Sweden has had laws protecting nature for about a hundred years. In this paper the views of nature and the values that serve as a rationale for protective measures are analyzed as results of a social process characterized by the dialectic relationship between institutions and discourse. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is used to study this relationship and the discursive practices used by institutions, which reproduce or reshape views of nature that define the relationship between society and nature. Institutional design contributes to shaping discourse in the field of nature protection, while being originally shaped by discourse. In Sweden, the national park is an institution that reproduces a View of nature as the wild and untamed opposite of society, and the natural reserves reproduce a View of nature as holder of a multi-faceted set of values intertwined with society.

This master thesis is about one of the first female in the Swedish Parliament, Elisabeth Tamm (1880?1958), and her political articles in the magazine Tidevarvet. The aim of this study is to find similarities with Tamm?s political thoughts with the Ecofeministic theory. Due to women?s right to vote 1919 women citizenship was in a political debate.

Nature and culture are often described as opposites, but at the same time nature is often de-scribed as culture and past. This essay examines how nature and the past are culture. I study how 51 people make shifting distinctions between nature and the past in relation to culture, the present and the future. By using the concept of Orientation of Sarah Ahmed I analyze how the informants direct themselves against nature, past and culture through a questionnaire, ob-servations and walk-alongs. I discuss how their ideas about nature and the past differ with their different starting points and are shaped through their physical meetings with them.

The purpose of the research is to find out how the teacher of the pre-school looks at the value of the nature Pre-school. To get an understanding of what the nature pre-school enviorment can bring, we are talking about learning, knowledge, and experience combined with the everyday lessons learned from the natural world. The research is a stepping stone on the pre-school teacher?s thoughts and reflections of what a nature pre-school is. This is grounded in a view of how having options for alternative schools lead to wider research, and all conclusions where formed after multiple interviews and analysis.The results showed that the teachers involved are very positive to the nature pre-school environment and learning process.

Nature and culture are often described as opposites, but at the same time nature is often de-scribed as culture and past. This essay examines how nature and the past are culture. I study how 51 people make shifting distinctions between nature and the past in relation to culture, the present and the future. By using the concept of Orientation of Sarah Ahmed I analyze how the informants direct themselves against nature, past and culture through a questionnaire, ob-servations and walk-alongs. I discuss how their ideas about nature and the past differ with their different starting points and are shaped through their physical meetings with them.

This essay revolves around two questions: what is the nature of politics, and what kind of political order ensures a high rate of citizen participation? By using Cantal Mouffes theory on the political this essay shows how different understandings of the nature of politics can lead to diverging views on what forms democracy should take. Two such understandings are identified; one that sees the nature of politics as characterized by conflict and power, one that sees it as a space for cooperation in search for the common good. I trace these different ideas about the political in the parliamentary debate concerning Swedish constitutional reform. I conclude that the left-of-centre parties hold a view of the political closer to the conflict-perspective, while the green party together with the liberals/conservatives lean closer to the opposite view..

Kärnkraften har så länge den funnits varit en omdebatterad energikälla. Syftet med denna uppsats är att utreda och få en bild av hur och på vilket sätt natursynen hänger ihop med åsikter om kärnkraft. Jag har redogjort för vad energi är, kärnkraftens historia i Sverige och som energikälla samt beskrivit för- och nackdelarna med kärnkraften. För att kunna ge en bild av kärnkraft och natursyn har jag genomfört kvalitativa intervjuer med personer som på olika sätt är insatta i problematiken kring kärnkraften. Min undersökning visar bland annat att natursyn är ett komplext och stort begrepp som vi bör vara medvetna om hur det fungerar i arbetet för att förbättra miljön..

The purpose of this study is to exam how two environmental organizations reason about the loss of biodiversity. The research questions are; what is the view in these organizations regarding biodiversity? What are the underlying environmental discourses behind their reasoning, and how do they reason about the risks associated with the loss of biodiversity? As a first part of this thesis a thorough review of existing literature and online resources about the actions of environmental organizations was conducted. Two organizations were interviewed, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Naturskyddsforeningen. The questions for the study were analyzed in light of Dryzek´s (1997) reasoning about environmental discourses and using the concept of risk by Beck (1998).

Knowledge of ecological processes are a basis for the understanding of important environmental issues. Through qualitative interviews, 8 preschool class pupils have replied to questions concerning the concept nature, disintegration and environment. The aim of this survey was to examine what attitudes and knowledge children with different pedagogical background have about the nature and the environment.The result of this survey in whole demonstrates that all pupils have good and equivalent knowledge of the nature and the environment, independently of their different pedagogical backgrounds. A difference was however that children that have background from ?I Ur och Skur? (a Swedish outdoors preschool program) know the names of all small bugs that were in the survey.

In metropolitan areas where the exploitation pressure increases, also the importance to point out nature areas grows, both for the sake of outdoor life and for biodiversity conservation. Since nature conservancy and spatial planning constitute two different parts of the municipalities land use control, a case study has been carried out in two municipalities in the Stockholm region, Huddinge and Järfälla. Both these municipalities have protected about one third of their land and today there are plans to repeal parts of the reserves to enable exploitation. This thesis shows ? from the theoretical concept of sustainable development ? officials, politicians and non-governmental organizations perspectives on questions concerning land use together with the work with nature reserves and repeals.

Increased interest in nature tourism may be what saves small and dying villages, like Borgsjo? in the county of Va?sterbotten in northern Sweden, from disappearing. The nearly untouched nature in these areas is in many cases an unused resource, since true wildlife experiences are sought by many travelers. The purpose with this report is to investigate if Borgsjo? has the potential and abilities to become a destination for nature tourists, and how this should be done to avoid negative effects on nature, wildlife and culture.

AimThe aim of this study is to examine students' previous experiences of stay in the nature and their experiences of nature in the context of teaching situations in friluftsliv at GIH. It also aims to elucidate how the teaching of friluftsliv at GIH affects their former interpretation about nature. The questions of the study are: What past experiences of stay in the nature elucidate GIH-students? Have the students approach to nature changed according to the education? If yes ? how? What affects students' perception of nature? MethodTo answer the questions, a quantitative approach (questionnaire survey) and qualitative methods (interview study) was used. The qualitative method is based on phenomenology and hermeneutics.

This report is an attempt to clarify how religious and non-religious views-of-life [livsåskådningar] are created through the collaboration and opposition of religious and scientific elements/ideas. This with the hope of reaching a fruitful result related to the solution of world-view related conflicts, such as the ones existing between science and religion, on an individual and societal level.This is accomplished with the help of two assertions: (1) Mankind has a need to explain its existence and surroundings. (2) Religion and science has their origins in the same seed and aim to serve the same purpose, or function. Together these two assertions lay the theoretical foundations of this report which implies that all humans have an innate need of sustaining a stable world-view.The result of this report is that a final solution to world-view related conflicts are beyond reach as our mental and physical nature limits us. However there are strategies for minimizing world-view related conflicts effect on society..

In nature settings people often experience positive emotions. Litterature and theories about the positive effect of nature on humans are largely based upon visual impressions and aesthetic preference. The purpose of the present study is to examine how visually impaired individuals that lack visual impressions experience nature. The background is about what it means to be visually impaired and what it is like to be visually impaired in a nature setting, followed by a presentation of the five human senses and about stimulation of senses in healing gardens. That is followed by theories about the health promoting effect of nature, about why nature and therapeutic gardens make people feel good. After that theories about experiences and relations with settings are presented.

The attitudes towards nature conservation in forestry are based on the individual forest owner. The theme of the interviews is the opinion on nature conservation in forestry. The purpose of this study is to identify if there is any difference in attitude to nature conservation in forestry according to the age of the forest owner. The study discusses different factors that affect the private forest owners consideration of nature conservation and give an insight in different generations attitude to nature conservation. Other topics that are discussed is if future change of generation will change the consideration of nature conservation in Swedish forestry and what is needed to enhance the interest in nature conservation among forest owners.This study is the result of interviews with a number of forest owners in the county of Uppsala, Sweden.