In 1998 a new Regional development policy was introduced by the Swedish government. A central feature in the policy was the formation of partnerships at the Regional level. The partnerships were meant to consist of local and Regional stakeholders, representing a great variety of interests, who would collaborate in order to improve Regional development. The new policy was promoted, besides being more efficient, as a way to broaden political participation and to break male-dominated structures.This thesis discusses whether the Regional partnership actually favours ?women's interests?, in terms of how the relationship of power between women and men is constituted by the model.

There is a clear difference between types of regions and forms of Regionalization. This theoretical division can point out other division lines on different areas and levels, like the one of discourses. In this article is urged that Regional political discourses may be divided in West and East European ones. To argue for West and East differences in Regional discourse the article shows division lines both in the history of Regionalization but also in ideologies. The Regional policy of the EU is one example for today's Regionalization as a West discourse and the Transylvanian in Rumania as an example for the East discourse.

Under lång tid har svenska kommuner, län och landsting samarbetat med sina motsvarigheter på andra sidan Östersjön. I den här uppsatsen ligger fokus på ett av dessa samarbeten: det mellan Jönköpings län och Alytus län i Litauen. Mellan åren 1999 ? 2003 pågick ett projekt som kallades "Regional Development Plans in Lithuania". Projektet syftade till att hjälpa Alytus med att först skapa en Regional utvecklingsplan och sedan att försöka implementera denna.

AbstractThe aim of this study is to investigate the implementation process and the implementation steering of the social development aspects, gender equality and integration, in the program for Regional development of the region Kronoberg in the period of 2004-2007.The study asks three questions: 1) How have the social development aspects, gender equality and integration, been implemented in the program for Regional development of the region Kronoberg? 2) What has facilitated or hindered the implementation of the two social development aspects? 3) What possibilities to steer the implementation process of the two social development aspects exist at the governmental and at the Regional level?In order to answer these questions a qualitative method has been used. To be able to analyse the empirical material, which consists of documents and interviews, the theoretical framework comprehends the policy process and implementation steering. The conclusion is that the incorporation of the social development aspects in the Regional development program does not fully correspond with the central intentions, and that is due to circumstances at the Regional level..

The aim of the thesis is to analyze the role of Regional development planning concerning a Regional perspective of green structure and to reflect on its future role. The target group of the study is foremost practitioners but also students of Regional planning and development. Three questions are examined. 1) What view concerning green structure has the Regional planning body of Stockholm County Council (RTK) communicated through the years? 2) Has this view contributed to generating a common understanding concerning green structure among the actors in the county? 3) Has this common understanding been referred to by actors in discussions concerning how this green structure should develop? The empirical material consists of documents from rtk, the County Administrative Board, the municipalities of the county, a network of ngo:s, as well as interviews with representatives from the above mentioned organizations.

The base for the study is laid during an internship at a Regional office in Brussels. The study initially concentrates on the function and activities of different Regional offices located in Brussels, in order to answer the core question.The main focus is to reveal an eventual change of cooperation patterns between different Regional offices, and in particular the eventual redirection away from a main cooperation between offices deriving from the same national state.Through an empirical material, based on a series of interviews, an analysis is made using three hypotheses concerning the patterns of cooperation among Regional offices.The notion of a coming change stated by, in particular, two older studies is used as a theoretical steppingstone with the conclusion that a change, in the way offices collaborate, has taken place..

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..

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.

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.

Title: Territorial identities and fusions- Regional identity by interRegional fusions Level: Final assignment for Bachelors Degree in Social Science with specialization in Urban and Regional Planning. Major subject: Geography. Author: Mladen Krajisnik Supervisor: Carl-Johan Nordblom Date: 2009 May Intention: The main focus of this study is to verify the existence, or nonexistence, of local and Regional identities. Considering the result regarding Regional identities, this thesis will continue on to clarify if these identities are to be seemed as a threat or resource during fusions, and if so, how can one best manage these different identities.Method: Only secondary data has been used in this study. I've botanized amongst the literature that processes fusions, impact of culture, identities, regions, territory. Continuing on, the collected empirical resources have been compared to my theory, from which an analysis was able to be spawned and conclusions were drawn.Result & Conclusions: The thesis confirms different Regional identities, although it does not treat the subject regarding the inner strength of regions comparing to one another.