The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between non-audited and audited sustainability reports and in that way indicate the significance of auditing to the contents of a sustainability report. The study was delimited to include three companies that create sustainability reports according to GRI guidelines, and also have changed from non-audited to audited reports.The study is an exploratory study where we started from companies that follow GRI's standard and who have changed from being non-assured to assured and certified. In order to examine any differences we have started out from corporate sustainability reports and with the basis of these latter gather those changes which may have occurred during the changeover. We therefore chose to conduct a literature review on each company's non-audited sustainability reports and compare them with each company's audited and certified sustainability reports. Furthermore our study has been made on the basis of an assessment model based on the concepts of materiality, completeness and comparability.The study showed that the audited sustainability reports in all companies were more focused and more detailed about the aspects GRI established for the performance indicators.

Today many industrial companies invest a lot of resources on research and development to resist the tough competition on the global market. This leads to a high risk game when the companies start many development projects, with uncertain outcome where some of the projects have to be terminated prematurely. The main purpose with this study is to identify factors, both internal and external, that influence the decision to terminate projects prematurely in Swedish development projects. Factors mentioned in the literature will be compared with case studies on three Swedish industrial companies to demonstrate the most important ones when taking such decisions. First a literature study was made to identify basic terms, a general project model and factors affecting the decision.

In the next few years the pollutants loading at the Slottshagen wastewater treatment plant in Norrköping is going to increase due to the reason that one of the waste water treatment plant in the district will be shut down.A survey of how these different pollutants are divided in the treatment process is therefore necessary for mapping out both the loading and treatment efficiency.This can be achieved by studying mass balances.Mass balances were carried out for the water treatment process for the mechanical/chemical,biological and the chemical stage.The mass balance studies show that the treatment efficiency was very good. However in order for the mass balances to be quite consistent and to ensure complete coverage of results and conclusions i.e. more reliable results, sludge samples should be collected and taken at different times per day and the influent rate should be investigated.In this work mass balance has been set up in order to illustrate and identify the factors that should be considered and taken care of for further estimation using mass balances in the future. Furthermore this survey results in a calculating model for the mass balances at thisplant.This calculating model is used as a tool to facilitate future calculations for mass balances for the water treatment process at Slottshagens wastewater treatment plant.Moreover it provides a basis for carrying out further estimation of the treatment process in the near future.In this project the importance of some operating parameters was also taken in consideration.This calculating model can be modified so that calculations of such operating parameters i.e. sludge loading and sludge age can be easily performed.Such information can be used further to evaluate different operation alternative in order to ensure an optimal use of the treatment process with in the plant..

The contact company, LRF Konsult, is a consulting firm specialized in areas of law, real estate, finance and taxation. Discussions on the subject of agricultural improvement in the area of Lean, has primarily been driven by the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, where LRF Konsult also participated. This thesis can be seen as a preliminary study of how Lean can work within agricultural enterprises.The thesis primarily focuses on the possibilities dairy farms have to improve operations. What practical benefits they can obtain through the implementation of Lean. And how an implementation could take place.By visits to two dairy companies, and through interviewing their respective business leaders, an image of the companies activity for improvement, in connection to this thesis was established.

Safe retrieval of nutrients from human excreta to fertilize crops in order to gain adequate yields will increase food security and sustainability in agriculture areas with nutrient-poor fields. Safe and nutritious food will meet the dietary needs of the individual which promotes public health and the ability of an active life. Human excreta should be considered as a resource instead of being assumed as waste. Human faeces and urine is excellent fertilizers which may close the nutrient loop if utilized properly. However, sanitation of the excreta is required to prevent disease transmission by reducing the content of gastrointestinal pathogens such as bacteria, viruses and parasites. The objective of this study was to in small scale evaluate the sanitation in a combined liquid compost and urea treatment by monitor the inactivation of bacteria and viruses at the combination three start temperatures, 45, 40 and 35 °C, and three additions of urea, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 % and reference, 0 % urea addition.

With the climate change issues growing in importance on the social agenda, the field of urban masterplanning is of no exception when it comes to minimizing the carbon footprint in a variety of projects. The aim of this thesis has been to prepare the Carbon Critical Masterplanning tool, a software plugin for carbon dioxide emissions assessment developed by Atkins, to be used in Swedish conditions. The main targets were to improve the areas of the tool associated with energy conversion and renewable energy sources, and to test the tool in a real case. A planned construction of a new campus in Albano, Stockholm was chosen for the pilot study. A 3D model was built in the tool and the carbon footprint was calculated for a variety of combinations for energy supply to the future area.

The main purpose of this essay is to investigate if Latvia´s pattern of trade has become more similar to the mature market economies, after Latvia´s independence 1991.Today, the intra-industry trade (IIT) dominates the trade of mature market economies. One of the pioneers of intra-industrial trade is Paul Krugman, who was the first to emphasize the importance "of scale and consumers' desire for variety" in explaining the basis for modern commerce. Customers get more variety and usually cheaper goods when the market gets bigger. I mainly use the modern trade theories to explain the trade pattern in Latvia. To measure how Latvia has developed its intra-industry trade, and thereby is approaching the mature market economies´ trade pattern, I use the Grubel-Lloyd index (GL-index).

Portfoliometodik är idag ett känt begrepp, likaså digital elevportfolio. Båda dessa begrepp, och en av de programvaror som främst är utvecklade för att vara en aktiv digital elevportfolio, har en central roll i den här studien. Portfolio Manager 2, som programmet i fråga heter, är utvecklat i Sverige av svenska pedagoger.Studien har en kvantitativ ansats med enkäter som redskap. En köns- och specialpedagogisk betraktelsegrund fanns i studien, vilket också resulterade i nya pedagogiska rön.Studien är utförd i 5 klasser på 2 olika svenska skolor i slöjd, där samtliga elever gick i åk 5.Lärarenkäten var utformad så att den skulle kunna ge en bedömning av ?fenomenet? PM2 som helhet, då PM2 även innehåller verktyg av det mer administrativa slaget.Studiens resultat bekräftar tidigare studier, dvs.

The big change is a project where I created patterns on fabric. It is a collaborative project with Lotta Niemi. She studied fashion and textile designers and tailors from the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås and University of Technology in Sydney. The collaboration was to create designs on fabric for her upcoming clothing line for women, Fall / Winter 2013. The clothes will be sold online, in stores in Sweden and Japan.For Lotta Niemi?s clothing line, I wanted to create exclusive designs, rich patterns that worked out handmade and digital.

Fjärrvärmen utgör idag ungefär 12 % (48 TWh) av Sveriges totala energianvändning. Starka argument att använda fjärrvärme för att tillgodose bostäders och lokalers värmebehov är möjligheten att använda olika bränslen av skiftande pris och kvalitet, den goda verkningsgraden en centraliserad värmeanläggning erhåller samt fördelen med att kombinera produktionen av el och värme.Halmstad energi och miljö (HEM), förser Halmstad och närområdet med fjärrvärme och total mängd producerad energi uppgick 2009 till 596 GWh. Avfall och biobränsle utgör den största produktionsandelen men även industriell spillvärme samt mindre mängder olja och naturgas används för att framställa värme.Konkurrenssituationen för fjärrvärme är på många orter i det närmsta monopolistisk där en stor aktör äger hela marknaden. Det är viktigt att förbättra fjärrvärmesystemet för att i framtiden behålla dess konkurrenskraft. Följande rapport utreder och beskriver åtgärder för att göra ett redan befintligt fjärrvärmesystem mer effektivt.Utifrån möten med personal på HEM har tio punkter presenterats, vilka utvärderar olika delmoment i Halmstads fjärrvärmesystem.

For most pupils homework is a natural part of school and their education and there are several providers of homework assistance: the pupil's parents, sibblings, friends, Internet forums, hired private tutoring, non-profit organisations and at times even the pupil's school. This study has investigated the use of the school-based homework assistance programme at the Upper Secondary School of Psychology in Stockholm and why the programme is not more frequently used by its pupils. The school offers homework assistance two hours each Thursday afternoon, with at least two teachers being present to tender for the school's 127 pupils. The cost of the programme has been estimated to approximately 12 500 Swedish kronor per week. Through the main use of a questionnaire given to both the school's students and teachers, as well as an interview with the school's headmaster, this study will show that despite receiving the opportunity few pupils take part of the programme on a regular basis.

På grund av en ökad befolkningsmängd och nya tekniker som gör fler sjuka går att bota ställs nya krav på svensk sjukvård. Sjukvården måste möta de nya kraven med ett bättre effektivare resursanvändande och där till krävs nya förbättringsmetoder. Med influenser från industriell tillverkning har sjukvården omarbetat lean production för att skapa ett universellt förbättringsverktyg som lämpar sig för vårdorganisationer. Verktyget kallas lean healthcare och är omdiskuterat och dess effekter tvetydiga. Att undersöka om och hur värdeflöden i en akutmottagnings triage, som innebär en prioritering efter patienters allvarlighetsgrad, kan effektiviseras med hjälp av ett flödesorienterat arbetssätt som lean.

Arbetet syftar till att skapa en prototyp av en textil trycksensor som kan känna av och skilja på olika typer av belastning. En lämplig metod för att på ett vetenskapligt sätt testa sagda prototyp har också utvecklats. Prototypen har tillverkats för hand på en datoriserad vävstol och de ingående materialen är piezoelektrisk poly(vinyldifluorid), PVDF, tvinnad tillsammans med ett konduktivt garn, Shieldex®, samt polyester. När PVDF-fiber utsätts för töjning genererar de en spänning, vars storlek står i relation till töjningen. Den vävda konstruktion som valdes till prototypen är en distansvara där väftinläggen lagts in i 7 olika lager för att skapa volym.

Femsjö is a small parish situated in Hylte municipality, Växjö diocese. The parish has a total area of 8230 ha of which 5000 ha are covered with forest. There have not been any large industries in the parish offering work opportunities for the inhabitants, so they have had to generate income from their land and the forest. Instead of going to the bank to get a bank loan the people of Femsjö parish went out in to the forest and harvested trees for timber and extra cash revenue. Production of pine tar and potash were two other ways that the residents of Femsjö parish could earn extra money for the household in order to keep starvation away.

Discharge of inadequately treated waste water containing nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen as well as organic matter and bacteria is associated with a risk of eutrophication and contamination. The Swedish government has decided upon several Environmental Quality Objectives aiming to reduce the emissions of nutrients to water bodies.In Sweden, there are between 675 000 to 1 000 000 on-site sewage systems. Recent studies have shown that the function of small sewage treatment plants is in many cases insufficient. To prevent this regular service and supervision by a professional is needed. The focus of this study are small sewage treatment plants which use a technique where mechanical, chemical and/or biological reduction of pollutants is being used in the same facility to reduce nutrients in household wastewater.The aim of the study is to investigate how different municipalities ensure that small sewage treatment plants fulfill the requirements and reduce pollutants as efficient as the manufacturers claim.