This study aims mainly to investigate what kind of role the public library plays in the regional and local development. The aim is also to investigate how the public library can strengthen the role as a factor of regional and local development. To explore the subject, the study is focused on the Swedish region of Västra Götaland. Three officials along with two policy documents, are included in the study as representatives of the region. Four public library managers are also interviewed but as representatives of the local perspective.

In this paper I attempt to analyze the ways the European Union defines its external borders in cross-border co-operation with its neighbours. The analysis is based on case study examining the founding components of a updated version of the Northern Dimension policy of the European Union.The analytical framework of the study is composed of three different perceptions on the cross-border co-operation; regionalisation, integration and flexible integration. I conclude that the model of cross-border co-operation laid by the Northern Dimension policy would have an impact on the EU's external border with Russia, making it more flexible and vague.As far as the geographical terms of the co-operation are concerned, they seem to shift from regional co-operation to greater emphasis the role of networks as basis for co-operation instead of traditional regions..

The Oresund Region, consisting of the Swedish county of Scania and the Danish islands of Sealand, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, is widely recognised as a successful example of European cross-border co-operation. The purpose of this region building project is to form a cross-border fully integrated functional region in order to accomplish a high level of economic growth and employment.This thesis argues, by the means of discourse analysis, that the project can be viewed as a kind of post-politics, defined as a politics that under a neoliberal hegemonic consensus strives to manipulate citizens (and to redefine them as consumers and investors) into better economic performance.This manipulation is carried out by extensive discourse production aimed at convincing people that the Oresund Region exists, that it is a successful region, and that the people who inhabit it are also successful. The deliberate vagueness and contradictory character of the Oresund discourse is investigated and explained as a discursive strategy to incorporate as many views and desires as possible..

This study investigates the concept of regionalism in the context of the Swedish middle-level political arena. The used method is qualitative theory and two cases are studied: Västra Götaland and Norrbottens läns landsting.The aim of the study is to see what the politicans think about Swedens regionalization process by compare the views of politicans that function in a region and in a county council. Do they have the same vision about what constitutes a region and which advantages do they see in working in a region or in a county council? Also dimensions about territorially and sectorial autonomy on the regional level, presented by King and Pierre are investigated in order to explain the different regionala organs functioning accordingly to these dimensions.The empirical material that have been analyzed is taken from 17 interviews, from government writings and reports from the SKL association, Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting, about the topic of regionalization and the effects and goals in Sweden.The conclusion of the material is that there is common opinion among the politicans about the goals of a region and also about which areas that can benefit the most from the perspective of beeing a region instead of a county council. When it comes to explaining the dimensions of territorially and sectorial autonomy the results have shown that the region has the most both territorially and sectorial autonomy, which is due to the regions rightfullness to taxation right, which is high in the region and ensured by a strong catchment area.

Denna masteruppsats tar sin utgångspunkt i en utveckling av nya boendemiljöer som genom sin lokalisering och utformning vill främja aktiviteter i ett specifikt fritidsintresse, ett tema, till att utövas lokalt i boendemiljön. Denna form av inriktade boendemiljöer benämns i uppsatsen som temaby.Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka vilka värden i boendemiljön som är framträdande hos boende i en temaby. Genom att besvara syftet kan det praktiska utfallet för boendemiljöns inriktning sättas i relation till övriga aspekter av boendemiljön som framkommer som värdefulla. Uppsatsens frågeställningar baseras på fyra dimensioner (karakteristisk-, relationell-, platsspecifik- samt temadimension) som spänner över regionala och mer lokala aspekter. Dimensionerna fungerar även som en sammanfattning av uppsatsens teoretiska avsnitt som applicerar temabyn till en större vetenskaplig diskussion om begreppen plats, rum och boendemiljö samt landsbygdspraktik.

Acidification is a central concept in the environmental debate. The effect of acidification of the soil is a matter of a decreasing amount of cations and thereby a decreasing ability to resist a supply of hydrogen ions to the soil. Acidification has gradually increased in the O horizon in Västerbotten over a 30-year period from the 1970th to the 1990th. The aim of this study was from inventories of The Swedish National Forest Soil Survey and The Swedish National Forest Inventory explain and quantify the acidification that has occurred in the O horizon of two regions in the north of Sweden. Data from SMHI, The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, has also been used.

Människor med långvarig smärta undviker ofta fysisk aktivitet. Explicita och implicita attityder kan tänkas vara en komponent i detta undvikande. Studien syftar till att testa ett stimulusmaterial som möjliggör en tillämpning av Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) som metod för att mäta implicit attityd i förhållande till fysisk aktivitet hos personer med långvarig smärta. Explicit och implicit attityd undersöktes hos 11 smärtpatienter och 15 friska kontrollpersoner. 2 av smärtpatienterna och 9 av kontrollpersonerna lyckades genomföra hela proceduren.

Abstract and summaryThe glocal province of competence.The regional building up of knowledge at Växjö University and its choice of home region.The aim of the study is to give views on knowledge and to describe and discuss which home region Växjö University has chosen as its context. Taking my point of departure in the literature and in examples, I illustrate, discuss and examine how three different disciplines at the university have chosen their home regions. The disciplines are history, economics and biology. The study covers the last 33 years.The empirical study, with its focus only on regional matters, is based on four sources. 1.

The purpose with this study was to investigate the client?s experience of Marte meo treatment and the procedure in the treatment from a responses and relational perspective, since the treatment occur within the social service frame. The theoretical framework consists of some central concepts. The concepts are experience of treatment, responses and relational perspective. The analysis of the empirical material has been carried out with the help of the concepts and earlier research.The method consisted of qualitative, semi-structured interviews with six informants.

The Arctic region has not been a topic of discussion or a reason for a conflict in the past, but with the development of environmental issues which has resulted in melting of the ice, so has the interest for the region developed. This has resulted in a conflict over the area, with five countries as main actors. This paper investigates the five main actors? goals with increased influence in the area, using the thoughts of Rational Actor Model, with states as utility-maximizing actors and foreign policy as the expression of national interest. Furthermore the paper investigates the means of getting to the goal, what kind of tools they use.The paper shows that all of the countries are interested in the economically benefits that are buried under the melting ice and the short cuts in sea routes that will be a possibility to use ones the ice melt more.

The aim of this bachelor's thesis is to investigate how teachers view the way they build their relationships towards students, both in general and, more specifically, towards those students with some type of attention deficits. The focus of this thesis has been on how great an importance teachers place on this relationship. Especially when it comes to working with students with attention deficits. We also want to know to which extent this relational perspective is rooted in teachers' practice. The theoretical basis of this study is the relational perspective formulated by Aspelin and Persson (2011).

Previous studies have shown that economic sanctions have adverse effects on the level of human rights in sanctioned countries. The focus of research on the effects in sanctioned countries has left the question of whether economic sanctions can have a regional effect on human rights levels in countries not sanctioned in the same region. Therefore, this essay has sought to investigate if economic sanctions aimed at an individual state have a regional effect on the level of human rights in countries not sanctioned within the same region. A previous study found that economic sanctions in Latin America positively affected the level of human rights in non-sanctioned countries within the same region. This essay has examined whether the same result can be found in a region with a different level of democracy.

Kulturens roll i samhällsutvecklingen är något som diskuteras allt mer intensivt. Idag kan en tendens där man använder kultur som verktyg för att uppnå utveckling urskiljas i kulturpolitiken både i Sverige och utomlands.Denna uppsats syftar till att studera och beskriva Region Hallands kulturpolitik, med fokus på att urskilja hur man använder kultur som verktyg för att uppnå regional utveckling. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten i studien utgörs av två kulturpolitiska modeller genom vilka jag undersöker hur kulturpolitiken har utvecklats de senaste åren, samt på vilket sätt kulturen integreras i andra samhällssektorer.Materialet i uppsatsen har inhämtats genom intervjuer med representanter för de sex största partierna i Region Halland, samt med regionens kulturchef. Dessa intervjuer har tillsammans med en del sekundära källor legat till grund för uppsatsens empiriska del.Det huvudsakliga resultatet i denna uppsats är att det råder en stor konsensus kring kulturpolitiken i Region Halland, oavsett partitillhörighet. Kulturen är på god väg att bli en fullständigt integrerad del i regionen, och den har stor betydelse för flera olika områden.

Background: Men that have gone through treatment for prostate cancer may lose their sexuality as result of treatment. The sexual ability might symbolize manliness, despite age and sexual activities. Aim: The aim of the literature study was to describe; Influence on sexuality and the daily life for men with prostatecancer and their experience of informationneeds. Method: The material for the literature study was searched through databases; 13 scientific articles were selected and two articles through manual search, all 15 articles were examined. Result: Five categories were found in the result of the literature study; physical dimension, emotional/mental dimension, social/practical dimension and informationneeds.

Uppsatsen studerar demokratiaspekter i den skånska revisionen. Forskarnasoenighet om påståendena; "i revisionens arbete innefattas enbart ekonomi" och"revision har kvalitativa och demokratiska aspekter" genomsyrar uppsatsen. Medhjälp av idéanalys studeras granskningsrapporter utförda åren 2002 och 2008 utavRegion Skånes revisorer. Region Skåne som självstyrelseorgan bildades avekonomiska och demokrasiska syften. Utifrån demokratiska teorier,ansvarsfördelning, insyn och öppenhet undersöks granskningsrapporterna.