This study aims to investigate development and reasons behind sustainability reporting in large Swedish companies. By examining 15 companies? environmental and sustainability reports between the years 2000 and 2008, data was collected on matters such as frequency, scope and design. Identified trends were to a large extent in line with previous studies on international development; sustainability reporting is growing in several aspects. The authors have found one major reason for this development to be increasing requirements and expectations from stakeholders and a need for companies to legitimize their actions.

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.

AbstractThis study examines the conclusions made by Roland Paris in his case study of fourteen major post-war reconstruction efforts following the end of the Cold War, and applies them to the current reconstruction process in post-war Iraq. Paris found a common denominator of the fourteen cases ? a belief that a rapid liberalization process, turning war-torn states into liberal market democracies, would foster sustainable peace. Paris calls this belief ?Wilsonianism? after Woodrow Wilson, who was one of the first advocates of it.

When the Eolshällproject was completed for the first time, a great deal of moisturedamage was discovered. Therefore the structure completion was removed andreinstalled. The project was originally planned to cost a total of 126 million SEK, but thefinal costs landed on 271 million SEK. What caused this failure? Were the designs poor,was the technology used too advanced, or was the project not managed properly?Based on the Eolshällproject, theses will be presented about what may have caused themoisture damage.

Floating housing is a concept gaining ground in Sweden. The dwellings are different in many ways from traditional homes, not only regarding flotation, but also several other technologies. The purpose of this thesis is to emphasize the qualities that exist in living on water. The ambition was to present a proposal for a floating residential area located in Jönköping, containing homes of varying sizes, and to present their technologies. In order to find inspiration and solutions studies have been made on existing floating homes in Stockholm and Kalmar, focusing on their technical and functional solutions.

The so called ?ByggaF-method? is a relatively new Swedish method to stop moisture from being built into a building. The method should prevent damages on buildings as a result of mould growth and moisture. The purpose of the method is to include moisture control in the entire constructionprocess, from the projecting phase and all the way to the management phase. Up until now, there is no proof if the method is profitable or not and no studies have been made on the topic.

SecRePac is a household appliance that simplifies sorting of packaging such as milk, juice and yogurt containers. By shredding the packages SecRePac reduces its volume uptake both in the home and at the recycling station. This leads to minimization of both transports to the recycling stations and truck transport for emptying the containers at the recycling station.The greenhouse effect deteriorates and becomes worse and worse leading to extreme climate changes and natural disasters such as floods as an example. Carbon dioxide emissions are the major reason for this and at least 30 percent of all these emissions come directly from transports. In the EU carbon emissions has decreased in the past few years.

Questions concerning the Cultural Heritage must be integrated in social planning.Therefore there is a need for adequate methods for cultural environmental analysis, toreceive knowledge that is relevant in an integrated conservation. The thesis is a review ofmethods for cultural environmental analysis and discusses the qualifications necessary fora method in order to receive adequate information as well as it discusses what kind ofinformation to be considered relevant. The thesis also analyzes a specific method forcultural environmental analysis in order to exam if it has got the qualifications concludedas necessary if it is to be used in an integrated conservation. The conclusion is that amethod for cultural environmental analysis should collect information about the entireenvironment (integrated information about nature and culture, in a historical perspectiveand how it is today), about social structures, physical remains (buildings etc) and what thecollected information tell about the history of the studied area, as well as what is importantin the landscape of today. Information about how the environment should be treated in thefuture is also of importance.

Equal opportunity issues are considered to have a clear position in Swedish policy and the making of Swedish gender policy is considered a precursor. Though many experts and scientists have shed light on the fact that the issue of women assault has had a less stable development than other gender issues such as child care, the labour market etc. within the Swedish society, and that it does not attract the wide political support it needs. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the Municipalities', in the county of Kronoberg, policy on the issue of women assault within their local policies of equality. In my thesis I have chosen a theoretical framework that is built on a dilemma of justice based on three different dimensions; the extent, content and influence of the local policies.

Glulam is a product that was engineered to make use of timber in a more efficient way. Bychoosing timber of similar quality and discarding natural defects during production, thedevelopment of a stronger cross-section is achieved.Carbon fiber is a relatively new material with a high tension capacity. This feature is used toexamine how the bending capacity of the beams improve by adhering carbon fiber laminateson the lower edge of the beamsThe strength of the material is tested with three experiments: carbon fiber on the bottom of thebeam (a), carbon fiber attached to the lower sides of the beam (b) and carbon fiber in thebeam, covered with a layer of wood (c)The results show that the first case, where the carbon fiber is attached to the bottom of thebeam, gave the best result with an increase in capacity of 59 % compared to the nonreinforcedcontrol. The other two cases also show an improvement in capacity, beam-type 3had a capacity increase of 47% and beam-type 4 increased with 25 %Tests were also made with glulam beams reinforced with fiberglass, but these tests were notanalyzed in depth because the purpose was to compare the capacity to carbon fiber. Thisbeam improved its capacity by 40.3%.The tests show that carbon fiber as a reinforcement material for glulam is a good choice whenthere is a requirement for stronger cross-sections in both new production and renovation ofold buildings.

This paper examines family owned tourism businesses with a special focus on succession. In Nordic countries tourism has been widely promoted and used in rural development as a replacement economy for ?traditional? livelihoods based on rural production. Because the tourism and hospitality industry, especially in rural areas, is dominated by family enterprises, the topic of succession is of great relevance for tourism and tourism destinations. This paper looks at family businesses? special characteristics, challenges and advantages in terms of ownership structure, lifestyle, motivations, employees and destination impact.

Questions concerning the Cultural Heritage must be integrated in social planning.Therefore there is a need for adequate methods for cultural environmental analysis, toreceive knowledge that is relevant in an integrated conservation. The thesis is a review ofmethods for cultural environmental analysis and discusses the qualifications necessary fora method in order to receive adequate information as well as it discusses what kind ofinformation to be considered relevant. The thesis also analyzes a specific method forcultural environmental analysis in order to exam if it has got the qualifications concludedas necessary if it is to be used in an integrated conservation. The conclusion is that amethod for cultural environmental analysis should collect information about the entireenvironment (integrated information about nature and culture, in a historical perspectiveand how it is today), about social structures, physical remains (buildings etc) and what thecollected information tell about the history of the studied area, as well as what is importantin the landscape of today. Information about how the environment should be treated in thefuture is also of importance.

Kisa Courthouse in the south of ?sterg?tland is a house built in the early 19th century with a typical neoclassical style. With clearly regular symmetrical wooden facade scheme with a central main entrance. The main entrance is a wooden double door with richly decorated portico. the crown moulding above the door consists of a band of dentils with a cornice moulding at the top.

It is sixty years since Sweden's first star-shaped housing estate was built in Gröndal, a suburb of Stockholm. Olle Engkvist, the building contractor, was the driving force behind the residential area and it was designed by architects Sven Backström and Leif Reinius. The estate comprises detached star-shaped houses suited to a more hilly terrain and terraced star-shaped houses on the flat land. The eight gardens of the terraced houses form the shape of a hexagon. It is these gardens, designed by Sven Hermelin and Per Friberg, which are the main focus of this thesis. The buildings on the estate have recently been renovated and it is now time for the gardens to be restored.

This essay presents an investigation of the ruins of an assembly of crofts in a rural area in the south of Sweden, outside the town Falk?ping. Using literary sources and intangible sources, and then combine them with the information found by investigation of the physical remains of the crofts, the essay attempts to capture the life and the living conditions of the crofters. The investigation is focusing on the period between the nighteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century, and looks into the the living conditions according to, for example, the buildings, the orientation in the landscape, demografical changes, the transformation of the area over years and how the crofters were affected by powerty. The investigation shows that the crofters in many ways were in vulnerable and exposed positions, powerty summarized as a lack of freedom ? concerning economical, political and social dimensions.