Visby is a city that at first glance is of medieval origins. The popular image of scientists today is that the city was formed in the Middle Ages. According to some of the researchers Visby was formed during the Viking Age, it is based on the basis that the area has been used for a long period. Urban development in the Nordic countries is complex and there are different opinions as to why the Nordic cities emerge. It is important to shed light on the underlying process on why cities are emerging to provide clarity as to why Visby city is emerging.

Agencies towards Sustainable Development ? A Study of Environmental Management Systems in Governmental Agencies 2005A vision of the Swedish government is to build an ecologically sustainable society. A tool in this effort is to implement environmental management systems (EMS). The aim of the thesis is to present in which phase of the implementation of EMS Swedish governmental agencies are. This will be done by compilation and evaluation of agencies? yearly environmental reports.The thesis is written in co-operation with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Swedish EPA).

Fairtrade is a certification of products that has grown from the criticism of conventional trade. By increasing the focus on the producers? economic and social conditions, poverty can be fought and the producers? voice in the marketplace can be strengthened. Fairtrade City is a certification for municipalities who wish to engage in ethical consumption. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the Fairtrade City concept and how this can be a tool for working towards sustainable development. To be more concise, we want to answer the following questions: Why does Örebro municipality work with the Fairtrade City certification and how can Fairtrade City be used as tool for working towards sustainable development? The thesis is based on qualitative interviews and e-mail interviews with members of the steering committee for Örebro Fairtrade City and on literature studies. We have in our thesis identified Örebro Fairtrade City as a result of 1) that Örebro municipality through Fairtrade City wants to change their surrounding environment by engaging in ethical trade 2) that the surrounding environment effects Örebro municipality through isomorphism regarding its way to deal with sustainable development 3) that the municipality through its work with ethical trade becomes legitimized by their surrounding environment.

It is important to work with economic, social and ecological dimensions in order to reach sustainable development. Furthermore, these dimensions are supposed to work opon together. Green Flag´s aim is to process these dimensions in the thematic work in preschool, where children are involved. The aim of this study is to find out how certificated Green flag preschools work with the three dimensions in the education of sustainable development practically and how the children participate in this work. I have used a qualitative semi-structured interview to find out preschool teachers´ thoughts and opinions about how they work with sustainable development and how they make the children involved.

A brush of paint on a grey compound wall can mean so much more than simply an addition of colour. It can meanan appropriation of public space, a shared public space enclosed by a wall now ?owned? by someone. It can meanan arisen conflict leading to debate about the right to use public space.The Wall Project is a Mumbai based beautification project that uses paint and outdoor walls to brighten uptheir city. The Urban Typhoon workshop is an activity set up in self-evolving neighbourhoods where municipalinterference is scarce.

Swedish government aid is divided into three main themes: democracy and human rights, the environment and climate, and gender equality and women's role in development. These three themes in aid are considered by the government to be vital in order to fight poverty and create fair and sustainable development. This study will examine two of the four focus areas designated under the theme of "environment and climate". The study observes the relationship between projects in energy and water and how it promotes a sustainable lifestyle. A survey on environmental habits will be conducted.

AbstractWith this c-composition, I am trying to give a view over what has happened in the political area and the issues that concerns environmental aid. My analyze starts in the 60-ies when the environmental debate took of. It continues trough the 70-ies, 80-ies and ends in 1994 with the report that considers the UN-conference in Rio de Janeiro 1992, ?Sustainable Aid? and what the results of the more and more important issue ?sustainable development? has offered the Swedish government ant there work with environmental aid.The question issue is: At what time in history, did the Swedisch government start to addrsess environmental aid? How did the environmental aid come to be addressed and developed in the political area from the Brundtlandreport ?Our common future? from 1987 to the UN-conference in Rio de Janeiro 1992?The result is that the environment is getting more and more important in the political arena as the knowledge about the escalating crises with the environmental problems are being taken more seriously. The problems with the environment has to be considered together with the rest of the aid- and developing questions like economy and the struggle to reduce poverty in the world.

This essay examines whether, and if so to which extent, the project Export MatureDestination in the Biosphere Reserve Vänerskärgården with Kinnekulle can combine the goalof the tourism industry, i.e. to double tourism between 2010 and 2020, and the goals of theBiosphere reserve, i.e. sustainable societal development and a sustainable biosphere economy.The aim is to examine how key individuals in the project approach sustainable developmentand economic growth, representing the two main interests in the area. Examining the state ofthe two interests the following examples are used: the position of sustainable development inregard to economic growth, the opportunities and challenges in the area and unity concerningthe goals of the tourism development in the region. The study is conducted through qualitativeinterviews with key individuals and a descriptive document analysis of the most importantpolicy documents.

Large-scale land investments is not a new phenomenon, but increasing prices on food and agrofuels have inflated prices on land and has led to an enhanced interest in landinvestments from a range of different actors. The ProSavana project in the Nacala corridor in the Nampula province, northern Mozambique is a large-scale land investment with the purpose of establishing intensive commercial agriculture and is planned to be implemented this year (2013). The project is financed by Brazil and Japan in collaboration with the government of Mozambique. It is not quite clear how large-scale land investments affect the areas they are implemented in and how they can affect the possibilities for sustainable development in these areas. Both opportunities and problems can be observed within the social, economic and ecological dimensions of sustainable development.

The current demanding business environment requires corporations to act fast in finding effective solutions to problems given the myriad of challenges they face (Dyllick & Hockerts, 2001). The challenges include the impact of climate change on business practices, natural resource consumption, chemical pollution, technological change etc. Moreover, the forces of globalization, heightened concerns about the deteriorating quality of the physical environment and increased stakeholder power are also increasingly having a real influence on business practices (Rainey, 2008). Since 1992, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has encouraged the adoption of the concept of ecological efficiency (eco-efficiency) to support business efforts aimed at addressing some of these challenges. The aim of eco-efficiency is to reduce the amount of energy and materials used in production processes to achieve economic and environmental benefits (WBCSD, 2000).

Urbanisation has increased the distance between the urban and the rural. Urban agriculture can be a solution to overcome that distance. The characteristic of urban agriculture is the intensive production in intra urban and peri-urban areas. Until 1950s food production in cities was an important part of the urban economy and the urban food supply. Since the 1950s the urban located production of food has almost ceased in Sweden, partly as a result of cheap food imports.

This master thesis, which has been carried out in collaboration with Fairtrade,investigates how sustainable development can be integrated in the mathematicaldiscipline in the Swedish upper secondary school. The study includedfindings on design and disposition, with sustainability themes relatedto Fairtrade. This since Fairtrade is going to use the study as a basis forthe development of an educational material. The results of the study areof interest to teachers and organizations that want to develop educationalmaterial that integrate sustainable development in mathematics education.The main focus of the study has been the teachers? preferences on dispositionand design.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven mathematics teachersin the Stockholm area.

My thesis is a combination of theory and practice, where theory is meant to create a context and a background for my interpretation proposal. I wanted to ?access? the ideas that are always in the background of the reasoning which underlies both planning in a larger scale, and the design of a place. I wanted to make a ?work of ideas.? In the process of shaping the proposal, I wanted to be deleted from the site itself.

The visions of the United Nations concerning sustainable development and conservation of biodiversity can only be realized if the human population succeeds in creating coexistence between human and wildlife. Landscape architects are able to influence on how landscapes are to be maintained and developed. The negative impact of infrastructure on wildlife has become a critical problem in Sweden and other parts of Europe. Wildlife crossings has been developed as a solution for the problems of road barriers in the landscape. The crossings are made to give animals a better opportunity to cross roads.

What is a city? What do we mean when we describe something as urban? In what way should we build the city so that we can achieve a good environment for our own generation and for generations to come? These questions are constantly of interest and they are frequently discussed. It is also important to have considered these questions when working with city-planning. This essay contains a description of and reflections about the recurrent questions in today?s debate about the city and city-planning.