In the spring of 2006 a pilot project was initiated by The Rural Economy and Agricultural Societies of Sweden together with The Swedish Ornithological Society in order to increase collaboration between bird watchers and farmers. The project as a whole comprised 11 farms in South-Central Sweden. The aim was to benefit the decreasing populations of bird species related to the agricultural landscape. The purpose of this master thesis was to study how similarities and differences between bird watchers and farmers regarding opinions about nature, landscape, agriculture, birds and nature conservation have influenced the collaboration. Four of the farmers and five of the bird watchers that participated in the project were included in this study.

The overall aim is to examine how the European Union Water Framework Directive has affected the local water management in the catchment Märstaån situated in the eastern part of the lake Mälaren river basin, Sweden. The first part of the study gives an historical overview of the area with focus on how the old agricultural landscape was handling the nutrient load from farming activities by means of different kinds of wetlands. By using the concept of the procedural landscape, introduced by Torsten Hägerstrand , together with historical maps with dates starting from the 17th century, the pre-modern landscape is analyzed.  The second part is an investigation, based on qualitative data, on how the different actors in the catchment area work together to secure the water quality for the Märstaån river. The analysis shows that the Märstaån catchment river systems are mostly unchanged in the rural areas.  The exception is the mainstream section of the Märstaån river running partly underground today and the Halmsjöbäcken river that is heavily affected by the Arlanda airport situated within the catchment area.

The purpose of this masters thesis is to evaluate bookmobile service as a decentralised library service. I have made a qualitative interview survey, with seven Swedish municipalities participating, all providing bookmobile service in their rural parts. The purpose with the interviews is to examine their bookmobile service. I have also studied articles on bookmobile service, and decentralisation through small library units in library journals, to get an insight into how the work with decentralised library service is done in Swedish municipalities. In this thesis answer is sought to the following questions: - Which decentralised library services are suitable for inhabitants and institutions in sparsely populated areas, considering factors such as number of inhabitants, proportion of old people and children, demographic changes, economy, possibilities to cooperate with other municipalities? - What is the current bookmobile service situation in Sweden, taking seven municipalities in the region of Småland as a starting point? My conclusions are that each municipality must decide which decentralised library services that best suites their needs.

Att köra eller inte köra is a qualitative study aiming to show how environmentally conscious people who utilizes cars deal with their dissonant behavior, but at the sametime maintain an identity as environmentally conscious. The study is based on the fact that a third of those who drive cars in the municipality of Växjö would like to decrease their use of cars while at the same time having the infrastructural conditions to utilize other means of transportation. The study investigates inner obstacles in the form of habits and lifestyle, but also the different strategies the motorists use to reduce their cognitive dissonance and maintain a green identity. The indicators show that the reason the majority of the motorists continue to utilize cars is part due to inner obstacles (it's adeeply rooted habit, but also a big part of their lifestyles), part due to that the individuals have defenses for their use of their cars, defenses designed to have a dissonance reducing effect. The indicators also show that the motorists value their family higher than the environment, and in this way they can legitimize many of their car uses.

Tuberculosis is one of many infectious diseases in the world and is responsible for a large number of human deaths each year. The cause is Mycobacterium ssp included in the tuberculosis-complex, there among Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Infection with M. bovis causes bovine tuberculosis in cattle which in 90 % has a pulmonary location. Humans are infected mainly by milk from infected cows but also by close contact with coughing animals or by eating raw meat.

Tuberculosis is one of many infectious diseases in the world and is responsible for a large number of human deaths each year. The cause is Mycobacterium ssp included in the tuberculosis-complex, there among Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Infection with M. bovis causes bovine tuberculosis in cattle which in 90 % has a pulmonary location. Humans are infected mainly by milk from infected cows but also by close contact with coughing animals or by eating raw meat.

An increasing global population and a worldwide growing urbanization has raised the questionabout the future food security in cities all over the world. Peak-oil limits the access to cheap fossilfuels which threatens the global food-supply chain. This has resulted in a larger awareness anddiscussion related to urban agriculture. Growing crops and keeping animals within the city-borderscould be one way of creating a more robust and sustainable food supply for city dwellers. However,to enable an expansion of the urban agriculture many theorists argue that policies and institutionalstructures that supports and promotes city farming have to be developed.

Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) is a quality control system created by the European Union (EU) to protect integrity of certain food and drinks that are produced in a specific area in a unique way. By protecting these products, the EU can certify that the traditional region-specific methods of food and drink production are preserved. The EU countries that follow such a system are mostly from Southern Europe. For instance in France, the PDO system has helped improve the income for farmers, boosted the rural development and assured protection for farmers against the abuse of their brand and the selling of their products by outsiders. In Sweden, there are no PDO products yet, instead there is Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Traditional Speciality Guarantee (TSG) that are not as protective as PDO.

The aim of this examination project was to work with the processof making a pattern collection for fabrics. The collectionshould consist of at least three patterns with report measurementssuitable for screen print. I wanted the pattern collectionto be a simple, mystic and colourful collection with a folklorespirit like the popular rural life I experienced during my childhood.The purpose of the project was that I during the working processwould deepen my estethic background to enforce my personalgraphic expression ability and evolve as a pattern designer.I wanted to try to mix my personal view of domestic graphicexpression with another language that I gained in recent years.This I wanted to do in order to find the tools that could helpme clarify and develop my pattern signature.A few of the questions that I had about this project were if thelong scetching phase that I planned would help or damage theproject.I also thought it would be interesting to experiment with coloursin this project. I wanted to see how far I dared to go inmatter of colours as well as how the patterns would be visuallyexperienced if I for example reduced one colour or replaced itwith the opposite colour.I thought it was inspiring to work with traditional techniqueswith the colours. It was only positive that part of the patternstory telling was developed in an unpredicted direction duringthe scetching phase.

Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka hur Gagnefs kommun och Bergs kommun arbetar med det generella strandskyddet, vilka attityder till detta som finns i kommunerna och hur arbetet påverkar landsbygdsutvecklingen. Särskilt fokus läggs på hanteringen av små sjöar och vattendrag. Undersökningen har skett med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod som innefattar intervjuer med markägare och tjänstemän från kommunerna samt observationer. Analysen utgår från Garrett Hardins begrepp tragedy of the commons, Elinor Ostroms begrepp common-pool resources och open access resources samt Bo Rothsteins begrepp sociala fällor och tillit. Slutsatsen med uppsatsen är att Gagnefs kommun och Bergs kommuner arbetar olika med strandskyddet gällande små sjöar och vattendrag. En majoritet av informanterna anser att det generella strandskyddet endast ska omfatta naturliga vattendrag, samt att strandskyddet bör vara mer flexibelt på landsbygden än i storstäderna. Flexibiliteten innebär exempelvis att strandskyddets regelverk ska anpassas till platsen och inte tillämpas generellt över hela landet..

AbstractSeveral of researchers have reflected that the school ought to be developed to a learning organization. A method as proceed from such a perspective and should be able to match a local child- and educations administration is problembased school development. To investigate in which ways a child- and educations administration prosecute a problem based learning inside the organization a case study was used as research strategy. The question this report gives answer to is:In what/which way works a child- and educations administration in a rural district with a method to fulfil a problembased learning.To collect empiric data a canvassing inquiry was accomplished among the child- and educations administrations group of management. According to the research result it can declares that there are good conditions for the organization to prosecute problem based school development, but there is yet a great deal to do before it´s can be said totally fulfilled.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att ta reda på vårdpersonal och närståendes upplevelser vad gäller vanlig palliativ vård och strukturerade vårdplaner så som LCP/ICP. Studien genomfördes som en systematisk litteraturstudie där underlaget inhämtades genom att med specifika sökord söka i Högskolan Dalarnas databas ELIN@ efter vetenskapliga artiklar. En artikel har även sökts från en annan referenslista där artikelnamnet använts som sökord. Vid sökningarna har sökorden använts var för sig och i kombination med varandra varvid 13 stycken artiklar valdes ut till resultatet. Resultatet visade att det fanns brister i den ordinarie palliativa vården vad det gäller kommunikation, symtomlindring och anhörigvård.

AbstractSeveral of researchers have reflected that the school ought to be developed to a learning organization. A method as proceed from such a perspective and should be able to match a local child- and educations administration is problembased school development. To investigate in which ways a child- and educations administration prosecute a problem based learning inside the organization a case study was used as research strategy. The question this report gives answer to is:In what/which way works a child- and educations administration in a rural district with a method to fulfil a problembased learning.To collect empiric data a canvassing inquiry was accomplished among the child- and educations administrations group of management. According to the research result it can declares that there are good conditions for the organization to prosecute problem based school development, but there is yet a great deal to do before it´s can be said totally fulfilled.

Syftet med detta arbete är att finna svar på hur vi, inför framtidens stadsbyggande, kan åstadkomma optimalt hållbara, trivsamma och välfungerande miljöer och bostadsområden för alla oberoende av kön, ålder, bakgrund och samhällsklass. Med lanskapsarkitekturstudier, projektarbeten samt litteraturstudier som grund utkristalliserades tolv frågeställningar varav den om "Blandstaden" blev den viktigaste, då blandstaden sägs vara vår tids nya stadsbyggnadsvision (Bellander 2005, s.6). För närmare undersökning av begreppet valdes två olika stadsdelar i Stockholm som båda är planerade med blandstaden som ideal. En stadsdel är driven av kommersiella överväganden och en styrs av kommunen. Två yrkespersoner med stor kunskap om respektive plats intervjuades. Platserna besöktes och fotograferades och efter analys av materialet besvarades tolv frågeställningar. De huvudsakliga slutsatserna av arbetet är att blandstaden blivit det nya stadsbyggnadsidealet som en reaktion mot de zonerade städer som det tidigare planeringsidealet har gett upphov till och som vi idag ser stora nackdelar med. Skillnaden mellan förändringsprojekt drivna av kommunen och kommersiella överväganden var inte så stora som jag förväntat mig, då även kommunen i praktiken är driven av vinstintressen och verkar uppmuntra gentrifieringsprocessen. Strävan efter socialt blandade städer bottnar i en strävan efter en mångfasetterad, attraktiv och stimulerande miljö (Bellander 2005, s.25). På lång sikt är arbetet för en socialt blandad stad en metod att förebygga motsättningar mellan olika grupper i samhället. Fördelarna med en social blandning är dock mer komplexa än vad man kan tro, då konsekvenserna av att göra nedgångna områden mer attraktiva kanske inte nödvändigtvis gynnar de boende utan i värsta fall tvingar dem att flytta ifrån sina hem. Planeringsverktyget blandstaden verkar fungerar bra i den bemärkelsen att man kan främja funktionsblandning som i sig är en viktig faktor för en stimulerande och trygg stadsmiljö. Det är dock inte lika säkert att blandstaden är det mest effektiva verktyget för att åstadkomma en social blandning. Därför är mitt förslag på fortsatt kunskapsutveckling inom området att undersöka resultat av alternativa planeringsverktyg för att främja social mångfald som ?Social Housing?..

I övergången från industrialism till post-industrialism förändras städernas ekonomiska förutsättningar och ökar konkurrensen. Städer som tidigare haft en god tillväxt med bas i tillverkningsindustri drabbas av konkurrens från länder som tillhandahåller billigare arbetskraft. I den här situationen väljer många städer att satsa på att stärka sin attraktivitet samt marknadsföra sig för att locka till sig nya invånare, nya företag, turister, externt kapital. En strategi är att satsa på kultur och evenemang. Värdskapet för evenemang kan vid första anblick framstå som en odelat positiv och oproblematisk företeelse, något som gagnar staden med alla dess invånare samt även regionen och landet som helhet.