The focus of the thesis is to examine the regional branding ofpublic libraries in Norrbotten, with the main focus on Piteå public library, in order to find trends that indicate a successful branding based on Hariff & Rowley?s (2011) identified key factors.The empirical data has been collected through a triangulation of interviews and documents. The findings show that they have done a proficient preparatory work prior to the regional branding of the public libraries, and that the libraries have worked together with a communication bureau in their marketing strategies since the beginning of the public library cooperation. The results also show that Piteå public library, through branding efforts, received another relationship with the media where the media now occasionally contact the library.The conclusion of the thesis is that Piteå public library promoted the library through campaigns that provide the opportunity for activities and experiences, and that they want to convey the image of itself as a venue for social interaction. The marketing of the libraries fulfill the most of the criteria, but there are still areas of branding that needs to be further explored..

The formation of sovereign states in regional blocks has become an essential feature in the world system. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate which motives and driving forces that affect the creation of projects of regional integration outside Europe and the Western World. By choosing the Latin American project of integration ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas) as a case of regional integration outside Europe and the Western World, the study investigates the motives expressed by the most prominent actors of the project, Venezuela and Cuba. ALBA is chosen as a representative and a unique case and through the consumption of the gramscian and the realist approaches, the essay defines two motives that affect the creation of projects of regional integration. As a way of investigating the actors? motives, the paper studies political statements, especially those of the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, and official positions expressed in central documents and declarations.

The purpose of this thesis is to critically investigate how to understand the regional transformations that are occurring in Sweden and Denmark. At a higher level of abstraction the results can be generalised to a wider context and I have found that there is an ideological hegemony that explains the regional transformation. Nation states are reterritorialising due to a changing world where global capital is becoming increasingly flexible and competition between states, regions and municipalities is needed to adjust. By using Sandberg's model of structural reforms I have shown that the differences between Sweden's and Denmark's reterritorialisation are due to differences in national political culture and existing administrative systems. In fact these two structural reforms are based on the same regionalist ideology as a reaction to the changing global economy.To investigate the regional transformations I have carried out an idea and ideology analysis on the recent Swedish proposal from Ansvarskommittén, Strukturkommissionen in Denmark and the proposal by the Danish government which was carried out in 2007.

Studien syftar till att undersöka sambandet mellan tonårsflickans identitet och kroppsuppfattningen. Även roller i kompisgruppen kommer att tas upp och då framförallt rollen som den tyste i gruppen. Genom en enkätstudie undersöktes 37 elever från högstadiet och 68 elever från gymnasiet. Sambandet mellan positiv personlig identitet och en normal kroppsuppfattning undersöktes. Resultatet visade att personer med positiv (M=1,20, SD=0,41) eller neutral (M=1,15,SD=0,36) personlig identitet hade en bra kroppsuppfattning medanpersoner med negativ (M=1,55, SD=0,51) personlig identitet hade en mindre bra kroppsuppfattning.

The following essay aims at the interplay between regional och municipal growth work, and theway cultural heritage is used in growth work strategies. The main issue has been whether theregional strategies are followed up in the municipal strategies, which has been investigated bymeans of question which impact the region?s strategies has at the local level.The essay draws upon an instrumental perspective on cultural heritage and cultural environment,here defined as instruments in the national development and growth efforts. Three publicationsthat highlights potential roles of cultural heritage and cultural environment to act as instrumentsin the regional and municipal development and growth efforts has thereby been selected astheoretical models. These roles has further been summarized in a tabular form as a schematicdivision of main themes with sub-categories, used as a framework for deciphering the regionaland municipal strategies.A content analysis of available strategies at both regional and local levels have been used as amethod for investigating the issue, where the role of cultural heritage and cultural environment(as defined in the schematic table) has guided the reading.

Studie har avsett att undersöka hur den postkoloniala teorin manifesteras i två ungdomsromaner, samt hur dessa manifestationer har parodierats. En tematiskt och narratologisk analysmetod har använts i studien. Resultaten åskådliggör att de båda romanerna kan betraktas som en parodi över det allmänmänskliga behovet av en kulturell identitet..

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) promotes the Ecosystem Approach (EA). In this thesis it is analyzed how the EA approach could be applied to regional management of coastal areas in Sweden. The aim of this report is to compare management for preserving biodiversity on a landscape level in two regional coastal areas in Uppsala and Västra Götaland respectively. In Uppsala, one of the plans consists of a previous nature reserve and in Västra Götaland, a Regional landscape strategy has been established. The ecosystem approach is used as a theoretical framework in this thesis.

Syftet med vårt examensarbete var att ta reda på hur lärare kan stärka identiteten hos elever med utländsk bakgrund. Vår undersökning har sammanställts i en litteraturstudie där vi valt att fokusera på vad sakkunniga i ämnet anser. Vi har i vår undersökning kommit fram till att en positiv inställning är grunden för att eleverna ska våga vara stolta över och visa sin utländska identitet. I arbetet framkom det att en dubbel identitet är att föredra då eleven behåller sin gamla identitet, samtidigt som eleven utvecklar en ny. Dessa två bildar tillsammans elevens identitet.

Studien visar att Hemtex visuella identitet kommunicerar det nya varumärket på ett sätt som motsvarar den ambition Hemtex satt upp. Då Hemtex har genomgått en revolutionär förändring av sitt varumärke tenderar det dock att påverka uppfattningen av den visuella identiteten. Detta innebär i sin tur att det har uppstått ett glapp mellan Hemtex identitet och image. .

The Regional Forestry Board in Värmland- Örebro needs increased knowledge on silviculture in broad- leaved forests. This thesis is an inventory of naturally regenerated broad leaved forests, and the results from the inventory have been compared with The Regional Forestry Board?s demands on regeneration results. The result of this inventory was that the regenerated sites were suitable for broad leaved trees, but only half the number of the stands fulfilled the demands of regeneration results of The Regional Forestry Board, mainly because of gaps in the stands. The gaps in the stands were mainly caused by lack of soil preparation and seed trees..

In a global context the traditional democratic process is facing new challenges. Scholars are talking about a transition from government to governance, where local and regional networks as well as international collaboration are an important part in how regional policy is produced and implemented. In this paper the processes in regional projects funded by the European Union are considered, and related to the traditional democratic process. The study has been fulfilled through informant interviews with representatives from four EU-projects. The interviews are supplemented by a qualitative text analysis of current statutes.

Regional säkerhetskomplex-teori är en central del av Köpenhamnsskolan, och den beskriver säkerhet som något som sker framför allt på en regional analysnivå. Teorin kan beskrivas som en blandning mellan neorealism och konstruktivism, sett ur ett regionalistiskt perspektiv. I den här uppsatsen försöker jag ta reda på vad den här teorin tillför till förståelsen av säkerhetspolitik, utöver vad vi lär oss av konventionell neorealistisk eller liberal teori. Detta gör jag genom två fallstudier där de olika teorierna jämförs med varandra och deras förklaringskraft studeras. Min ena fallstudie handlar om Europa, den andra om den post-sovjetiska sfären med fokus på Ryssland. Jag drar slutsatsen att regional säkerhetskomplex-teori har både för- och nackdelar jämfört med dominerande teorier.

With the end of the Cold War the number of conflicts where the United Nations have intervened has increased dramatically. This has entailed a need for a burden-sharing between the UN and regional organizations regarding management of conflicts. The aim of this study is to make a comparative analysis of the effectiveness and the efficiency in the efforts undertaken by ECOWAS and the UN during the civil war in Sierra Leone, through using theories on conflict resolution and the advantages of regional organizations in conflict resolution.My conclusion is that both ECOWAS and the UN were quite successful in managing the conflict and had an impact on the resolution of the war, although both peace operations suffered from internal problems. ECOWAS was effective in managing the conflict and in its mediating efforts as an insider from the region. The UN was more efficient in managing to attain their goals.

The role of cultural policy within the general political planning of a community can vary both historically and regionally. The aim of this study has been to explore the cultural policy plans, during the 1990's, in the recently formed geographical region of "Västra Götaland". This is a qualitative study, carried out during 1999, and based upon structured interviews with five representatives of the cultural-policy sector in the "Västra Götaland" region. In order to identify connections and tendencies in a more general social context the aims of the five representatives regarding cultural policy have been explored from the perspective of three cultural policy paradigms, namely Dorte Skot-Hansen, Olav R. Spilling and Göran Nylöf.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka de alternativa drivmedlen på en regional och en global nivå. Författarnas syfte var att fokusera på hur dagens infrastruktur påverkar användandet av alternativa drivmedel, men under arbetets gång visade det sig att den egentliga problematiken låg kring debatten om de olika alternativens framställningsprocesser och kostnader för dessa.I uppsatsen tas regional geografisk teori upp och även politisk och ekonomisk geografi för att kunna förklara de alternativa drivmedlens framtid och dess konsekvenser.I metoden har författarna valt att intervjua flera olika intressenter som är med i utvecklingen kring miljöbilar och alternativa bränslen för att få olika perspektiv.Intervjuerna var informationsrika och gav författarna insikt om hur komplex den nya marknaden egentligen är och att det krävs ytterligare forskning inom området för att tillgodose våra framtida energibehov..