This thesis purpose was to contribute to knowledge which could explain the driving forces behind Corporate Social Responsibility in corporate Sweden and their strategic impact from a management perspective. The method used to archive this research was a qualitative interpretative study conducted by interviews. The thesis is based on descriptive theories of drivers for CSR, concepts of strategy and CSR and normative/instrumental theories suggesting a strategic approach to CSR and stakeholder management. The empirical study is based on interviews with Swedish business managers in a strategic board position as well as consultants working with CSR strategies, supported with internet information from companies? webpage.

An Internet application, VEDAIR, for estimation of air quality in Regions with small-scale combustion of bio fuel has been developed by Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute with financing from Swedish Energy Agency and Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. The model contains user interface and a coupled model concept where concentrations of atmospheric pollutions are calculated for regional, urban and local contributions. In this report the model is described and a first study of air quality considering PM10 (particles with a diameter less than 10 µm) in two Swedish municipalities, Vänersborg and Gnosjö, is introduced.According to the result, there are areas with poor air quality even in smaller Swedish municipalities, mostly due to high emission from buildings with older wood heating furnace without hydraulic accumulator.In Vänersborg three areas were analysed in VEDAIR for the year 2003: Vargön, Mariedal and the downtown district. In the whole municipality the upper evaluation threshold for PM10, which is defined as 14 µg/m3 for annual average, was exceeded due to background contribution of particles. In all areas, however, the concentrations of PM10 were less than the environmental quality norms.

Servera R&S AB is Sweden?s largest wholesale company within the restaurant and food service industry. Servera R&S AB is the daughter company to Axel Johnson AB, which in turn is a part of the Axel Johnson Group with Antonia Ax:son Johnson as the owner. Servera is a nation wide company with a business concept of offering a complete selection of merchandise and services to the professional food service market. The company is split into for different Regions: the north region, the middle region, the southwest region, and the southeast region and has its headquarter in Stockholm.

Summary Title: Taxes and Human Capital as Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in EU: The role of Most Favoured Nation treatmentAuthor: Andreas HelmerssonSupervisors: Cecilé Brokelind and Rikard LarssonProblem discussion and problem Formulation: The recent year?s rapid increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) is a clear indication of increasing globalisation. In order to stay competitive companies must take advantage of talented people, new technology and new markets around the world. Not only companies but also countries and Regions, such as EU, need to take advantage of globalisation and the advantages that come with the increase in FDI around the world. Studies have shown that FDI does not only make companies more competitive but it also stimulates the economic growth of the region where the FDI takes place.

According to the Swedish strategy for forest protection, additionally 40 000 ha productive forestland will be protected in the county of Västerbotten, between 1999 and 2010. A national project was carried out to distinguish the proportion of forest with a high biological value, in all counties. The project resulted in demarcation of small landscape areas or small ?biological value Regions? (bvr), with higher concentrations of forests with conservation values and red listed species than the surroundings. In Västerbotten, 26 such bvr?s were identified and the Counties Agency and Forest Agency in Västerbotten developed a regional strategy for forest conservation to standardize the forest protection process.

Styrande organisationer i olika typer av regioner, däribland kommunledningar, arbetar idag med marknadsföring för att stärka sin konkurrenskraft. Konkurrensen mellan regioner gäller; invånare, turister och näringsliv. I Sverige är bakgrunden till arbetet den lokala näringspolitiken och företagiseringen inom den offentliga sektorn. Marknadsföringen har ofta som mål att skapa en attraktiv varumärkesimage. Inom forskningen finns idag en bild av att en Regions varumärkesimage är nyckeln till attraktion av bland annat näringslivet, då exempelvis etablering av företag.

ABSTRACTCan Danish experience explain why Sverigedemokraterna had a higher support among voters in Skåne, than among other Swedish voters?Essay in Political Science, C-levelAuthor: Jenny WoodTutor: Gregg Bucken-KnappAutumn 2006/ Spring 2007The key question of this essay concerns the outcome of Sweden?s latest election. When all the votes where counted, the county of Skåne showed an exceptionally high support for the right wing nationalist party Sverigedemokraterna. Why then, did Sverigedemokraterna have a higher support among voters in Skåne (as part of the larger and transnational Öresund region), than among other Swedish voters? My hypothesis is the following: the regional interaction within Öresund has not only had positive effects concerning the values that the people of Skåne hold.

In many European countries there is an increasing concern about the occasionally high concentrations of nitrate and pesticides in drinking water. The advent of the EU Water Framework Directive particularly highlights this. The directive states that all large drinking water sources should be identified and protected from pollution before 2009 and that by 2015 all water bodies should reach a 'good status'. In Sweden about 60 percent of the drinking water sources have protection areas. This means that about 700 new water protection areas need to be designated before 2009. This will affect many farmers, restricting their farming practices. The purpose of this study was to investigate which methods are used in other countries concerning nitrate and pesticide pollution from agriculture. From this, the expectation was to generate ideas on what could be undertaken in Sweden when designating new protection areas.

During whole-tree harvesting, there is a risk that the soil will become impoverished of nutrients. To prevent this, nutrients are returned to the harvested site as wood ash. This action also reduces the risk of soil acidification. Nevertheless, the ash does not result in any increase of tree growth if it is added on mineral soils, which is where the measure is most commonly used in Sweden. Due to the lack of growth response, the interest from landowners is small, which is why ash amendment today is not done enough to compensate for the need.

För att komma till rätta med kommunernas och landstingens mångåriga underskott i början av 1990-talet, infördes god ekonomisk hushållning år 1992 för att skapa balans mellan inkomster och utgifter. Då det inte finns någon tydlig definition på god ekonomisk hushållning infördes balanskravet år 1998 som ett komplement. Balanskravet innebär att intäkterna ska vara större än kostnaderna, det vill säga att ekonomin ska vara i balans. Grundtanken och syftet med införandet av balanskravet är att varje generation ska bära ansvar för de kostnader som den generationen beslutar om och konsumerar samt skapa en långsiktig stabil utveckling av ekonomin. Om en kommun inte får ekonomin i balans och redovisar underskott ska det negativa resultatet enligt 8kap 5a§ Kommunal Lagen kompenseras inom tre år om det inte föreligger synnerliga skäl och kan därmed frångå en budget i balans.

In the last decade, member states of the European Union have adopted a range of measures to decrease the dependency on fossil fuels. This has led to an increased use of biomass in heat and power production. In some countries, the lack of forest resource has led to large scale power producers importing their biomass needs. Due to high energy content and homogeneity, wood pellets have become an internationally traded commodity used for large scale power production. The Baltic States have emerged as one of the largest wood pellet exporting Regions in Europe.

This Masters Thesis includes a survey of recreational habits and the attitudes towards forests of the people of Sätra, a suburb of the city of Gävle. The study also includes the planning and design of a forest suited for education in the same part of the city. The thesis is a part of a project called Tätortsnära skog, commissioned by the Swedish forest agency. The project aims to survey the recreational habits of the general public in the Regions of Dalarna and Gävleborg. Tätortsnära skog is focused on cities with a population of more than 20 000 inhabitants, of which Gävle, Sandviken, Falun and Borlänge all fall within the category.

The purpose of this thesis is to show how a good approach can be designed, focusing on the southern approach to the Swedish town Vilhelmina. Prior to the car being part of everyday life, the approach was a road where the town showed itself from the very best side. When the amount of traffic increased, so did noise and other disturbances, and as a consequence industrial areas replaced the residential buildnings at the approaches. Today, the pendulum is turning back and in recent years the approach is regarded as a place to introduce the town. The approach is also the place where cars should slow down from the speed of the main road to the speed of the city.

This study investigates how nutrients from source-separated human urine from Gothenburg properties can be used as fertiliser in agriculture or for parks or sports fields. The initiator is the Department of Sustainable Water and Waste Management at the City of Gothenburg. Today urine-diverting systems are installed in two apartment buildings and two public-use buildings. Urine recycling is expected to lead to less exploitation of natural resources and less eutrophicating discharges into water recipients. In the study the urine?s market potential is investigated, for which practical handling issues, business aspects and acceptance of customers, employees and visitors have proved to be important.

Italy is the third largest market in Europe with a population of almost 58 million. The country is the tenth most important market for Swedish sales. Italy has a fairly good economy at the moment and the forecast tells of an increasing strength during coming years. Despite all of this, Sweden is exporting a fairly small amount of wood to Italy. Only around 2,3 % of all Sweden?s wood export goes to Italy.