This report will describe a project between two students from Karlstad University and Markus Norström from Hovercraft solutions. The project aim was to develop a cabin for the hovercraft 380TD. The project was divided into two sub parts; one concerning the design of the cabin and one concerning the engineering. Throughout this rapport you can follow the engineering part of the project. The project has followed a systematic product development process resulting in optimized results for material selection and engineering solutions.

Since 1983 the people of Sri Lanka has endured an ongoing Civil war, however the intencity has varied over the years. The aim of this theses is to examine what influence the asymmetric relationship between the Sri Lankan goverment and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has on the process of negotiating a solution to the civil war. I am also examining whether the asymmetical relationship has changed over time and if these changes have had any effect on the process.To analyze the asymmetries I divide them into material and non-material. I measure the material asymmetries in economic and military resourses, and to measure the non-material I use indicators such as commitment, alternative, controll and legitimacy.The results show that the asymmetrical relations between the parties in Sri Lanka have changed since the 1990s. Factors like 9/11 and the recurrent suicide bombings by the LTTE has had a great influence on the singalese-tamil relationsship.

Background: Climate changes are a growing concern all over the world today. In June year 2006 the European Union accepted a new strategy for the Unions work against a sustainable development. The concept of taking consideration to all the aspects of an organisations/a company's activity is something that have been in focus during later years. Social and ethical aspects are in focus and questions regarding these aspects are more commonly included in the companies yearly reporting. A sustainability report is characterised by that it takes into account not only environmental aspects, like ordinary environmental reports, but also social and ethical aspects of a company's activity with it's surroundings.

This paper examines and compares several different sites in Sweden in addition to one in Mexico regarding whether the ecological requirements theses sites have had during planning and construction has affected the design in any way. Is it possible that, for different reasons, one thinks ?like nature? when one thinks of ecology and, if true, how does this reflect on the spatial and structural design? This paper tries to identify if some sort of general design expression is used in projects with requirements on ecological sustainability. In total, five projects have been compared in different areas such as choice of materials and their composition. These projects have an ecologically sustainable processing of water in common, although most also have ecological consideration in other areas as well.

During the 90s most companies organized and adopted routines for their environmental work. This work included for example eco-efficiency improvements and the introduction of environmental managing systems. At the UN conference in Rio in 1992 the concept Sustainable development was defined, but it was not until about the year of 2000 that companies in Sweden shifted their work from environmental management to sustainable management. A consequence of this is that they now have to focus on environmental aspect in conjunction with social and economic aspects.The purpose of this study is to gain understanding of what a change of focus to sustainable development means for companies. Has the environmental work suffered in the competition with social/economical aspects under the new sustainable focus? How will the new way of working affect the balance between environmental and social aspects? Changes were studied in five companies by analysing their annual-, environmental- and sustainability reports and through interviews of sustainable managers.

The specific task of this thesis is to illustrate the complexity of a cooperation between civilian and military entities by examining Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) and their role as an actor among others in the field in a war-torn Afghanistan.By using counterinsurgency strategy as an analytical framework it has been possible to examine the civilian and military contexts closer. Underlying structures concerning the norms and interpretation of reality of the PRTs has been partly revealed. Studies of the PRTs as one significant bearers of "the comprehensive approach", which includes a holistic approach regarding the use of civilian and military capabilities, new conclusions can be drawn on whether a general civil-military approach can be a part of the solution for current and future conflicts. Based on the counterinsurgency strategy, the author has identified three themes as bearing and thus appears through the thesis as a foundation. These are Coordination, Development and Security.

Background: Municipalities are organizations facing a turbulent environment characterized by social, economical and political changes. It is the responsibility of the topleaders of the municipality (the municipal manager and the chairman of the local government board) to manage the situation and to make sure that the organization continuously develops. Purpose: To explain, from a leadership perspective, how the municipal topleaders'duties have developed during the past 25 years. Results: The municipal topleaders have nowadays got more issues to handle. Cooperation, networks and projects have increased, like international issues.

The subject for this paper is the Class Action against Skandia Association, a civil organization formed in 2003 with the aim of claiming compensation for some 1.2 million life insurance customers. The background to its formation was one of the largest financial scandals in Sweden in recent times, involving a number of questionable affairs within the insurance corporation Skandia and its subsidiaries, most notably the life insurance company Skandia Liv. The interests of both the stake- and stockholders of the company seem, in certain ways, to have been grossly misrepresented. The scandal, as well as the reaction it spawned, pose a number of questions. In this study, we focus on two: a possible, and in many ways apparent crisis in the representation of interests in Swedish society, and the role of civil society in upholding the balance between these interests.We argue that what is often held to be the ?greed? or ?immorality? of individuals in scandals such as Skandia is, to a great extent, a mere reflection of the ?rational? underpinnings of modern-day capitalism.We find that trust has been a key mechanism of control in the relationships between consumers and agents in pension and life insurance markets, and that ?the Swedish model? that distinguished post-WWII Swedish society was a model heavily based on trust towards existing models of bureaucratic governance.

Erfarenheter från de senaste årens komplexa konflikter har bidragit till insikten att separata militära insatser ofta är otillräckliga för att skapa fred. Comprehensive Approach ses av många som ett koncept med målsättningen att skapa en integrerad civil-militär ansats för konfliktlösning. Konceptets innebörd är emellertid oklar. Dessutom är det problematiskt att empiriskt belägga att användandet av konceptet leder till framgång, vilket medför svårigheter att granska dess värde.Uppsatsen utnyttjar Michael Howards teori om strategins dimensioner för att analysera Storbritanniens syn på Comprehensive Approach som strategiskt koncept. Som metod används en kvalitativ textanalys av systematiserande typ.

The aim of this essay is to examine whether democracy in St Petersburg isconsolidated or not. Since studies of democratic transition have been rarelyconducted on post-communist cities, this study seems fruitful. Using the Linz andStepan theory, where democracy is considered consolidated when it has become?the only game in town? and Orttung's three criteria legitimacy, politicalpolarisation and policy effectiveness; this essay analyzes people's attitudes,political behaviour, the rule of law and civil society in St Petersburg. Theory isused to interpret the material mainly consisting of two interviews and newspaperarticles.

The purpose of this study is to facilitate sustainable building by the use of BIM. The goal is to determine which aspects of sustainable building, which can be analyzed mainly with BIM tools, but also other aids.The study is based on literature studies and interviews. The literature review examines aspects important for sustainable building by studying environmental certification systems applicable in Sweden, as well as the BIM tools available on the market to analyze these aspects. The literature also includes the concepts of BIM and sustainability in order to provide a clearer view of its meaning. The interviews have brought the study's overall understanding of the industry and guidance on the subject.The results are presented in a table, where the aspects relevant to sustainable building are listed.

This thesis has been carried out at the Building and Civil Engineering Programme at Chalmers University of Technology in cooperation with NCC Technology. The study aims to investigate the optimal design of a library of standardized structural solutions for in-house multi-family buildings and what benefits it brings. Today NCC use technology platforms to improve efficiency and simplify the construction process. The platforms provide the constructors guidelines on how construction details should look like, but the details are not complete. NCC Technology started in the spring of 2013 a project to investigate what benefits there are to create a library of standardized structural solutions for the constructors, with more detailed solutions than in the platforms.

Context: During the 21st century several alarming reports have been published that deals with the depletion and pollutant of the earth by human interference. The earth is an ending resource and so are the mountains and bedrocks which are continuously mined in order to harvest its minerals. The idea behind Urban Mining is to (re)invent processes enabling further purpose for materials both from old deposits and new products providing secondary raw materials and energy. This thesis aims to investigate the challenges and opportunities of how firms and organizations can and will be able to strike a better balance between product-/service systems, economic growth and environmental stewardship in the context of Urban Mining as an approach. With the innovation of processes, technology, business- planning and creation in focus.Objective: How to future proof a business model for Urban Mining by the usage of business model design.Method: This thesis will be conducted using a case study approach, meaning that it will incorporate qualitative, exploratory and descriptive characteristics - aiming towards enabling both applied and fundamental research.Results: The result evaluates the business model element differences between traditional C&D industry and Urban Mining industry.

Att utveckla en utrustning för mekaniserad slipning..

Background: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a term that has become increasingly prominent in the corporate world. As the awareness of responsibly produced products is growing among both companies and consumers, it has become increasingly important for companies to get involved in sustainability issues. There may be several reasons why companies choose to integrate CSR in their business, where one reason may be related to company size. In the business category of micro, there is currently no widespread research, which makes this company size interesting to study. The choice of industry was made because coffee is one of the world's most important merchandise, and the coffee industry has come a long way with integrating CSR in comparision to many other industries.Purpose and research question: The purpose of this study is to create a deeper understanding of why coffee roasters in the business category of micro enterprises choose to incorporate CSR in their businesses.