I have studied the suburban municipality of Botkyrka, south of Stockholm, from a rural perspective. Through that I`ve compared how countryside comes into being with the planning and building of suburbs. I have looked for a definition of Countryside, and found that it is often explained or defined in negative terms, as what it is not. In that it says nothing about what it really is, or about the qualitiies it has to it. Botkyrka is a suburb, but it does in large parts consist of countryside. Apart from defining countryside and rural I´ve been searching for a definition of suburbia, of it´s structure and the mental picture we have of it as a cultural phenomena. In order to understand the role that suburbs have in planning I describe their history from Italian renaissance villas to sprawl. By opposing urban and rural, modern urban planning and how rural areas are created, I´ve come to a definition of rural planning and the making of countryside. To make countryside, planning and building should come from individual needs and desires. A relationship to the surroundings based on continous interaction between the human beeing and it´s environment, a constant process of shaping and reshaping. To put my thoughts to the ground I have collected examples of projects and ideas, that fits into my view of what rural planning and making countryside is all about. They are put in different categories according to the possibilities of influence and to what degree it is put into private hands. The first category is ?allemansrätten?, every mans right. That is the rigt to use private land as long as you don´t disturb or destroy.

A growing need to strengthen ones position on the market, even as a city in competition with other cities, has resulted in an increasing number of municipalities developing brand platforms. When the city of Umeå developed their platform, they identified decision makers and investors as one of four important target groups.The aim of this study is to explore the portrayed image of the city of Umeå in two Swedish trade journals which addresses the specific target group decition makers and investors in both public and private sector. The aim is also to compare the image of Umeå in the two papers, to the ambition of the municipality, expressed in the brand platform.In order to make the observations as firmly established as possible, the method of the study is a combination of a quantitative content analysis and a qualitative text analysis. The study draws on the theories of Eli Avraham and Philip Kotler, concerning how to improve city images and how to market a specific city among others. The study shows that the city of Umeå in large extent is portrayed in accordance to the ambition which the municipality expressed in the brand platform.Umeå is displayed as an expanding city.

AbstractThis degree project is about having meetings in The Swedish Social Insurance Agency, which is awide organisation. This work will concentrate on one of the projects going on within theorganisation which is travel-free meetings, where they are building a video meeting system thatallows the employees in the organisation to be able to meet with each other through the use ofvideoconferencing instead of physical meetings.In this work we will show how Kaikaku (radical system changes) along with Kaizen (continuouschange) can support an organisation to become more efficient and reduce wastage. We have donethis work in an organisation that is present in over one hundred locations in Sweden.The Social Insurance Agency has over 13 000 employees at over one hundred locations inSweden.The organisation has to be close to their customers and provide the best service aspossible. To be able to work in a uniform way, the employees get together and have meetings.Some meetings are just progress meetings and takes perhaps no more than two hours to complete.However, if seven employees from seven different locations need to have meetings, in the worstcase, they all have to meet in a common place.This is expensive for the organisation in travel costs, time and absence from work, but thetravelling also contributes to environmental pollution if the employees are travelling by a fuelpoweredvehicle.A whole day could go lost for having a meeting in about two hours if all sevenemployees went from their own cities to e.g. Stockholm for the meeting.Muda (wastage) of travel created several different types of Muda, namely:? Wastage with anticipation when the employees had to wait for e.g.

Outdoor recreation habits in metropolis and rural areasThis study aims to examine the perception of nature and outdoor recreation habits from an urban-rural prospective. The urbanization process continues in Sweden and the populations of the cities are growing continuously. Trends to build more compact and ?climate smart? reigns and with this a risk that green areas and areas where outdoor recreation can be practiced are situated further and further away from the urban population. Analyzing the responses from a survey made by the research program Friluftsliv i förändring 2007 we have examined if and which differences exists between urban and rural areas regarding their perception of nature, outdoor recreation habits and factors influencing the practice of outdoor recreation.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and evaluate essentialprerequisites for companies and corporations aiming at marketingglobal brands in a restricted market.Method:The investigation strategy used for this essay was to perform a casestudy on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Both primary data ? such as asurvey, interviews and participating observation ? and secondarydata ? found in books, scientific articles and the internet ? have beenused to achieve the results. The gathering of empirical data wasperformed inside the Islamic Republic of Iran during two weeks inNovember 2007 in three different cities: Tehran, Ispahân and Bâbol.This was carried out by considering several theories: globalbranding strategies, brand equity, involvement theory andcommunication models.Results: The outcome of this essay show several factors that should be takenin consideration in relation to marketing global brands in Iran. Manycompanies have chosen adaptation as their promotion? and productstrategy because of countless rules and restrictions hindering globalmarketing.

Active environmental activity?? a comparative study of the municipalities environmental activityThesis in Political Science D-Level at Karlstad University byJenny Ljung Spring 2008Tutor: Michelle MichelletiThe threat against our climate is one of our biggest challenges today. The awareness of the problem has grown rapidly for the last years in governments on international, national and regional level. The Swedish government is recognized as one of the leading countries in the climate and environmental work internationally. The Swedish municipalities play a big role in this successful work.

This C-level thesis deals with Russian tourism in Sweden and explains what measures are being used in Sweden in order to attract Russian tourists. Since a high number of companies and organizations are actively involved in developing Russian tourism to Sweden, we have decided to focus primarily on the most active Swedish and Russian companies within the industry. Therefore several big and well-established companies, often located in the largest cities of Russia and Sweden i.e. Stockholm, Moscow and St Petersburg, have been the subject of our analysis.Chapter ?Bakgrund? presents numerous facts and information about the nature and scale of the Russian tourist market today and in the nearest future.

Abandoned and unused railway structures often possess great potential if they are reclaimed and reused for new purposes. The thesis focuses on the global trend of restoring and revitalizing these areas, converting them into park areas, rail trails and green corridors in the city landscape, while preserving their ecological, social, esthetic and historic values. These rail areas were often abandoned when industries moved out from the cities, either to industrial areas or abroad. The use of railways for transporting industrial goods was also replaced to a large extent my motorized road vehicles in the mid 20th century, leaving the rails under-utilized. Because of their location and intrinsic values, they can be reused for important functions, such as green areas in the city environment, providing space for recreational activities and exercise and social meetings and interactions. I have closely investigated the three park areas High Line in New York, Promenade Plantée in Paris and Schöneberger Südgelände in Berlin, which have all gone through this transformation in recent years. I have summarized my conclusions in three key concepts to consider: design for social values, preserve the architectural history, and leave room for future evolution. The final part of my work is a design program for an abandoned railways area in Stockholm: Eriksdal railway area.

Outdoor recreation habits in metropolis and rural areasThis study aims to examine the perception of nature and outdoor recreation habits from an urban-rural prospective. The urbanization process continues in Sweden and the populations of the cities are growing continuously. Trends to build more compact and ?climate smart? reigns and with this a risk that green areas and areas where outdoor recreation can be practiced are situated further and further away from the urban population. Analyzing the responses from a survey made by the research program Friluftsliv i förändring 2007 we have examined if and which differences exists between urban and rural areas regarding their perception of nature, outdoor recreation habits and factors influencing the practice of outdoor recreation.

AbstractThis degree project is about having meetings in The Swedish Social Insurance Agency, which is awide organisation. This work will concentrate on one of the projects going on within theorganisation which is travel-free meetings, where they are building a video meeting system thatallows the employees in the organisation to be able to meet with each other through the use ofvideoconferencing instead of physical meetings.In this work we will show how Kaikaku (radical system changes) along with Kaizen (continuouschange) can support an organisation to become more efficient and reduce wastage. We have donethis work in an organisation that is present in over one hundred locations in Sweden.The Social Insurance Agency has over 13 000 employees at over one hundred locations inSweden.The organisation has to be close to their customers and provide the best service aspossible. To be able to work in a uniform way, the employees get together and have meetings.Some meetings are just progress meetings and takes perhaps no more than two hours to complete.However, if seven employees from seven different locations need to have meetings, in the worstcase, they all have to meet in a common place.This is expensive for the organisation in travel costs, time and absence from work, but thetravelling also contributes to environmental pollution if the employees are travelling by a fuelpoweredvehicle.A whole day could go lost for having a meeting in about two hours if all sevenemployees went from their own cities to e.g. Stockholm for the meeting.Muda (wastage) of travel created several different types of Muda, namely:? Wastage with anticipation when the employees had to wait for e.g.

Linnéuniversitetet Kalmar Institutionen för samhällsvetenskaper  Arbetets art:                   D-uppsats, 15 hp                                                                           Lärarprogrammet                                      Samhällsutveckling med ett internationellt perspektiv Titel:                              Hur sker implementering av förebyggande arbete gällande hiv och aids?  Författare:                      Nina Svenman Handledare:                   Gunnar Hansson ABSTRACT This study analyzes the prevention of HIV and AIDS around the region of Pretoria in South Africa. The study's starting point is the cultural, economic, social and health which is relevant when different levels of society affirms. The aim has been the basis of the representation levels of society discern what is valued and given priority as well as the measures and the strategies used in implementation. The empirical data underlying the study is qualitative studies with respondents from a university, a hospital, a school, the Swedish Embassy and an organization in order to create an image of different levels in society means to implement preventive measures on HIV and AIDS to their citizens. The result demonstrates that there are clear shortcomings in its implementation guidance on prevention measures for HIV and AIDS as lack of resources is based.

AimTo validate the STOPP-8-questionnaire (S8Q), containing items from the SIH-questionnaire, against the criterion method accelerometry to estimate its capacity to assess 8 year old Swedish children?s physical activity (PA). Can it assess children?s physical activity? Can it differentiate the active children from the sedentary? If the answer is yes, how well can it do so? MethodData was collected during fall and winter the school year of 2008 - 2009 via the project STOPP-8. Out of 676 children at 12 schools in Stockholm area, 155 (boys n=72, girls n=83) provided complete questionnaire data and wore an accelerometer (Actiwatch 4) during 7 consecutive days which provided data for mean and median activity, time spent sedentary, in moderate to vigorous PA and vigorous PA.

I Sverige används det idag cirka 5,4% förnybara drivmedel inom transportsektorn, att jämföra med under 0,5% år 2000. Av de ickefossila drivmedlen är el något som ofta benämns som en permanent och realistisk framtida lösning. Visionen ?Stockholm ? Elbilsstad 2030? drivs av Stockholms Stad i samarbete med Fortum AB i syfte att ersätta den fossilbränsleslukande fordonsflottan.I den här studien undersöks de tekniska förutsättningarna och de eventuella vinsterna av ett storskaligt införande av elbilar. Studien har gjorts genom en modellering där parametrar som elbilens prestanda, elpris, bilens inköpspris och totala utsläpp använts.

There was a silence surrounding homosexuality in the People's Republic of Poland. One can almost get the impression that same sex love, and same sex relationships, did not even exist there; that the communists had successfully removed homosexuality from society. The roots of this silence can be found in the Communist Party´s disdain for anything deemed individualist and deviant, and also in the conservatism and religiosity of the Polish society.In my thesis I study when and how gays and lesbians found a way out of the silence that surrounded their sexuality. Gay men did so by creating subcultures, which found refuge in parks, public bathrooms and a few bars in larger Polish cities, and offered a sense of belonging for them. Lesbians, on the other hand, lacked this access to semi-public spheres, which made it even harder for them to find each other and create a space for their sexuality.

Background:Investments in different forms have always been popular to every human being. For the most common investments, such as stocks and bonds, there are loads of information to gather for the investor. Historical data like risk, return, dividends and fundamental data like annual reports are often very easy to find, regarding these kinds of investments. The background of this thesis is the lack of market information in residential real estate investments. A problem with this investment is that there is lack of information regarding risk adjusted return for real estates, which this thesis intends to present.Objective:The objective with this thesis is to study which alternative, directly-owned residential estates or stocks, who generates the highest risk adjusted return.