This research examines the application of a Classic Glaserian Grounded Theory methodology to the phenomenon of drought when viewed from the perspective of household water users in southern England. The resulting conceptual work calls into question the effectiveness of water-wise messaging and current Government policies on water management, by highlighting the double assurances afforded to the public through their own observations of the natural cycling of water resources between atmosphere and land, and the continuous operation of the regulated water industry, that together sustain blind belief in the ongoing availability of potable water resources. To establish a clear separation between the development of substantive theory and mixed method studies that claim to take a grounded theory approach that are generally more popular within the discipline of Human Geography, the theory is presented alongside two pieces of work; a collection of modern drought histories and a questionnaire. Developed as part of the necessary process of cycling alternate projects to enable a theory to emerge from the data whilst the researcher is distracted from forcing her own ideas onto it, both these pieces can be viewed separately or as supportive companions to the theory. Additionally, in acknowledging the difficulty in presenting a Classic Grounded Theory in the traditional discussional form, for the benefit of the reader the theory is preceded by an autoethnography, which incorporates descriptive elements taken from field notes and the author’s personal water diary. These works draw data from subjects in three counties in England (Norfolk, Kent, and Devon), following the northwest – southeast rainfall gradient. Supplementary material for the drought histories is drawn from local and national archives and recorded oral histories. The primary emphasis of this work is placed on assessing the merits of each of the methods deployed in addressing environmental social science issues in the context of climate change, which hitherto have been focused on perception questionnaires and the development of popular cultural typologies.

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Responsible for one in eight tonnes of national CO₂ emissions, the passenger car sector is pivotal to delivering on UK climate change commitments to avoiding warming of more than 2°C. This thesis provides a clear and quantitative framing of emissions reduction at the sectoral level, by disaggregating global cumulative emissions budgets and pathways associated with a range of probabilities of exceeding 2°C. The relatively low level of abatement currently planned for the UK car sector, it is argued, needs to be significantly increased for the following reasons: (i) a scientific basis in cumulative emissions for sectoral mitigation makes carbon budgets, rather than end point targets (e.g. 2050), of the first importance; (ii) the currently high probability (63%) of exceeding 2°C underpinning the current UK carbon budgets is inconsistent with the UK government’s commitment to avoiding ‘dangerous climate change’; (iii) short-term emissions growth in industrialising countries considerably reduces remaining emissions space for industrialised countries; (iv) very limited scope exists for any large sector to cut emissions by less than the national mean rate of decarbonisation at higher rates of mitigation (around 10% p.a. by the 2020s). The consequences for emissions space in other sectors if international aviation and shipping mitigate less than the mean are quantified. For UK car sector emissions to remain consistent with a low probability of exceeding 2°C while observing these limitations, this analysis finds that planned sectoral mitigation over the coming decade needs to be increased fourfold. Means to address this expected abatement shortfall using readily available technology are investigated using a fleet emissions model to compare the effect on cumulative emissions of changes in a range of fleet parameters (including mean new car bulk emissions factors, vehicle age-proportionate annual distance travelled, and rates of fleet growth and turnover). Pushing existing car technology to the limit of expected short term efficiency gains is found to be insufficient to deliver a pathway with better than 56% probability of exceeding 2°C. Without reduction in aggregate demand for vehicle kilometres in the short term, lower probabilities of 2°C are placed beyond reach. The possibility of rapid step changes in levels of per capita car use is explored in qualitative interviews using narrative storyline scenarios. A range of coercive and voluntary interventions is considered in relation to their potential to overcome the structural and behavioural constraints to rapid transformation of personal travel.

Digitaliseringen har reformerat många aspekter av vårt samhälle och den pågående digitala utvecklingen är oundviklig. Organisationer tvingas därmed till två val; att genomgå förändring eller försvinna från marknaden. Genom en kvalitativ forskningsmetod ville vi skapa en ökad förståelse för digitaliseringens inverkan på en organisation med betoning på medarbetarskap och ledarskap. För att uppnå detta har vi genomfört en fallstudie tillsammans med Nordea Bank AB Sverige. Vi genomförde 12 stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer och observerade 3 stycken olika arbetsplatser för att på så sätt skapa en förståelse för digitaliseringens inverkan. Vid studiens start trodde vi att det var aktuellt att inkludera olika kön- och åldersperspektiv då vi ansåg att den digitala förändringen kunde leda till olika typer av upplevda erfarenheter. Dock visade det sig att det inte skiljde sig åt mellan könen men att det istället fanns en åtskillnad kring ålder och erfarenhet. Studiens resultat visade att Nordea Bank AB har valt att genomgå en digital förändring och att de hanterar detta på olika sätt utifrån medarbetarskap och ledarskap. Vi kan även fastslå att organisationen har kommit långt i sin digitala förändringsprocess då medarbetare dagligen kommer i kontakt med digitaliserade arbetsverktyg. Dock är vi medvetna om att banken kommer att möta ytterligare utmaningar och möjligheter vilket innebär att de måste ha ett förändringsbenäget beteende även i framtiden. / Digitalization has transformed many aspects of our society. Currently, digital development is inevitable. Organizations are forced to choose between transforming or disappearing from the market. Through a qualitative research method we wanted to create awareness of digitalization’s impact on employeeship and leadership. To achieve this, we conducted a case study with Nordea Bank AB Sweden. We also conducted 12 in-depth interviews and 3 different observations in order to gain a deeper understanding of digitalization’s impact on the work environment. In the beginning of this study we believed that we would find differences between gender and age. The results have shown that we could only find differences between ages and experiences among our respondents. Our study also showed that Nordea Bank AB has chosen to accept this digital transformation. We also concluded that the organization handled this change in different ways in relation to employeeship and leadership. Furthermore, the study showed that the organization has implemented their digital transformation well because their employees use their developed digital tools daily. However, we are aware that the bank needs to continuously adapt to the change because they will face new challenges and possibilities in the future.

Physical inactivity is a growing public health problem in the 21st century. A large proportion of the adult and adolescent population is not achieving recommended levels of physical activity which has significant consequences for both the individual and our society. With no evidence that the levels of physical inactivity will improve in the future, traditional methods of addressing this problem have evidently proven ineffective. A relatively new and promising approach to this problem that has become increasingly important in recent years is smartphone-based behavioral interventions to promote physical activity and other health-related behaviors. While several studies have shown many positive and promising results with this approach, other studies have also shown that the method is not completely understood. For instance, research shows that many of the health and fitness applications available today do not adequately adhere to behavior change strategies or health-related research, suggesting that these applications are not reaching their fullest potential. The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate an application to promote physical activity that was aligned with such research. A high-fidelity prototype based on the Behaviour Change Wheel was developed in Adobe XD and later evaluated by four participants. The outcome of the evaluation indicated that the developed prototype was well received overall, and participants believed it would trigger the desired behavior change of an increase in physical activity. However, due to the study limitations of unrepresentative participants and evaluation environment, time frame and application levels, nothing was truly proven in this regard. Further improvement of the prototype and future studies are needed to evaluate the prototype more accurately. / Fysisk inaktivitet är ett växande hälsoproblem för vårt samhälle under 2000-talet. En stor andel av vuxna och ungdomar uppnår inte rekommenderade hälsonivåer för fysiska aktivitet vilket har påtagliga konsekvenser för både individ och samhälle. Utan några forskningsbevis på att nivåerna för fysisk inaktivitet kommer att förbättras i framtiden har traditionella metoder för att motverka detta problem skenbarligen visats sig vara ineffektiva. Ett relativt nytt och lovande tillvägagångssätt för problemet som blivit alltmer relevant under de senaste åren är smartphonebaserade beteendeinterventioner för att främja fysisk aktivitet och andra hälsorelaterade beteenden. Medan ett flertal studier visat många positiva påföljder och lovande resultat med detta tillvägagångssätt, har andra studier samtidigt visat att metoden inte är helt förstådd och otillräckligt efterforskad. Bland annat visar forskning att många av dagens tillgängliga hälso- och träningsapplikationer inte optimalt följer riktlinjer för vare sig beteendeförändringsstrategier eller hälsorelaterad forskning, vilket antyder att dessa applikationer inte uppnår sin fulla potential. Målet med denna studie var att utveckla och utvärdera en applikation för att främja fysisk aktivitet som var baserad på sådan forskning. En prototyp av hög funktionsnivå baserad på The Behaviour Change Wheel utvecklades i Adobe XD och utvärderades av fyra deltagare. Resultatet från utvärderingen pekade mot att den utvecklade prototypen var väl uppskattad av deltagarna som även ansåg att prototypen skulle framkalla den önskade beteendeförändringen för ökad fysisk aktivitet. Emellertid, på grund av studiebegränsningarna med bland annat icke-representativa deltagare och utvärderingsförhållanden, tidsram samt applikationens funktionsnivå, kunde inte något absolut bevis framläggas i detta avseende. Ytterligare förbättringar av prototypen och framtida studier är nödvändiga för att utvärdera prototypen mer exakt.

The theoretical part of this diploma thesis deals with the changes of behaviour and attitude of clients who underwent drug addiction therapy. I have focused on the ethical aspects of these changes and their development within the build-up of the clients' new identity. I will analyse the environment and facilities in which the changes take place, approaches to therapy as well as addiction models, these being the decisive factors of change. I will also focus on the concept of identity build-up as presented in M. Brožová's analysis as a process of changes, which take place after therapy in communities and therapeutic facilities. In the conclusion, I will analyse the conception of ethics and the components of ethics as a basis to define signs of ethical behaviour in the topics of respondents. The practical part is a probe into the process of behaviour and attitude development of Prevent After Care clients. In the introduction, I will present the applied research methods, selection of fields, the research sample and operational procedures. Further, individual dialogues with respondents are included, including interpretation of the dialogues in relation to human practice and an interpretation of behaviour changes. In the dialogues, I will focus on the perception of changes by the clients themselves, their idea of freedom and their values.

Physical inactivity and disconnection from natural environments threatens human health. However, research has demonstrated that natural environments potentially support health-enhancing physical activity which could confer greater physical and mental health benefits than physical activity in other types of environment. This thesis approached the study of physical activity in natural environments through three related pieces of research. Firstly, an experimental study was carried out to explore how the presence of litter in beach environments affected psychophysiological responses to exercise. Responses to exercise did not differ in littered and clean conditions but there was evidence that order effects influenced findings. Visual attention to the two scenes differed, but did not mediate differences in psychophysiological responses. Secondly, analysis of a national dataset was undertaken to explore the form and quantity of physical activity conducted within natural environments in England. A series of linear regressions revealed that higher-intensity physical activities occurred in countryside environments, but more total energy expenditure occurred in coastal environments. Thirdly, a quantitative content analysis of brochures which promote recreational walking in natural environments was conducted which investigated their use of persuasive behavioural messages. These brochures omitted behavioural techniques which may be effective at motivating inactive individuals to walk. Extending this, an online survey tested whether improving brochure content heightened intentions to walk in natural environments. By designing content based on the theory of planned behaviour, the intentions of inactive individuals to undertake walking in natural environments were increased. The findings from this thesis demonstrate that the protection of natural environments is vital for preserving and promoting active recreation and could contribute to population-level increases in physical activity with theory-based promotion in the future.

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