Övergödning, eller eutrofiering, är ett av de största miljöproblemen i Östersjön och orsakas av förhöjda näringshalter i vatten. Eutrofieringen beror till stor del av näringsförluster från åkermark (Bernes, 2005, s. 83). För att sänka näringshalterna i vatten kan ett flertal åtgärder vidtas, till exempel genom att införa odlingsfria skyddszoner utmed vattendrag (Jordbruksverket, 2008). I denna uppsats studeras sådana skyddszoner där det 16 år långa Dyåprojektet i Nynäshamns kommun har använts som fallstudie. För att avgränsa arbetet har det lokala deltagandet i projektet undersökts för att se hur det kan ha påverkat Dyåns näringshalter. Resultaten från undersökningen visar att totalfosforhalterna i ån har fortsatt öka under åren, medan totalkvävehalterna långsamt minskar. För både totalfosfor och totalkväve uppvisas fortfarande höga samt extremt höga näringsförluster från åns avrinningsområde. Studien baseras på vattenprover som tagits direkt i åns vatten, en metod som skiljer sig från hur övrig forskning inom ämnet utförs. Detta är viktigt att ha i beaktande av resultatet eftersom de vattenprover som erhållits består av vatten från ett större område än bara det där zonerna är etablerade. Studien visar att det lokala deltagandet har fungerat bra, trots dålig kontakt med Nynäshamns kommun som initierade projektet 1995. Ett flertal faktorer från lantbrukarnas sida borde bidragit till en positiv miljöpåverkan på Dyåns näringshalter, det vill säga minskat dem. Eftersom så inte är fallet diskuteras jordmån, dräneringsrör, förändrad markanvändning och andra externa påverkanskällor som kan ha påverkat resultatet mer än det lokala deltagandet. / Eutrophication is one of the most substantial environmental problems in the Baltic sea and is caused by elevated nutrient concentrations in the water. A large part of these nutrients comes from losses in agricultural land (Bernes, 2005, s. 83). A number of measures can be taken to reduce agricultural nutrient loss to water, for example by introducing vegetative buffer zones adjacent to watercourses (Jordbruksverket, 2008). This paper examine such buffer zones and uses a 16 year long project in Nynäshamn municipality as a field study, the Dyå project. The local participation in the project was analyzed to see how this have influenced the nutrient content in the water table of Dyån. The result shows that nutrient content in the Dyå river surface water is still high regarding both total phosphorus and total nitrogen and the nutrient losses from the drainage area is extremely high. The method for analyzing the water samples differ from predominant research on buffer zones, which shall be kept in mind when analyzing the result. The local participation has worked well despite poor contact with the municipal authorities who initiated the project in 1995. The paper discusses other possible reasons for Dyåns high nutrient content, for example the soil quality, drainage tubes and changed land use in the drainage area.

Due to the numerous developmental constraints that they face, often Small Island Developing States (SIDS) relies on tourism as the means by which to achieve development. As such, SIDS governments promote sustainable tourism in policy agendas on the grounds that it will enhance the lives of local people through the creation of employment and subsequent increase in income level. However, often in SIDS, sustainable tourism development largely focuses on the management of resources and the impacts associated with tourism development. In this regard the focus on tourism development has remained on developing the necessary infrastructure for attracting international tourist markets, neglecting the crucial components of tourism education and local employment. Therefore, the aim of this research was to determine the role of tourism education and local employment as factors contributing to the sustainable development of tourism in the context of a SIDS destination. The context of the Maldives was selected as the SIDS case. This research indicated that in aggressive pursuit of increasing the number of international arrivals and with an ‘expansionist’ attitude, the SIDS case under study has neglected the crucial aspects of tourism education and local employment as contributors to the sustainable development of tourism. Consequently, tourism education neither meets the local needs for employment nor the industry needs for a skilled and educated workforce. The research revealed that this is an outcome of insufficient attention being given at policy level to tourism education, and local employment. Indeed, the research revealed that an increase in the number of international tourist arrivals and subsequent increase in foreign exchange earnings does not necessary mean that tourism brings economic sustainability to the destination by providing employment opportunities to the local communities and increased income. The research further revealed the complexity of issues which affect local participation in tourism. Moreover, the research also indicated how sustainable tourism development is intrinsically linked to tourism education and local employment. As the SIDS governments have a catalytic role to play in ensuring that tourism is developed in a sustainable manner that benefits all stakeholders, instead of implementing piecemeal policies in tourism education and local employment, this study advocates the integration of tourism education and local employment policies as part of the broader national development plan. This thesis contributes to tourism policy and practice. From a theoretical perspective, this research adds to the body of knowledge relating to the study of sustainable development of tourism in the context of a SIDS destination. Further, this research presents a number of practical recommendations for the government and the industry to ensure that tourism is indeed developed on a sustainable manner that benefits all stakeholders.

Wild Sky, a proposed wilderness in Washington State, has been a source of local contention since its inception. Drawing on the theories of political ecology, international conservation, and actor-based politics, this research seeks to understand the process of public participation in wilderness designation, the arguments both for and against Wild Sky, and how the wilderness proposal process could be improved. The paper begins with an outline of local and public participation in Wild Sky legislation, a discussion of “community,” and an account of how the 1964 Wilderness Act has been applied nationally and locally. This is followed by an analysis of interviews conducted with Forest Service employees and many of Wild Sky’s proponents and opponents. Advocates hope Wild Sky will boost the local economy, rehabilitate salmon runs, provide increased recreational access, and preserve an ecosystem typically excluded from wilderness – lowland forests and streams. Opponents see the proposal as an elite land grab that would exclude motorized recreation and prohibit the resource extraction historically important in the area. They argue that the land, logged a century ago, does not qualify as wilderness. Ultimately, the Forest Service will be charged with managing the land, but the Wild Sky legislation creates management expectations that will be difficult to achieve due to recent budget cuts and environmental regulations. My research demonstrates that the lead actors in the wilderness debate have changed, with the voice of the timber industry replaced by more diverse opposition from motorized recreation. Although the Washington Congressional delegation strove to accommodate these various interests through public meetings and negotiations, the process could have been improved. Currently, the 1964 Wilderness Act does not outline a format for public involvement regarding Congressional additions to the National Wilderness Preservation System. However, this legislation should offer specific opportunities for public and local participation. Most importantly, in collaboration with the Forest Service and local communities, wilderness advocates and the federal government must be prepared to offer long-term support for wilderness through budget allocations and volunteer hours in order to ensure that Wild Sky’s long-term ecological and economic benefits are achieved.

Sammanfattning  En av utmaningarna för de projekt som arbetar med hållbar utveckling är att mäta och analysera nivån på lokalt deltagande. Lokalt deltagande betraktas som en nyckelaspekt för att genomföra långsiktiga processer som kan bidra till bevarande av ekosystem och även förbättra förhållandena för lokala aktörer.  Avhandlingen syftar till att bedöma två fallstudier i bolivianska Amazonas enligt principerna av co- management/samverkan. Syftet är att uppnå följande huvudmål: - Granska litteratur om management för samverkan av hållbara utvecklingsprojekt. -Utveckla en kvalitativ ram för att bedöma intryck och resultat av projekt. -Utvärdera två befintliga projekt enligt den etablerade ramen.  Denna avhandling analyserar arbetet som en icke-statlig organisation (NGO) genomför i två olika samhällen i bolivianska Amazonas, i projekt relaterade till hållbar utveckling och bevarande. Ett av samhällena är urfolket Tacana, som ligger i regionen La Paz; den andra betraktas vara en multietnisk befolkningsgrupp som formellt är etablerad i en region som heter Santa Rosa del Abuna i regionen Pando. Trots att dessa två grupper uppvisar kulturella och organisatoriska skillnader arbetar de både med skörd av råvaror från skogen, dock ej skogs och trädavverkning. Råvarorna representerar de viktigaste ekonomiska intäkterna för dessa samhällen.  För att kunna utvärdera projekten, har besök till samhällen genomförts. Intervjuer och deltagarobservation har utförts för att studera relationerna mellan de olika aktörerna som är involverade i projekten. Flera intervjuer genomfördes också med medarbetare från NGOs på deras kontor i La Paz och Cobija.  För att förbereda utvärderingsprocessen har olika teorier använts för att skapa specifika kriterier för att utvärdera framgångsnivån för medverkande processer i projekten. Co-management and co-generation of knowledge har bedömts vara verktyg som kan användas för att utveckla en ram som kan utvärdera lokalt deltagande i olika projekt. För att utveckla detta har sex kriterier använts för att analysera lokalt engagemang i projekten och hur detta deltagande kan förbättras i det långsiktiga perspektivet.  Denna utvärdering kan bidra till att öka det lokala och aktiva deltagandet i projekten, men kan också hjälpa medlemmarna i externa organisationer (i detta fall frivilligorganisationer) att förstå den relevans som lokalt engagemang och lokal kunskap kan ha för projekten. Tanken är att olika aktörer / organisationer kan använda denna typ av utvärdering för att hitta möjliga svagheter vid genomförandet av projekt relaterade till hållbar utveckling. / Abstract  One of the challenges for projects that work on sustainable development is to measure and analyse the level of local participation. Local participation is considered a key aspect in order to implement long term processes that can contribute to conservation of ecosystems and also improve the living conditions of local actors.  The aim of this thesis is to assess two case studies ongoing in the Bolivian Amazon according to co-management principles. This aim raises the following core objectives: -Review literature on co-management for sustainable development projects. -Develop a qualitative framework to assess the perceptions and performance of projects. -Assess two existing projects according to the established framework.  This thesis analyses the work that a non-governmental organization (NGO) does in two different communities in the Bolivian Amazonia in projects related to sustainable development and conservation. One is an indigenous group called Tacana located in the department of La Paz; the other is considered a multy-ethnic population that is formally established in a region called Santa Rosa del Abuna in the department of Pando. Even though these two groups show cultural and organizational differences both work on the harvesting of non-timber forest recourses. The recollection of the products that come from the forest represents the main economical income for these populations.  To evaluate the projects, visits to the communities where done in order to make interviews, participant observation and to see the relations between the different actors involved in the projects. Several interviews were also done with the members of the NGO in their offices in La Paz and Cobija.  To prepare this evaluation process, different theories have been used in order to create specific criteria to evaluate the level of success of co-participation processes into the projects. Co-management and Co-generation of knowledge have been seen as interesting tools that can be used to develop a framework that can evaluate the local participation in different projects. To develop this, six criteria have been used to analyse the local participation on the projects and how this participation can be improved in the long-term perspective.  This evaluation can help to increase the local and active participation into the projects but also can help the members of external organizations (in this case the NGO) to understand the relevance that local participation and local knowledge can have for the projects. The idea is that this kind of evaluation can be used by different actors/organizations in order to find possible weaknesses during the implementation of projects related to sustainable development.

Clean water and adequate sanitation are crucial for community development and a reduction of waterborne diseases. Despite this certainty, a viable process for achieving this goal has yet to be formulated. This public health and development problem is not from a lack of hydraulic or biomedical knowledge. Rather, the failure to provide community services and infrastructure is rooted in the dynamic interplay between a hyper formalized public sector bureaucracy and the informal practices of political parties and patron-client relationships. Using qualitative, semi-structured interviews and participant observation, this study undertakes a narrative analysis of three communities and their interactions with political parties and the public sector in Tijuana, Mexico. Bureaucratic incapacity prevents the effective management of water and sanitation planning, programs, and infrastructure development. A sociological analysis of organizations is applied to the policy subsystem involving the persistent prevalence of waterborne diseases. Faced with an unresponsive and inefficient public sector, community groups direct their local development efforts towards political parties and the strategic use of clientelist relationships in order to procure health care services and community infrastructure. The role of community participation, as a means toward local empowerment and political co-option is examined. This study also highlights the need for further research in the areas of public accountability, public vs. private water management, and the role of participation in community development. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>Forestry operations in Sweden can be traced a long way back in history. The overall emphasis has traditionally been on the forests’ economic or profitable role, even though they are also of great ecological and social interests. Nevertheless, the focus has shifted during the last decade due to the impact of sustainable development. A new Forestry Act has now provided the Swedish forestry with a new policy which is guided by two equally-weighted objectives; production and environmental concern. The European Union (EU) has also adapted to the direction of sustainable development. It places particular interest in the creation of sustainable coastal areas within the union. </p><p>The aim of the Bachelor of Science thesis was to investigate how Swedish coastal forest owners define their role in the creation of sustainable coastal forests. The study is built on interviews which were conducted with seven forest owners, all of whom have properties in the coastal zones of Östergötland and Kalmar. These two counties are situated in the south-eastern part of Sweden. </p><p>The study raises three different issues. The first is the manner in which the informants shape their knowledge of the existing forestry legislation, based on their identities and responsibilities. The second concerns the preconditions with which they are faced when managing their coastal forest properties and whether or not they see the new legislation as a shift in focus. The final issue highlights the importance of local knowledge and looks at the participation of the informants in the development of new regulations. </p><p>The following conclusions are drawn from the investigations. Many owners of forest properties do not identify themselves as forest owners; it is therefore important to be aware of this distinction which is made between being a forest owner and being the holder of a forest property. The coastal forest owners who were interviewed run their forests according to their individual situations. Because of this they do not appear to be part of any shift of focus within the Swedish forestry. As a result, they may not have a defined role in its development. This role would probably be clearer or greater if their local knowledge were more explicitly valuated.</p>

ABSTRACT LOCAL DYNAMICS IN THE PROCESS OF CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION PROJECTS IN KASTAMONU Aysu Kes M.Sc., Urban Policy Planning and Local Governments Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sibel Kalaycioglu January 2006, 102 pages The aim of this thesis is to understand the local participation dynamics in Turkey, especially in the cities with small populations. The conservation and restoration projects in Kastamonu were chosen as the case in order to achieve this aim. These projects include the restoration and reuse of historical/traditional houses in Turkey. The research was focused on the stakeholders in relation to these projects in order to be able to examine the social processes with regard to the local participation in Kastamonu. The major data collection method of this research was interviews with three groups of stakeholders. These stakeholders were the decision- makers, the owners of the houses, and the local people. For the research, 41 interviews were conducted in November 2004 in Kastamonu. The interviews included questions with regard to perceptions of the respondents about the issues of participation and decision- making dynamics, as well as the conception of sense of place, through the conservation and restoration processes. All these interviews were recorded and transcribed for discourse analysis. There are three major findings of this thesis. Firstly, the stakeholders do not have a consistent perception of what participation is. This leads to the second finding that the level of interaction and the level of participation are low among the stakeholders. Thirdly, the conservation and restoration projects in Kastamonu are perceived as economic investments by the vast majority of people. The heritage and cultural value of the houses are less frequently referred to.

Focusing on the rising attention towards including the local population in humanitarian action, this study demonstrates how youth participation can produce effective results in a humanitarian response, making use of the post-disaster response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake as a case study. The research was intended to investigate the specific factors that enable youth participation to produce effective results in humanitarian programming, examining the methods that organisations used to involve youth, the benefits and challenges that arose from the process, and how effectiveness could be measured for the purpose of qualitative analysis. After constructing a conceptual framework around the key themes of the study, the thesis analysed the findings from 3 in-depth semi-structured interviews with informants from Restless Development Nepal, an organisation that actively involved youth volunteers in its emergency response. The activities which included these youth volunteers, most notably those that involved working closely with the local community through community mobilisation, benefitted from three main qualities embodied by the volunteers, these being their availability, flexibility and embeddedness within their own localities. The prior expertise of the implementing organisation in working with youth was another factor contributing to the programme outputs, as they possessed the social network and resources necessary to quickly train and mobilise the volunteers. The effectiveness of youth participation, which was measured not only through an examination of the programme results, but also through an assessment of how well the participatory activities managed to achieve the intended purposes of participation discussed in theoretical texts, revealed the possibility of youth participation in humanitarian responses to contribute to improving operational functions while still leading to self-empowerment and inner growth. The actual capacity of each organisation to include youth in their responses, however, is a defining factor in the methods in which youth may be able to use their inherent capabilities to contribute to the effectiveness of any operation.

Forestry operations in Sweden can be traced a long way back in history. The overall emphasis has traditionally been on the forests’ economic or profitable role, even though they are also of great ecological and social interests. Nevertheless, the focus has shifted during the last decade due to the impact of sustainable development. A new Forestry Act has now provided the Swedish forestry with a new policy which is guided by two equally-weighted objectives; production and environmental concern. The European Union (EU) has also adapted to the direction of sustainable development. It places particular interest in the creation of sustainable coastal areas within the union. The aim of the Bachelor of Science thesis was to investigate how Swedish coastal forest owners define their role in the creation of sustainable coastal forests. The study is built on interviews which were conducted with seven forest owners, all of whom have properties in the coastal zones of Östergötland and Kalmar. These two counties are situated in the south-eastern part of Sweden. The study raises three different issues. The first is the manner in which the informants shape their knowledge of the existing forestry legislation, based on their identities and responsibilities. The second concerns the preconditions with which they are faced when managing their coastal forest properties and whether or not they see the new legislation as a shift in focus. The final issue highlights the importance of local knowledge and looks at the participation of the informants in the development of new regulations. The following conclusions are drawn from the investigations. Many owners of forest properties do not identify themselves as forest owners; it is therefore important to be aware of this distinction which is made between being a forest owner and being the holder of a forest property. The coastal forest owners who were interviewed run their forests according to their individual situations. Because of this they do not appear to be part of any shift of focus within the Swedish forestry. As a result, they may not have a defined role in its development. This role would probably be clearer or greater if their local knowledge were more explicitly valuated.

I Sverige började processen med att skydda natur redan 1909 och arbetet har fortsatt fram till idag. Även om naturskyddet ska gynna oss alla, är arbetet med det sällan problemfritt. Mitt intresse för dessa problem, hur de kan förstås och hanteras på ett konstruktivt sätt, är utgångspunkten för denna kandidatuppsats. Studien ämnar undersöka hur information och kommunikation har påverkat de närboendes upplevelse till Sand Life, i samband med utökandet och restaureringen av naturreservatet Haväng och Vitemölla strandbackar. I fallstudien undersöks delvis också den konflikt som uppstod i processen. Undersökningen möjliggjordes i tre steg: intervjuer med länsstyrelsen och Sand Lifes medarbetare; enkätundersökning och djupintervjuer med ett antal närboende i Vitemölla. Resultatet tyder på att de närboende som grupp, initialt var negativt inställda till Sand Life. Inställningen tycks bottna i att man upplevt länsstyrelsen och Sand Lifes ursprungliga planer som alltför omfattande och inte tillräckligt förankrade, utifrån ett lokalt perspektiv. Det framkom också att informationen om projektet hade varit bristfällig, vilket möjligen kan kopplas till den inställning man initialt hade. Idag pekar resultaten på att de närboende som grupp är neutrala till försiktigt positiva i sin upplevelse av Sand Life. I huvudsak verkar detta bero på att åtgärderna i naturreservatet blev tilltalande; möjligen kan inställningen också kopplas till att länsstyrelsen och Sand Life tog hänsyn och reviderade skötselplanen samt visade större öppenhet mot de närboende. Eventuellt kan proaktiv information, tydliga avsikter och viljan att utveckla olika planer och projekt i en kontinuerlig dialog med lokalbefolkningen begränsa naturskydd- och förvaltningskonflikters omfattning. / Although nature conservation is supposed to benefit all of us, the work is rarely trouble-free. My concern for these problems is the starting point for this candidacy. The study intends to investigate how information and communication has influenced the residents' attitude to Sand Life, in connection with the development of Haväng and Vitemölla nature reserve. The case study also examines the conflict that arose in the process. The investigation was made possible in three steps: interviews with the county administrative board and Sand Life staff members; questionnaire and interviews with residents around Vitemölla. The result indicates that the residents as a group initially were negative in their attitude to Sand Life. The attitude seemed to be caused by the experience that the county administrative board and Sand Lifes' original plans for the nature reserve was too extensive and not sufficiently anchored, from a local perspective. It was also found that the information about the project had been inadequate, which could possibly be linked to the initial attitude. Today the results indicate that the residents as a group are neutral to cautiously positive in their attitude to Sand Life. Possibly due to the fact that the measures taken in the nature reserve became appealing; the attitude can perhaps also be linked to the authorities revising the care plan and showing greater openness towards the residents. Proactive information, clear intentions and the willingness to develop different plans and projects in a continuous dialogue with locals, can possibly limit the extent of conflicts.