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.

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.

Through interviews with children of ages 4-5 years old and by observing children children at play at three preschools with different types of outdoor surroundings, I have investigated if the preschools outdoor surroundings have any influences on the children´ choice of play. The hypothesis was that natural surroundings can entice children´s interest in nature being in it and play. I have also investigated if the children know why it is important to be outdoors and if they know it has a positive influence on their health.The result of my investigation is that the children play about the same games at the three different preschool gardens, but at the preschool with more natural surroundings, the children have more contact with plants and animals, and could learn of the different phenomena of nature by the preschool teacher answering their questions. Most of the children in the interviews know it´s useful to be outdoors and be on the move and get fresh air, but many of them thought it was most important to play. By being outdoors the children get exercise, fresh air, play and at the same time they establish an understanding of the nature and a healthier life..

Preschool is a place where children, parents and teachers meet. Preschool is for children but also for the parents, they should feel confident about the place where they leave their children. We who made this study have a common interest to examine how teachers´ attitudes to parental contact in preschool works. The purpose of this study is to examine how teachers relate to parental contact.What do the educators think of their professionalism in the profession? Do educators believe that parental contact is important? And how do they work to obtain a good parent contact?The study has three questioners holder: How does teachers relate to parental contact in preschool?What do the educators think of their professionalism in the profession? And how visible educators child development and learning in daily contact with parents?We chose to do qualitative interviews with four preschool teachers at two different preschools in Sweden, to seek answers to our questions.

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.

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.

Today many children have limited experiences with the outdoors or nature. In most suburbs where people originate from many countries and have various ways of understanding nature is it perhaps in preschool that several children for the first time experience nature.This survey is qualitative and the main research methods are participant observations and interviews. The theories used in this study are mainly based on the thoughts of Dewey and Vygotskij as well as on ideas from outdoor education and different ways or ideas of understanding nature.The purpose with this study is to make clear in what ways nature is used by the teachers in preschool activities and how this work is done in preschools in multicultural suburbs. Questions at issue are: What way of understanding nature are the teachers trying to convey to the children? How is nature used in the ordinary outdoor activities by the preschool teachers? What are the teachers experiences of success and problems in this work?The conclusion is that nature is used in preschool activities in many ways.

The lily pad creatures arose out of my childhood memories of nature. This project has been an ongoing investigation of a workprocess as well as an exploration of my own sense of artistic idiom. I wanted to develop my knowledge in pattern design and focus on the artistic expression. I want the pattern to invite participation in storytelling in the same way that nature has inspired me..

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyse a group of young adults? childhood experiences of the intervention "contact family". The used methods were qualitative interviews and a standardised formulary with life questions, to strengthen the interviews and to compare data. The theoretical frame was taken from Bronfenbrenner?s child development theory and Antonovsky?s salutogenic perspective, which we supplemented with Hilchen Sommerschild?s theory about the "conditions of control".

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.

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 made in co-operation with the Department of Forest Management and Products at the Swedish University of Agriculture in Uppsala and the Forestry Association in Stockholm. The purpose of the Master thesis was to describe how pre-schools in Sweden use forests and green areas, and to understand how different factors can affect the use of the nature. The purpose of the interviews was to create a picture of attitudes and routines of the pre-schools, in the matter of visiting the nature. The thesis is built on interviews where fifteen pre-schools in five large cities around Sweden participated. Among these pre-schools, five of them worked with special focus on nature, while the other ten did not have any particular focus connected to their activity.

Nature conservation agreement (NCA) is a way to voluntarily protect and manage nature for limited time-periods. The agreement is settled between the government and a landowner. All public authorities can represent the government but it is only the Swedish Forest Administration who does that regularly (because it is the only authority with economic resources for that purpose). Therefore, NCAs are almost only used to protect forested nature. The government agencies have experienced NCAs for about ten years and it is now time to examine how they are applied in the forests. This study is based on a computerized questionnaire to the persons responsible for the LEKO-projekt.