Due to recent legal enactments regarding carbon dioxide emissions, the car industry is facing higher demands. An effective way of reducing these emissions is to minimize the weight of the vehicle. This thesis constitutes a feasibility study on whether or not it is applicable for the car industry to utilize an inner floor structure comprising composite materials. The principal was the projectSåNätt, in which the main participant was Volvo Cars Corp. In consultation with a reference group, consisting of delegates from the industry and KTH, a specification of requirements was produced.

Modelling of pollutants is commonly used in research and at departments working with environmental issues. The need to use large amounts of data when modelling creates the opportunity for more generalised models with lower data demands. Aggregating functions into coarser elements is a sort of generalisation of actual features in nature.A development of a method and a modelling tool called ?KadmiumKalkylatorn? has been performed to model cadmium pollution in rivers in Skåne, Sweden. The water runoff has been multiplied with cadmium standard concentrations based on membership in landuse classes.

In musikklasser (a special musical training which focus on choral singing is offered in the Swedish compulsory school from the age of ten until the age of sixteen) teachers are working in a tradition where conventions relating to singing with children have developed in accordance with the Swedish choral tradition. In these classes, students are trained in large groups, usually around 30 students in one class. Furthermore, one teacher and 60 students is also frequent in schools with two or more parallell grades. In a large choir group, students develop their skill in choral singing, which includes the development of general musical knowledge as well as the development of the individual singing voice of each student in order for the choir to be able to interpret and perform music with a communal musical expression. Thus, the complexity in this teaching and learning setting places high demands on the choir teachers? ability to use appropriate teaching and learning strategies in order to develop the specific musical skill required in a choir.In this study, two choral teachers´ interaction with their choir class were investigated.

The housing sector uses 40 % of the energy in Sweden and half of the electricity usage. Theuse of energy is the main reason to the increasing rate of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.This is the main motive but also a wish of higher safety, that is a higher rate of selfsufficientenergy production in Sweden, we want to decrease the need of using fossil fuel. Now whenthe energy price rise, the interest in energy issues increase and more people discuss thepossibility of reducing the usage of fossil fuel. A change to renewable energy such as sun,wind and water is the only solution where we can get a sustainable development.One way to contribute to a better use of energy is to build in the principle of passive house.The house is being built with a thick and tight insulation. If you use a heat-exchanger withhigh degree of efficiency and a final heating battery on the ventilation system, the heat fromlamps, devices and the ones living in the house should be enough to fulfil the criteria ofliving.

Many watersheds have lost stocks of migrating fish species because of the development of hydroelectric plants and other fragmenting barriers. The remaining stocks of migrating Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) in River Klarälven, Sweden are five times smaller compared to one hundred years ago. A fish-trap at the hydroelectric plant in Forshaga has been vital for the continued existence of the stocks. This is the first hydroelectric plant of eight, blocking the way to the spawning grounds. Spawners are collected in the trap for both hatchery and transport by truck upstream and past seven more hydroelectric plants to the spawning grounds, where they are released for possible natural reproduction.

Eutrophication was recognized in the early 1900's and results in severe algal blooms, increased biomass production and eventually leads to an altered ecosystem. In Mälardalen we find the most eutrophic lakes. Most of the applied phosphorus and nitrogen into seas and oceans comes from agriculture, and the nutrients losses are affected by local weather conditions and soil type. Guidelines for storage and distribution of manure were introduced in the 80s, and the rules were strengthened January 1, 2010. Localities and previous county administrations can whether there are special reasons, grant an exemption for manure application during winter-periods despite the current ban.In this essay I have examined how many exemptions of manure application that has been granted at the Sagån river, and what implications it has for the eutrophication of Lake Mälaren.

The society of today is overflowed with information and commercials. There is a thick media noise that the marketers finds hard to penetrate. Bearing this in mind, we can see that Event Marketing, witch is marketing through events, has grown to be a popular form of communication as it has an ability to work its way through the existing media noise. Through events a company can strengthen its brand and image as well as form a lasting relationship with its consumers. What other functions does Event Marketing possess? In what context is Event Marketing an appropriate marketing strategy to use? These are two questions that we aim to answer through this essay.To be able to answer these questions we interviewed the marketing manager of two different companies, L´oréal and TeliaSonera.

Municipalities in Sweden are responsible for physical planning by developing a general plan. This plan contains intended land and water use for the area. This study aims to investigate the level of integra­tion of environmental issues in the general plan of Arboga municipality and also how well adapted the municipality is for climate change. Further on, the study intends to examine the focus of the gen­eral plan and at what rate the national environmental strategies are implemented in the local physi­cal planning of Arboga municipality. Methods used for this study are interviews and reviewing of the general plan itself and other key documents.

Research suggests that society's vulnerability to natural disasters along coasts could increase as a result of climate change, which is likely to lead to elevated sea levels and possibly an increase in the occurance of meteorological phenomena such as storms and tropical cyclones. Following the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, both of which received considerable media attention, empirical data has indicated that coastal vegetation might be able to protect and reduce damages to coastal communities during tsunami events and tropical cyclones.The aim of the essay has been to study the function of coastal ecosystems as protection against tsunami waves and storms from a risk management perspective, meaning that I have, through an overview of scientific articles, compiled current research on how coastal ecosystems can attenuate storm surges and tsunami waves, and analysed how this knowledge can be put into practice in coastal communities from a risk management perspective, i.e. if coastal ecosystems are a viable risk reduction measure, are practically applicable, and if so, how they could be applied.There is empirical evidence suggesting that coastal ecosystems, particularly mangroves, can reduce the strength of a tsunami wave, but full scientific consensus on this issue has not yet been reached. With regard to protection against storm surges, there is extensive scientific evidence that coastal vegetation can mitigate damages and reduce the height of a storm surge, although the wave has to traverse several kilometres inland through thick vegetation for the protection to be effective. A synthesis in the form of a figure regarding the many physical factors that influence wave development through coastal ecosystems has been created in an attempt to simplify and explain the phenomenon.The conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems can be justified from a risk management perspective, but planting new forest belts for the purpose of disaster mitigation is quite unrealistic and can rarely be sustainable, since, for protection to be effective, the forest belt must extend several kilometres inland from the coast, and would thus likely prove difficult to implement along coastal societies..

The object of the thesis is to propose a new lighting plan for the square Fyristorg in Uppsala, and to describe the process which have led to it. It all started when I choosed the place together with the municipality of Uppsala. I have been doing research and analyzed how the place and it´s existing lighting works both during different times of the day and also in the evening. After researching the place and it´s existing lighting I´ve decided to put up the following goals fot the new lighting design. 1. The general light level of the place shall be experienced as higher than today. 2. The light level of the place shall be adapted to the light levels of surrounding places. 3. The lighting shall be free from glare. 4. The lighting shall be adapted to people passing by. 5.The lighting shall be adapted to the surrounding architecture. 6.

This report is presenting an approach that can be used to measure water surfaces in difficult conditions caused by dense vegetation and lack of nearby known points. The objective was to make a contribution to necessary measures for adaptation against floods in Grums Municipality along the stream Karlbergsån, which may occur when persistent rain raises the level of the stream. Along the river there are low-lying areas prone to flooding. According to Grums Municipality, the stream may widen where the water level differences are large, to create a better flow path and to counteract flooding. Grums Municipality was also interested in survey stormwater discharges which may affect the water level in the stream.

The governing set of regulations for structural engineering in Sweden used to be Boverket, BKR. However in the beginning of the 21st century a changeover to new regulations, the Eurocodes, started.The transition was completed in year 2011 when the Eurocodes became the mandatory design work policy for all countries within the European Union. The Eurocodes were implemented to simplify and remove potential barriers to trade that may exist when countries have different design rules.  Since the changeover it has been important for all construction companies to update their knowledge base and their design software.When comparing the two calculation processes they seem similar, but there are a couple of differences worth noting.  With the new regulations, engineers will find that the process when designing joints in timber structures has changed.  What used to be a fairly easy and straight forward calculation procedure has now become tedious and time consuming.The objective of this degree project is to present a product, a dimensioning tool that will help structural engineers when computing lateral load carrying joints in timber structures.The degree project is made up of two parts where the first part is the written report describing the background and theory behind load carrying computations. The second part of the project is the actual dimensioning tool which includes several worksheets in Microsoft Excel. The program treats single and double shear connections of the following:Nail jointsScrew jointsSteel plates (thick and thin types) The user can edit the following parameters:Type of plate/ number of shearsStrength class of timber membersMember and plate sizeType of fastenerDiameter of fastenerLength of fastenerYield moment of fastenerkmod and partial factors for design load carrying capacityThe dimensioning tool was created and developed in collaboration with structural engineers at the company Byggteknik AB.

In Dar es Salaam, as in many cities in developing countries, green areas are decreasing due to the fact that the growth of buildings, infrastructure and services has become a priority. As the population increases more buildings and infrastructure are needed and much of the building activity takes the form of uncontrolled settlements, which encroaches the public green space. Dar es Salaam has approximately three million inhabitants, of which about 70 percent are living in informal settlements. The aim with this study is to make a design proposal for a park and recreation area where the Msimbazi river basin in the centre of Dar es Salaam is today. The basin consist of a few playing fields, footpaths and some urban farming, but apart from this it mostly consists of unused grasslands, swamps and forests. Because it is an unsafe place and badly connected to the rest of the city infrastructure, it has become a barrier. The annual flood combined with the constant still shallow water creates a good breading ground for malaria mosquitoes.

On commission of the County administrative board in Värmland County a method was developed for analysis of the occurrence of artificial land use at lakes and watercourses. With artificial land use is meant land significantly affected by man. Two bases have been used to carry out the analysis. In one of the analysis the vegetation database and in the other GSD¹-Marktäckedata (land cover data) was used (this method has been used by County administrative board in Jönköping County).The analysis comprises all watercourses within Alsterälven river basin. The digital water bodies are created by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute on the basis of GSD-Översiktskartan (general map).

The Pallas cat is a small cat living in central Asia. The cat is approximately the size of a domestic cat but the Pallas cat is more stocky build and has a much thicker fur that enables the cat to live in a climate with temperatures plummeting to -50°C. The thick fur is one of the reasons this cat has been a popular game for hunters in the past. Nowadays there are other threats to the Pallas cat. One of the major threats today is the reduction of food sources.