Innovationer och innovationssystem har på senare tid fått en allt viktigare roll i synen på vad somfrämjar ekonomisk tillväxt och regional utveckling. Forskning visar att statliga satsningar inominnovationspolitiken uppvisar ett prioriteringsmönster där kön synes vara en organiserandeprincip. Tekniktunga branscher som främst sysselsätter män som anställda får majoriteten av demedel som delas ut för att stödja och utveckla innovativa processer . I Halland är Hälsoteknik etts.k. prioriterat tillväxtområde och därmed mottagare av dessa medel.

The Swedish regions are new phenomena, from the start from the new regionalism which started in the 1980´s. The purpose of the thesis is to analyze Region Skåne and Västra Götalandsregionen to come to a conclusion which model of region they are and want to be by using theories of regional identity and identity of politics and see similarities and differences. My research question is: Which of cultural, administrative and functional region are Region Skåne and Västra Götaland striving to construct?   The methods I have used are qualitative text- and content analysis to analyze the regions, by using theories about regional identity and identity of politics. Furthermore, I am using some statistic from SOM-institutet to analyze the regional identity in the regions.   The result show that Region Skåne is constructing a cultural region, because of their strong regional identity and that the politicians are using identity of politics to combine the citizens.

This evaluational study has been initiated by the County Council of Gävleborg (LandstingetGävleborg), politically responsible (and the main economical) authority of BibliotekGävleborg, the regional library institution in the county of Gävleborg, Sweden.The aim of the study is threefolded:1. to evaluate the organization of Bibliotek Gävleborg during the 1990's as we11 as theeffects of a reorganization carried out in 1990, and, through the use of interviews and a questionnaire, to ascertain the attitudes of Bibliotek Gävleborg's branch users (mainlythe municipal libraries in the county) towards the organizational development.2. to evaluate and compare regional library activities in Gävleborg prior to and duringthe 1990's, and to investigate the attitudes of the afore-mentioned branch users towardsBibliotek Gävleborg's activities.3. to investigate and discuss possible future directions of regional library development in Sweden in general, and in Gävleborg in particular.The closing, debating chapter in the study also'contains a few suggestions of measures to enhance regional library activity in Gävleborg..

AbstractThe aim of this thesis is to examine Interreg as an instrument for regional policy in the European Union. Interreg is an initiative designed to strengthen economic and social cohesion throughout the European Union by fostering balanced development through cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation. But how does it work in practise? Three main questions are asked to answer this:How well does the implementation in the programmes work?How does the programme management look and how well does it work?What degree of efficiency does Interreg show in financial and physical effectiveness?With evaluation and implementation as theories the questions are answered together with a qualitative method. The conclusions that can be drawn is that Interreg strengthen European unions economic and social cohesion in form of integration and regional development that in many ways make it easier to travel and trade over the borders.

The general aim of this paper is to describe how the European Union can affect and transfer their conditionality politics to the Western Balkan countries. A specific purpose of this study is to describe and explain what we in this paper consider to be a specific additional membership criterion, regional cooperation that has been especially designed for this region. The point of departure for this paper is Europeanization theory that will be used to study the European Union?s impact on non EU-members in Europe. The theoretical Europeanization mechanisms are taken from Heather Grabbes ?Europeanization model?.

Abstract This thesis is a case study aiming to give explanations to Russia?s annexation of Crimea in March 2014. By using three different theoretical perspectives, realism, regional hegemony and constructivism, the aim is to find different but also complementing explanations to the case. The theories realism and regional hegemony are related and also similar to each other, but still contributes with some different focuses on the case. Both realism and regional hegemony has their main focus on the sovereign state?s security and their power militarily, politically and economically.

In 2009, the Swedish Basketball Federation started a Region U15 development project in order to change the structure of the regional organization to get into a more transparent and similar operations throughout the country. My purpose is to study the attitudes to the change among the region leaders in the regional operations and evaluate the change from an organizational perspective. The study is primarily based on the following questions: What are the experiences of the change process among the region leaders in the regional organization? How involved have region leaders been in the changing process? Which are the positive and negative aspects with the regional operation today? What can be done further to develop the regional operation and to what extent do the organizational change follow general organizational theories? In my study, a qualitative method was used in terms of interviews with 8 regional leaders to understand their attitude to the project and the changing process. To analyze the results of the region leaders ?responses, a transcription have been made.

Studien syftar till att undersöka regionaliseringsprocesser som innehåller infrastrukturutbyggnader, och se hur dessa påverkar mindre städer. Studien utgår från teorier om stadsbyggnadsideal, utarbetade av Krister Olsson och Tigran Haas (2013), teorier om regional utveckling (dromoregioner), platsidentitet, post-politik samt David Harveys indelning i absoluta, relativa och relationella rum. Genom att främst studera kommunala planer och arkitekters visioner, söker jag svar på frågor om hur det så kallade InterCity-projektet i Osloregionen hanterat frågan om stationslokalisering i Hamar, vilka ideal man kopplar till järnvägen, hur Hamars roll i olika regioner påverkas, samt om man kan dra några generella slutsatser om regionaliseringsprocessers påverkan på mindre städer. Resultatet visar att det saknas entydiga stadsplaneringsideal i visionerna, och att Hamar behöver definiera sin roll i de olika regioner där staden ingår..

European cities of today are under the challenge to find ways to stay competitive and flourish in a rapidly changing world, where the old patterns of centrality and periphery not necessarily holds true. New and improved communication networks, a changed political geography in Europe, and the globalisation of not only the financial and industrial markets but also to a certain extent the globalisation of people, have all led to great challenges for cities and regions.In a changed spatial reality the classic monocentric models are challenged by newer models of urbanisation. The polycentric urban region is one such model which has been used to describe urban regions like the Randstad in the Netherlands and the Rhein-Ruhr region in Germany. Regions which lack the single dominant central city of the monocentric models of old, and instead shows a high degree of more equal-sized and sometimes more specialised cities in regional cooperation. The polycentric urban region is in that aspect a possible model for how other urbanised regions in Europe may act to be able to position themselves as attractive urban regions and regional hubs in the European urban network.Polycentric urban regions are not a universal solution, though.

Hälsosam planering och hälsokonsekvensbeskrivning är två arbetsmetoder i planerings- och beslutsprocesser som har uppmärksammats inom folkhälsopolitiken. Skåne har anammat diskussionerna kring detta och utvecklat en välarbetad regional strategi inom ramen för de elva nationella folkhälsomålen. Ett projekt pågår nu med att undersöka hur hälsokonsekvensbeskrivningen ska implementeras i beslutsprocesser på kommunal- och regionalnivå. Metoden har svårigheter i form av otillräckliga kunskaper och bristfälliga datainsamlingar. Risken finns att intresset för hälsokonsekvensbeskrivning faller på grund av det.

Regional identitet är ett begrepp som ofta nyttjas då man talar om regioner som sociala och politiska rum. Det är dock svårt att definiera vad identiteten egentligen består av och hur den påverkar människans handlingar. Den regionala identiteten kan exempelvis ta sitt uttryck i lokalbefolkningens inställning och attityd gentemot turism. Detta har i viss utsträckning betydelse för resmålets framgång samt för relationerna mellan de lokala aktörerna. Föreställningarna kring regional identitet präglar således turismen och destinationens turistföretagare.

1999 fick Sveriges miljöpolitik en helt ny struktur; regeringen antog de femton nationella miljökvalitetsmålen som ett nytt angreppssätt för att verka för en hållbar utveckling. Sveriges miljöarbete är varje medborgares och myndighets ansvar men kommunen och länsstyrelsen har det övergripande ansvaret för att möjliggöra genomförandet av miljömålen på en lokal och regional nivå. Denna studie behandlar kommunens och länsstyrelsens uppfattningar kring åtgärderna av genomförandet av de nationella miljökvalitetsmålen. Studien baseras på ett antal kvalitativa intervjuer som har analyserats med hjälp av Fredrik Burströms teori om kommunal miljömanagement. Studien visar att miljömålens struktur ger en bra möjlighet i det lokala miljöarbetet.

The analysis of regional development and the formation of regional policy have experienced an increasing importance in Europe and in Sweden during the last decades. There is a widespread assumption that the increasing significance of regions is due to the diminishing role of the nationstate in the era of globalization. This essay suggests that there is a hegemonic discourse, heavily relying on the assumptions of New Regionalism, when addressing regional building. Sometimes described as an ideology, New Regionalism, which is derived from research of successful regions, is based on the assumption that regional competitiveness and autonomy creates economic growth. The Committee on Public Sector Responsibilities (Ansvarskommittén) suggests that Sweden requires new regional structure, due to the increasing expenditures facing the welfare state.

German regional policy has changed from a strategy of redistribution to a regional growth focused policy- strategies, which are often seen as opposites. Both policies, however, still have to relate to the constitutional objective ?to achieve equal living conditions for the country?s citizens.?This paper examines what effects a political change may have had on the interpretation of the German constitutional objective. Its aim is to examine German regional policy and its relationship to justice, using John Rawls? A Theory of Justice.

The overarching goal of this paper is to explain the intensive occurrence of partnerships ? regarded as a specific organizational structure ? in the formulation and implementation of Regional Growth Programs.By using theoretical concepts from new institutionalism, the paper tries to examine the explanatory capacity of this theory in the specific case of partnerships. The basis is a skeptical stance towards the conventional interpretation that views partnerships as rational organizational tools. Hence, the purpose of the paper is also to compare our own institutional explanation with the conventional.The paper finds that the occurrence of partnerships can be understood as the effect of an intensive institutional pressure. The government has, in what we regard as the institution for regional development, prescribed the partnership as a rational solution ? a rationalized myth - to the regional growth problem.