In the developed world, the existing stock of houses will provide shelter to the majority of population in the upcoming years. Houses are physical objects that consume material and energy and need to be maintained, repaired and restructured from time to time. In order to fulfill the requirements of the Kyoto protocol and be comfortable for their inhabitants, the existing stock needs to be renovated. Strong disagreement between different parts of the scientific community and overlapping and contradictory concepts make the definition of sustainable renovation confusing. In this Thesis, therefore, an approach of renovation and operation for higher energy efficiency and lower climate impact has been the main focus. Based on a systems analysis approach, the aim of this work is to develop a manual to stimulate house owners to become role models in sustainable renovation and operation of family houses, the Thesis providing recommendations to reducing the energy consumption of their houses by evaluating cost and benefits of possible actions and choosing the most energy and cost effective approach of a series of alternatives. With the results of this analysis, a sustainable renovation and operation staircase is proposed. The work found that it is possible develop a staircase manual for sustainable renovation and operation of family houses that follows a logical step-by-step approach and could result in considerable life cycle reductions in both costs and climate impact. The work also suggests that it is possible for academic experts to develop material in a simpler form and language to reach the public in a more understandable form.

The dissertation thesis focuses on the economic view of interventions in the extensive brownfields, ie uninhabited parts of cities, abandoned halls, buildings, industrial zones. It monitors the factors influencing their regeneration, deals with ecological and related financial issues. It examines the possibilities and ways of financing the recovery of these abandoned and unused areas. The work demonstrates the suitability of using the CBA method to determine the economic efficiency of brownfields regeneration projects. Whether the regeneration of brownfields is economically efficient, establishes a new indicator cef as the difference between the financial and economic profitability of the project. The work verifies the suitability of using the indicator on a research sample of 28 implemented brownfield regeneration projects. At the end of the thesis, the expected value of the social benefit of Monte Carlo is determined with the support of the Crystal Ball simulation software.

The purpose of the study was to conduct documented research on two of the recently designed teaching methods of high school chemistry, the Chemical Education Material Study (CHEM Study) and the Chemical Bond Approach (CBA). An attempt was made to answer certain questions concerning differences in the two methods.

In today‘s society, transport between places plays an important role in people‘s everyday life resulting in unavoidable effect on the environment. Emissions from the transport sector in the Nordic Region are expected to increase the coming years because of growing urbanization and population, so it becomes apparent that transport planners today are facing a complex system that requires to change in order to reach sustainability. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the planning systems and processes to enable improvements. The aim of this study is to analyse and compare how environmental aspects are incorporated in the process of defining measures at early stages in transport planning in the Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, with the focus on each country‘s capital region. The focus is set on where and how collaboration between stakeholders and expert knowledge are included in the planning processes in the different countries. To meet the aim, a case study approach was chosen where semi-structured interviews with planning practitioners from all the countries were conducted to gather data, together with literature review and document analysis to set the scope of the study. The interview results showed that early-stage transport planning is practiced differently in the five countries. In Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden transport authorities or administrations are responsible for long-term strategic development of the transport system at a national and regional level, and they have defined how transport planning processes should be conducted. In these cases, collaboration between stakeholders and with experts occurs through workshops or working groups created at early stages. In Denmark, there is no longterm strategic transport planning at national or regional level. There, collaboration occurs at project level where experts and stakeholders are included when a project is being planned. Environmental assessment tools and methods were shown to be used at early stages and the interview results showed that CBA had a prominent role in Denmark and Norway, SEA and EIA had prominent roles in Iceland and an environmental assessment model in Finland. In Sweden, CBA and SEA are also used in transport planning, but in this study the focus was on Strategic Choice of Measures (SCM) which does not include those tools. In SCM, experts are included at early stages to incorporate environmental aspects and review chosen measures. Generally, the early-stage planning processes in the five countries are perceived as flexible which provides opportunities to adjust the processes to each case. Yet, planners need to motivate why a specific project or a solution is suggested and to do that they often use environmental assessment tools or expert knowledge.Integration of environmental concern in early planning stages has been identified as important in terms of reducing environmental problems in later stages. A suggestion for future studies is to investigate more in detail how different environmental assessment tools are used in the Nordic countries, as on what levels and stages they are applied. / Transporter spelar en viktig roll i människors vardag i dagens samhälle och bidrar till en oundviklig påverkan på miljön. Under de kommande åren förväntas utsläppen från transportsektorn i Norden öka till följd av urbanisering och stigande befolkningsmängd. Det bidrar till att transportplanerare idag står inför ett komplext system som kräver förändring för att kunna skapa en hållbar sektor. För att det ska ske är det viktigt att man förstår de bakomliggande planeringssystemen och processerna som kan bidra till förbättringar. Syftet med den här studien är att analysera och jämföra hur miljöaspekter integreras i ett tidigt skede där åtgärder definieras inom transportplaneringen i de nordiska länderna: Danmark, Finland, Island, Norge och Sverige, där fokus ligger på respektive lands huvudstadsregion. Fokus ligger även på var och hur samarbete sker mellan intressenter och experter i planeringsprocessen i de olika länderna. För att nå målen med studien har en fallstudie genomförts, där semistrukturerade intervjuermed planerare från samtliga länder har gjorts för att samla data, samt litteraturstudie och dokumentanalys för att bestämma studiens avgränsningar. Resultaten från intervjuerna visade att transportplaneringen i ett tidigt skede såg olika ut i de fem länderna. I Finland, Island, Norge och Sverige är transportmyndigheter eller styrelser ansvariga för att utveckla ett långsiktigt strategiskt transportsystem på national och regional nivå. De har även definierat hur transportplaneringsprocesser bör genomföras. I dessa fall sker samarbete mellan intressenter och experter genom seminarium eller arbetsgrupper skapade i ett tidigt skede. I Danmark finns ingen långsiktigt plan för strategiskt transportplanerande på nationell eller regional nivå. Samarbete mellan intressenter och experter sker istället på projektnivå. Olika verktyg och metoder för miljöbedömningar används i tidiga skeden, där kostnads-nyttoanalys används till största del i Danmark och Norge, strategisk miljöbedömning och miljökonsekvensbeskrivning används på Island och miljöbedömningsmodeller används i Finland. I Sverige genomförsocksåstrategisk miljöbedömningoch kostnads-nyttoanalys, meniden här studien är fokus på åtgärdsvalsstudier(ÅVS) i den svenska transportplaneringensom inte inkluderar de verktygen. I ÅVS är experter inkluderade från ett tidigt stadie för att inkludera miljöaspekter och utvärderaföreslagnaåtgärder. I de nordiska länderna uppfattas planering i ett tidigt skede under planeringsprocessen somflexibelvilket gör det möjligt att göra anpassningar till rådande planeringssituation. Trots flexibilitet behöverplanerare motiveravarför ett specifikt projekt eller lösningsförslag är framtagetoch för at göra det använder de ofta miljöbedömningsverktyg eller expertkunskap.Integrering av miljöhänsyn i tidiga planeringsstadier har identifierats som viktigt när det gäller att minska miljöproblem i senare skeden och för att åstadkomma ett hållbart transportsystem. Ett förslag för framtida studier är att undersöka mer i detalj hur olika miljöbedömningsverktyg används i de nordiska länderna, på vilka nivåer och stadier de används.

Purpose:                       The purpose of this study is to identify, define and describe the challenges of sustaining positive brand equity gained as an outcome of Cause-brand alliances. Therefore, this study is conducted from the perspective of companies engaging in Cause-brand alliances, with the aim to provide academic and managerial implications of managing brand equity over time following a Cause-brand alliance. Methodology:              This thesis performs qualitative research and uses a longitudinal research design in order to conduct exploratory research. A case study is conducted on Gina Tricot’s CBA with UNICEF. Data is collected through the use of both primary and secondary data sources. Primary data collection is conducted through semi-structured interviews that are formed and analysed through open coding and grounded theory. The secondary data is collected through an analysis of Gina Tricot’s social media, reports, external media and sustainability reports from the company participating in this case study. Empirical findings: The empirical findings demonstrate that Gina Tricot has issues capitalizing on their CBA with UNICEF. A result of some of the challenges Gina Tricot is facing in sustaining brand equity following a CBA, including difficulty in gaining coverage in the media, unreliability in motives, fear of consumer criticism, ineffective communication strategy, intangible projects and lack of marketing prioritization from top management. Conclusions:                The present study found indications that the benefits of CBA’s are not applicable to all industries. In order to gain brand equity, and sustain it following a CBA, it is of highest importance to overcome fear of public criticism and thus communicate the CBA to consumers by implementing an effective CSR communication strategy. Doing so requires prioritization from top management which can be challenging unless the CBA has proven results.

Samhällsekonomiska konsekvensanalyser är ett område där människor har delade åsikter kring. Är det en effektiv eller ineffektiv metod att använda? Hur används den inom svensk politik och ställs det högre krav på dessa analyser inom miljöpolitik över andra politikområden? Vilket scenario gynnar miljö- och klimatarbetet? I undersökningen har fyra metoder använts, bland annat genomfördes en dokumentanalys där kommittédirektiv från regeringen granskades, det kartlades om det gick att se några systematiska skillnader mellan de olika departementen; Social, Miljö, Finans, Infrastruktur och Kultur. I kommittédirektiven noterades olika nyckelord som räknades för att sedan divideras med antalet undersökta direktiv. Resultatet presenteras i tabellform där slutsatsen blev att det inte går att se att det inom miljöpolitiken jämfört med andra områden skulle ställas vare sig högre eller lägre krav i kommittédirektiven på att utföra samhällsekonomiska konsekvensanalyser. Vidare utfördes sex intervjuer med personer som anses vara av relevans för ämnet. Till exempel personer som arbetar med dessa saker i sitt yrke, politiker eller personer som varit aktiva i relevanta intresseorganisationer. En enkätstudie genomfördes där målet var att få svar från så många personer som möjligt inom departementen som har varit delaktiga med arbetet kring kommittédirektiv. Totalt svarade 10 personer från Socialdepartementet, Kulturdepartementet, Infrastrukturdepartementet, Miljödepartementet och Finansdepartementet. Syftet med enkätstudien var att ta reda på grundläggande ställningstaganden hos departementen. Resultaten från enkätstudien visar att det är stora delade uppfattningar om de flesta saker, enkätundersökningen är dessutom för liten för att dra några statistiskt säkerställda ställningstaganden kopplade till varje departement. En litteraturstudie har också genomförts i form av en kritisk litteraturstudie där vi har analyserat rapporter och andra litterära verk som kan hävdas ha relevans för vårt arbete. Litteraturen har valts ut bland annat genom samråd med projektets handledare men också genom egen undersökning. Från alla undersökningar har speciellt vissa budskap varit en genomgående faktor. Dels att det finns naturliga förklaringar till varför det kan skilja sig i kraven i kommittédirektiven mellan olika departement. Den generella uppfattningen var även att samhällsekonomiska konsekvensanalyser är ett bra verktyg som hjälper till att leda fram till bättre beslut. Problem som nämndes bland flera var att terminologin är för svag och otydlig i Sverige, samma begrepp kan betyda olika saker mellan olika aktörer, kompetensen anses även vara för låg inom kommittéerna. / Regulatory impact analysis is a subject that divides people. Is it an effective or ineffective method to utilise? How is it used in Swedish politics and are higher demands placed on such analysis in environmental policy compared to other policy areas? Which scenario benefits the environment and climate work? There are many unanswered questions and this report aims to answer some of them. The methods that were used are mainly four, a document analysis where committee directives were examined from the swedish government and where we tried to map whether we can see any systematic differences between the various ministries of social, environment, finance, infrastructure and culture. A survey study was made with the aim of finding out basic positions on the subject. The survey was sent to all the ministries previously mentioned. The third method is interviews, the interviewees can all be considered relevant to the subject in one way or another. For example, people who work with this as their profession, politicians or people who have been active in relevant interest groups. A literature study has also been made in the form of a critical literature review where we have analyzed reports and other literary works that can be argued to have relevance to the work. The literature has been selected, among other things, through consultation with our supervisor, but also through our own research. The conclusion is that there is a relatively homogeneous picture of how regulatory impact analysis should be viewed. The general opinion is that it is a good tool that helps to produce decision material. The general criticism is that the terminology is too weak and that there is generally a lack of competence among the committees.

The theoretical part of my thesis at first introduces the most common benign neoplasm in men over fifty, a non cancerous prostate gland enlargement called the benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). The main focus of this section will be on BPH's anatomy, etiology, symptomatology, complications, diagnosis and therapy. I will also describe four cost analyses used in health services: CMA, CEA, CUA and CBA. In the practical section of my thesis I will analyze the therapy effectiveness of transurethral resection of the prostate and photoselective vaporization of the prostate with the use of cost-effectiveness analysis.

Weserdomen 2015 resulterade i en strängare tolkning av EU:s ramdirektiv för vatten vilket bland annat innefattade att inga exploateringar får tillåtas om dessa medför att minst en kvalitetsfaktor i vattnet får en sämre statusklass, oavsett hur övriga kvalitetsfaktorer påverkas. Den strängare tolkningen, i kombination med en ökad urbaniseringsgrad, ställer högre krav på samhällets hantering av spill- och dagvatten. Ett vanligt sätt att säkerställa ovanstående krav är att tillämpa olika lösningar för lokalt omhändertagande av dagvatten (LOD). Syftet med dessa lösningar är att hantera dagvattnet så nära uppkomstkällan som möjligt. I vissa fall kan det dock tänkas att det finns mer effektiva åtgärder för att säkerställa god vattenstatus.   En åtgärd som syftar till att kompensera för frånvarandet av en annan åtgärd kallas för kompensationsåtgärd. I det här examensarbetet har fallet med att spåra och åtgärda felkopplingar i ledningsnätet (spillvatten kopplat på dagvattennätet) undersökts som kompensationsåtgärd för LOD. Den specifika LOD-lösning som använts i arbetet har varit dagvattendammar. Examensarbetet har utrett rådande lagstiftning vad gäller kompensationsåtgärder samt gjort en fallstudie för Bällstaån med en kostnads-nyttoanalys där åtgärdandet av felkopplingar jämförts med anläggandet av dagvattendammar.   Resultatet av undersökningarna visade att kompensationsåtgärder idag är ett begrepp som kan tolkas olika, där det även i domstolen genom åren har tolkats olika. Nuvarande praxis är dock att en kompensationsåtgärd inte kan åberopas för att tillåta en exploatering som annars hade funnit avslag. Att kunna nyttja åtgärdandet av felkopplingar som kompensationsåtgärd för LOD är således, med dagens regelverk, väldigt osannolikt.   Fallstudien visade att åtgärdandet av felkopplingar, med avseende på vattenkvalitet är en betydligt mer kostnads-nyttoeffektiv åtgärd i jämförelse med anläggandet av dagvattendammar. Bristen på studier och utredningar på felkopplingar av denna typ är, mot bakgrund av fallstudien, förmodligen en indikator på att mer resurser bör läggas inom detta område. / In 2015 the Weser Case resulted in a more stringent interpretation of the EU Water Framework Directive. For instance, the ruling stated that no projects should be given permission if even as little as one quality factor ends up with a lower status, regardless of how the other quality factors are affected. The stricter interpretation, combined with an increasing grade of urbanization, places higher demands on society’s management of wastewater and stormwater. One common way of ensuring the above requirements is to apply different solutions of best management practices for stormwater (BMP). The purpose of these solutions is to process the water as close to the source of origin as possible. However, in some cases it may be that there are more effective measures to ensure good water quality.   A measure taken with the purpose of compensating for the absence of a different action is called a compensatory measure. In this thesis, the case of fixing incorrect connection of sewage pipes (where wastewater pipes have been incorrectly connected to stormwater pipes) was investigated as a compensatory measure for stormwater ponds (a common BMP). The prevailing legislation regarding compensatory measures was analysed and a case study has been conducted for Bällstaån. The case study included a cost-benefit analysis where the fixing of incorrectly-connected sewage pipes was compared with the implementation of stormwater ponds.   The investigation regarding the legislative aspect showed that compensatory measures are a concept that can be interpreted somewhat differently. This has also been the case in the court over the years. However, current practice shows that a compensatory measure cannot be invoked to allow a project that otherwise would have been refused. Being able to use the fixing of incorrect connections as a compensation for BMP is thus, with today’s regulation, very unlikely.   The case study showed that fixing incorrect connections in sewage pipes is, with regard to water quality, a far more cost-beneficial measure compared to the construction of stormwater ponds. Furthermore, the lack of studies regarding this kind of incorrect connections is, in the light of the results from the case study, probably an indication that this is a problem that fairly few people work with and where more resources could be a good investment for future water quality.

This diploma thesis deals with the evaluation of economic efficiency of investment projects in transport infrastructure in the Czech Republic. The evaluation of road and motorway infrastructure projects is carried out according to the methodological documents of the Ministry of Transport, the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure and the Road and Motorway Directorate of the Czech Republic. As changes in methodological procedures have taken place in recent years, the diploma thesis deals with the resulting values of economic efficiency indicators, especially with net present value. The thesis analyzes the basic calculation formula for the evaluation of road and motorway infrastructure, which is an integral part of the evaluation of road projects. There are also described fundamental methodological changes regarding, for example, the calculation of the residual value of the project at the end of the reference period or the change in the discount rate. The changes are applied to a case study of a specific section of the Czech transport industry. It evaluates their impact on the final value of the critical indicator of economic efficiency, which is the net present value.

The aim and object is to undergo analysis of bicycle trails in terms of their qualifications within time and technical aspects, creation of SWOT analysis, evaluating strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities of bicycle trails, exploration and financing, looks at the development of bicycle trailsin Olomouc because of the focus on practical part of the project of the biking trails located in this area. In the practical part of the project the biking trails are evaluated according to cost-benefit analysis method using CBA SW eCBA where all the necessary characteristics of cycle paths and their identification and quantification in terms of financial and economic analysis of the project is described. The outcome of this project is to evaluate the methodology for dou-term sustainability. Finally, the evaluation of cycle paths as a stimulus for development of area.