The purpose of this study was to examine the goals, possibilities and rationales that could be found in the discussions concerning the digging of ditches by governmental subsidiaries in order to drain the peat bogs of late nineteenth century Sweden. A further aim was to look at the effect on the landscape on a local level i.e. Släthults moss in Bäckaby parish, Småland in the south eastern part of Sweden. In order to be able to explain the connections between politics and landscape changes in a local population and its deciding bodies, influenced by ideas, science and production, a quadruple helix model developed from a triple helix model by Björn-Ola Linér was used. As a model of environmental history, three step thought was used, borrowed from Donald Worster.

The loss of such great wetlands, which has arose in Sweden the last decades, has created a situation that threats both the function and the biological diversity within the wetlands. Many ecological niches can be found in the wetlands and it is one of the habitats where most different species exist. In the 17th Century people started to ditch damp environments, such as bogs, to create a productive cultivated ground. Further ditches were made when the forestry gave large economical profits. The wetlands were impoverished from both groundwater and nourishment, and this led to a great loss of species.In a corporation with WWF and Skogsstyrelsen in Arvika, the University of Karlstad has participated in the Laskerudproject, a hydrological restoration-project in a forest landscape.

BIOGAS POTENTIAL IN GRASSES FROM WETLANDSMarvin MartinsThe purpose of this study has been to survey wetlands that are suitable for mowing and to analyze the biogas potential in the harvested grasses. A preformed investigation showed that there are suitable wetlands, which can be harvestable, namely those mowed formerly in traditional haymaking. The practice of traditional haymaking is dying out in Sweden today but there are several good reasons why it should to be reconsidered. Nature- and cultural values are obvious, also the unutilized energy in the grass.The suitable types of wetland that were specifically studied were the productive wetlands; meadow marshes and wet meadows. These wetlands are represented in the Swedish meadow- and pasture inventory database; (TUVA) and the Swedish national wetland inventory (VMI).

Erasteel Kloster AB Söderfors have been commissioned by the county administrative board in Uppsala län to make an inventory of possible contaminations in theirs industrial- and landfill areas on the basis of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency?s; ?Method of Surveying Contaminated Sites-phase 1? (MIFO-fas 1). The inventory starts with maps and archive studies, place visits and interviews, and finally a risk classification is done. A risk classification is a compilation of four categories; pollutant toxicity, contamination level, possible spreading condition of the pollutant, sensitivity and protection value of the environment. In this paper five partial areas (Holmen- and Jörsöområdet, Järnsvampsområdet, Ingsådeponin, Östra verken and Myrområdet) have been described from a historical point of view. Only parts of four areas have been risk classified (Holmen- and Jörsöområdet, Järnsvampsområdet, Ingsådeponin and Östra verken), due to that the other areas isn?t own by Erasteel Kloster AB. Holmen- and Jörsöområdet Holmen- and Jörsöområdet have during the entire activity time been carried out as the production core in the company.

The purpose of this thesis is to show how a good approach can be designed, focusing on the southern approach to the Swedish town Vilhelmina. Prior to the car being part of everyday life, the approach was a road where the town showed itself from the very best side. When the amount of traffic increased, so did noise and other disturbances, and as a consequence industrial areas replaced the residential buildnings at the approaches. Today, the pendulum is turning back and in recent years the approach is regarded as a place to introduce the town. The approach is also the place where cars should slow down from the speed of the main road to the speed of the city.