilly wooden ground and the more varying little valley. There are visual, cultural, social and ecological values to preserve. The south part of the area is woods with high natural values that borders to a national park in the natural forest of Lunsen.

The purpose of this work has been to investigate if there are any differences in the valuation process at infringements when highway and railway are built. The work has mainly been concentrated on the negotiation process in which The National Railway Department (Banverket) and The National Road Administration (Vägverket) try to get agreements with the land owners. The agreement includes compensation for infringement effects that affects the landowner?s property. The National Road Department uses the road law (Väglagen) when a highway shall be built.

The society of today is dependent of secure transports and deliveries of electrical power. Interruptions in different activities because of fallen trees cost a great deal of money in form of reparations and claimed damages for transport companies and electrical suppliers. Fallen trees along some railway sections are a severe problem. For instance, to repair the damages of the storm of week 5 year 2002, costed 2 800 000 SEK for the line region of Hässleholm. Today, the Banverket Railroad company has no norms in general for how close to the railway the forest is allowed to grow.