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.

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 describe and analyze four educators? views and experiences of working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in relation to the concept of "One school for all". Research has shown that a segregating perspective is dominant in the school system, but the education act says that all children have a right to an equal education.My starting point for this study has been the concept of term "One school for all" and the problems that can occur in working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. A school for all is a school where all children are welcome and where all children sees as equals regardless of what background or disability they have. This study will be important for newly graduated teachers who are not aware of Autism Spectrum disorders.

When the storm Gudrun hit Sweden on the 8th and 9th of January, many recreational forests in southern Sweden blew down. For this reason there is a demand for new regeneration methods as to how these storm-felled areas should be regenerated and with what species. In this study the forest is divided into three areas: production, recreation/production and recreation. The first area is a forest with production as main goal and these kinds of forests are located a bit from the city. The second type ? recreation/production forest ? has two equal goals: production and recreation, and is located close to the city.

The parents of a developmentel disordered child live with much sorrow and anguish. Despite that, they often talk about hope, joy and love for their child. The autistic spectrum disorder includes different stands. Three of them are Autism, Aspergers syndrome and Disintegrative disability. An article overview has been made with the purpose to examine parents experiences of having a child that develops autism or a diagnosis within the autistic spectrum.

AimThe aim of this interview study was to examine how PE teachers related to factors (ramfaktorer) affecting the implementation of outdoor recreation in school.MethodWe conducted a qualitative interview study with six PE teachers in the Stockholm area. These were selected after all the PE teachers in Stockholm were contacted via e-mail. In the e-mail they declared the number of outdoordays (friluftsdagar) conducted at their school, for grades four, five and six. The selection was carried out in that we chose the PE teachers who declared the most and least number of outdoor days. After the transcription of the interviews we divided the teachers in to two groups, based on the width of outdoor activities in their teaching.

The survey is a qualitative study that aims to investigate the ethnic housing segregation in the residential area around Malmvägen that is located in Sollentuna. Malmvägen is a millionprogramarea that?s made up of unattractive tall buildings with grey facades. The majority of the residents have foreign backgrounds and the unemployment rate is high among the youths in the area. The apartment rents on Malmvägen are low and many of the residents belong to the subclass of society.

The purpose with the paper is to theoretically investigate how sensory experience and positive affect in contact with outdoor environment can promote health by 1) develop a model of the sensory and emotional processes based on multiple code theory (Bucci, 1997) and 2) examine if this model can increase understanding of the processes that takes place in outdoor recreation, the way this is described in environmental psychology research and theory. The paper starts by introducing research and perspectives concerning outdoor recreation. Different theories of nature?s health promoting effects are described. These include the restoration theories of Roger Ulrich and Steven and Rachel Kaplan, theories more concerned with outdoor activities and a theory combining these two perspectives called instorative theory. After this sensory and emotional information processing is examined through the works of Wilma Bucci and Jean Ayres. Antionio Damasio?s theories of emotion and Daniel Stern?s concept of vitalityaffects are than introduced to extend this reasoning.

The aim for this paper is to investigate how a limited number of youth recreation leaders and leisure-time pedagogues view their vocational competence, which kind of power the persons in the essay experience to have in their workplace and which kind of status they experience that they have in comparison with other occupational groups in their schools. The final aim of the paper is to find out how teachers interact with youth recreation leaders and leisure-time pedagogues when it comes to their vocational competence. My questions are:How do a group of youth recreation leaders and leisure-time pedagogues view their professional assignments?How does a group of youth recreation leaders and leisure-time pedagogues view their power in their workplace in comparison with other occupational groups?How do a limited number of youth recreation leaders and leisure-time pedagogues view their status in relation to teachers, other occupational-groups and parents? Which role have my respondents been assigned by their team and why do they think they have gotten that role?To answer these questions I have used a qualitative method which includes four in depth interviews. The overall theoretical perspectives are symbolic interactionism and social constructivism.

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to investigate teachers? views on play as a method for developing pupil?s communication and interaction in schools for children with severe learning disabilities. I am interested in pupils with autism spectrum disorder and their opportunities for social interaction with peers in playful activities. I focus on the subject communication and the parts about speech, conversation and interaction. My study is based on a qualitative study.

Over 80% of Sweden's population lives in urban areas, and half of the country's forest visits will thus be in urban woodlands. Social values ??- how the individual experiences the forest, and the impact of the forest visits on individual health and well-being, are pointing to the importance of managing the urban woodlands.When there comes to the cultivation of the urban woodlands there are usually many opinions to consider.This study aims to investigate the various opinions on the use and forestry in an urban recreation area in ??the City of Trollhättan. The study addresses both general and in four cases specific suggestions on management methods.Data was obtained from both quantitative and qualitative study through survey, interviews and discussions with the users of the recreation area.Trollhättan's goal with the recreation area is to make it accessible to local residents. The users are mainly influenced by the accessibility therefore clearings and thinnings are appreciated.

In this master thesis we suggest a recreational directed forest management plan for the Skedalaskogen. The forest is situated 10 kilometres east of the city of Halmstad and is owned by the municipality. We have in literature and in research investigated what people like and want in the forest, how to manage the forest for recreation according to for example tree species, mixtures and density. We tried to adapt the forestry methods more to recreational thinking. We have also looked at issues like what is rare and not rare in this part of the country according to nature and forest, where people live and which connection they have to the Skedalaskogen. The Skedalaskogen is a quite big area, totally 830 hectares. The area have about 100 000 visitors a year.

In this Master thesis an effective method is presented to find out what is requested in a forest or outdoor recreation. The aim with the study is to find out how Sveaskog can increase the general interest for experiences in nature and improve the access for recreation. Some questions that have been used to answer this purpose are: Who is visiting/not visiting the recreation area? How is it possible to increase the number of visits? The study is carried out in Kilsbergen and mainly centered around Ånnaboda, which is the natural place for people to meet at and undertake recreational activities. The method that is used is a mail-survey that was sent to visitors and people living in Örebro. People living in Örebro represent potential visitors who live close to the recreation area.

The purpuse of this study was to develop knowledge about learning condition that are to be in a context of interaction with persons that have Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis are included. The pre-understanding has evidence in that the public very often has a lack of knowledge in understanding persons with this kind of disabilities that can put the social interplay in disharmony. The phenomenological approach was used to reach the essence of the learning influence processes. Seen from the respondents experiences of interaction as a help for the informal learning in a working context. The purpose was to see the result of interplay and the effect of learning condition and to see what help those respondents acctually have experienced.

AbstractIn 2013, the diagnosis of Asperger?s syndrome will be eliminated as a stand-alone diagnosis, to be subsumed into the existing diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. In this paper, a study with the objective of emphasizing current opinions regarding the change in diagnosis is performed. Another objective is to examine the connection between identity and diagnosis. The study therefore targets people with a diagnosis, in this case Asperger?s syndrome.The empirical material of the study has been collected through a quantitative web-based survey.