Yes / The surface transport infrastructure (i.e. road and rail) has seen increasing pressure in recent years to achieve better sustainability performance. Transport Noise Reducing Devices (NRDs) form a major part of the surface transport infrastructure system in mitigating undesirable surface noise pollution to impacted communities. Their sustainability is a growing interest for practitioners and policy makers in this area as NRDs projects now have to balance integrating and assessing social, environmental, and economic objectives besides meeting key technical requirements. This paper presents an account of the first study carried out to assess the absolute sustainability of NRDs via the application of multi criteria analysis (MCA) techniques. The general procedure, selection of criteria, data gathering, and the use of three MCA techniques, SAW (Simple Additive Weighting), PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organisation MeTHod for Enrichment Evaluations), and ELECTRE III (Elimination et Choice Translating Reality), to assess the absolute sustainability of two built and operating European NRDs projects (one in Spain, and one in Italy) is presented. The novel concept of defining an Optimal Hypothetic Ideal Solution (OHIS) to assess the sustainability of NRDs in absolute terms to achieve this end is also introduced and discussed. The presented case studies will thus provide a useful model for practitioners to adopt or amend to conduct their own assessments of NRDs' sustainability. The paper further concludes that the generation of index values by the three MCA techniques to denote the overall absolute sustainability of solutions is a useful feature for communicating the sustainability of NRDs across a broad range of stakeholders, and for conducting “what-if” analyses. The presented research could also support broader aims of developing harmonized sustainability standards for the NRDs industry to adopt and so forward the sustainability transport agenda.

Urbanisering i kombination med miljöfarliga utsläpp från fordonstrafiken ställer högre krav på bostadsplaneringen i städer. Studiens syfte är att öka förståelsen för hur multikriterieanalyser inom geografiska informationssystem kan tillämpas i den översiktliga planeringen för att bidra till ett hållbarare samhälle. En effektivare strategisk bostadsplanering med anslutning till befintliga samhällsfunktioner kan bidra till att miljövänligare transportalternativ prioriteras före bilen. Med hjälp av intervjuer från två tjänstemän inom offentlig och privat sektor har ett antal kriterier tagits fram till analysen. Utifrån befintliga samhällsfunktioner var målet med studien att lokalisera nya områden för bostadsutveckling med hjälp av en multikriterieanalys. Detta kan bidra till att miljövänligare transportmedel kan prioriteras före bilen eftersom avstånden till samhällsfunktionerna blir kortare. Utöver detta var även målet att undersöka hur politiska intressen skiljer sig åt med hjälp av en rangordning utifrån de framtagna kriterierna. Resultatet visar att representanterna från de två största politiska partierna i en svensk småstad rangordnar kriterierna olika gällande vilka samhällsfunktioner som bör finnas i närhet till nya bostadsområden. Däremot visar slutresultatet att de lokaliserade områdena för bostadsutveckling inte skiljer sig nämnvärt mycket ifrån varandra, trots politikernas varierande bostadspolitik. Studien kan bidra till en effektivare politisk hantering av ärenden eftersom politiska skiljaktigheter i slutändan inte alltid visar skillnader i vilka aktiviteter eller objekt som bör placeras var. / Urbanization combined with toxic emissions from motor traffic calls forhigher demands when house planning in cities. The purpose of this study is toincrease understanding about how to apply multi criteria analyses whenmaster planning to contribute to a more sustainable society. A more effectivehouse planning connected to existing societal functions might add to the usageof more sustainable transportation alternatives rather than that of cars. Using the input from interviews with representatives from both the privateand the public sector, a number of criterias have been developed for theanalysis. Considering existing societal functions, this study was intended toidentify new areas for housing development using a multi criterial analysis.This might contribute to more sustainable transportation because of thedistance to the societal functions. In addition to this, the intention extended tothe investigation of how political interests differs from one another, using aranking system based on the developed criterias. The results show that representatives from the two largest political parties in asmall town in Sweden rank the criterias different when it comes to whatsocietal functions a new housing area should have in close proximity. On theother hand, the end results show that the areas chosen for housingdevelopment have similar qualities, in spite of varying housing politics amongthe politicians. This study might contribute to a more effective politicalhandling of business, since political differences does not ultimately showdifferences in where activities or objects should be placed.

<p>U radu je razvijen složeni model vrednovanja i rangiranja varijanti re&scaron;enja koridora infrastrukturnih linijskih objekata. Model karakteri&scaron;e vi&scaron;eakterski i vi&scaron;ekriterijumski pristup. Model je baziran na kriterijumima vrednovanja koji su razvrstani u pravilnu hijerarhiju i čija je relevantnost verifikovana naučnim metodama. Metoda vrednovanja odabrana je inteligentnim pristupom uz pomoć drveta odlučivanja. Model predviđa i analizu osetljivosti odabranog optimalnog re&scaron;enja na promenu težina pojedinih (ili svih) kriterijuma vrednovanja. Naučni doprinos istraživanja ogleda se u primeni AHP metode koja je u Srbiji po prvi put primenjena kao podr&scaron;ka odabiru optimalnog re&scaron;enja koridora infrastrukturnih objekata kao i prikazanoj integraciji sa drugim metodama (stakeholder analiza, anketa, deskriptivna statistika, faktorska analiza).</p> / <p>In this paper a complex model evaluation and ranking of alternative solutions of linear infrastructure corridor structure characterized multi-actor and multi-criteria approach, which is based on the evaluation criteria whose relevance was verified by scientific methods and are sorted in the correct hierarchy. Valuation method chosen is an intelligent approach using the tree decision. The model predicts, and a sensitivity analysis of the selected optimal solution to weight change some (or all) of evaluation criteria. The scientific contribution of the research is the application of AHP method that is in Serbia for the first time applied to support the selection of the optimal solutions corridor infrastructure as shown integration with other methods (stakeholder analysis, survey, descriptive statistics, factor analysis)</p>

This thesis deals with basic principles of electronic signature and functions of certificate authorities, which is complemented with description of legislation environment in Czech Republic. The second part of the thesis includes methodology for comparison of certificate authority's functions in the field of qualified personal certificates. This methodology is afterwards applied for comparison of functions of accredited certificate authorities operating in Czech Republic and for determination of the best authority according to defined criteria and their significance weights.

Folk tenderar att flytta till urbana områden för att studera, hitta jobb och få bättre möjligheter. Befolkningen i stora städer har ökat mycket och det kommer även att öka ännu mer. Därför är stadsplanering eller samhällsplanering viktigt och ett av de viktigaste områdena är avfallshantering där avfall från hushåll hanteras. För att bygga avfallshanteringsanläggning som återvinningscentraler behöver man planera noga och miljötänkande är viktigt. För att kunna lokalisera optimala ställen behöver man GIS-teknik. Med hjälp av den tekniken finns det möjlighet att göra analys och även skapa kartor som kan till exempel ingå i översiktsplanen och detaljplanen. Platsbestäm-ningen är det viktigaste att ta fram i planeringsstadiet innan man kan börja med andra processer därför att felplacering kan orsaka problem som miljö, säkerhetspro-blem för invånare och ekonomisk förlust för myndigheten eller staten för justeringar och omplaceringar. I dagsläget finns det inte så mycket tekniska lösningar som skulle underlätta för platsbestämningen.I utvecklingsländer saknas fungerande avfallshantering och många slänger skräp över-allt. Därför har studien mest fokus på utvecklingsländer där återvinningscentraler behöver byggas. Syfte med arbetet är att hitta optimala platser för en återvinnings-central med GIS- lösningar.I studien utfördes fjärranalys och multikriterieanalys för att hitta de optimala plat-serna för återvinningscentraler. Övervakad klassificering användes för extrahering av klasser. Data från Open Street Map hämtades för komplettering av data för saknade faktorer. AHP-metoden utfördes för att vikta faktorerna. Metoden weighted linear combination användes för beräkning av slutresultat. Arbetet gav positivt resultat och lösningen kommer att vara användbar för framtagande av detaljplan och översikts-plan för en återvinningscentral. Metoden kommer att vara användbart vilket är må-let för det här arbetet dock behövs bättre data och mer analys av faktorer. / People tend to move to urban areas to study, find jobs, and get better opportunities. The population of big cities has increased, and it will also increase even more. Therefore, urban planning or community planning is important and one of the most important areas is waste management where waste from households is managed. In order to build waste management facilities as recycling centers, one needs to plan carefully, and environmental thinking is important. In order to locate optimal places, you need GIS technology. With the help of this technique, it is possible to make analysis and create maps that can, for example, be included in the master plan and the detail plan. The site provision is the most important thing in developing of planning stage before one can start with other processes because misplacement can cause problems like environment issues, security problems for the inhabitants and financial loss for the authority or the state for adjustments and relocations. At pre-sent, there are not many technical solutions that would facilitate location determina-tion.In poor countries, there is a lack of functioning waste management and many throw trashes everywhere. The study therefore has focus in developing countries where re-cycling centers need to be built. The purpose of the work is to find optimal places for recycling centers with GIS solutions.In the study, remote sensing and multi-criteria analysis were performed to find the optimal places for recycling centers. Supervised classification was used to extract classes. Data from Open Street Map was retrieved to supplement data for missing factors. The AHP method was performed to weight the factors. The weighted linear combination method was used to calculate the result. The work gave positive results and the solution will be useful for developing a detailed plan and overview plan for recycling centers. The method will be useful, which is the goal of this work, but im-proved data and more analysis of factors are needed.

<p>The pearl oyster <em>Pinctada martensii </em>or <em>Pinctada fucata </em>is the oyster for produce the South China Sea Pearl, and the production of pearl oyster <em>Pinctada martensii</em> plays a key role for the economic and social welfare of the coastal areas. To guarantee both rich and sustainability of providing pearl oyster productions, addressing the suitable areas for aquaculture is a very important consideration in any aquaculture activities. Relatively rarely, in the case of site selection research, the researchers use GIS analysis to identify suitable sites in fishery industry in China. Therefore, I decided to help the local government to search suitable sites form the view of GIS context. This study was conducted to find the optimal sites for suspended culture of pearl oyster <em>Pinctada martensii </em>using GIS-based multi-criteria analysis. The original idea came from the research of Radiarta and his colleagues in 2008 in Japan. Most of the parameters in the GIS model were extracted from remote sensing data (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and Landsat 7). Eleven thematic layers were arranged into three sub-models, namely: biophysical model, social-economic model and constraint model. The biophysical model includes sea surface temperature, chlorophyll-α concentration, suspended sediment concentration and bathymetry. The criteria in the social-economic model are distance to cities and towns and distance to piers. The constraint model was used to exclude the places from the research area where the natural conditions cannot be fulfilled for the development of pearl oyster aquaculture; it contains river mouth, tourism area, harbor, salt fields / shrimp ponds, and non-related water area. Finally those GIS sub-models were used to address the optimal sites for pearl oyster <em>Pinctada martensii</em> culture by using weighted linear combination evaluation. In the final result, suitability levels were arranged from 1 (least suitable) to 8 (most suitable), and about 2.4% of the total potential area had the higher levels (level 6 and 7). These areas were considered to be the places that have the most suitable conditions for pearl oyster <em>Pinctada martensii </em>for costal water of Yingpan.</p>

<p>Idag fokuseras det politiska intresset på klimatfrågor och det visade sig inte minst när Nobels fredpris tilldelades Panel of Climate Change och Al Gore år 2007. Klimatfrågor med fokusering på bland annat energifrågan, biologisk mångfald och hållbar utveckling kommer att vara nyckelfrågor under andra halvan av 2009 när Sverige är ordförandeland för EU.</p><p>Bidragande orsaker till klimatförändringar är mänskliga utsläpp av växthusgaser. Arbetet med att minska utsläppen sker bland annat genom Kyotoprotokollet, där 160 stater deltar, innehållande bindande åtaganden att minska utsläppen med 5 % fram till 2012. I och med arbetet med att minska växthusgaser är främjandet och utvecklandet av förnyelsebar energi en viktig del, särskilt i form av vindkraft. Kommunernas fysiska planering spelar en viktig roll i detta, t ex i framtagandet av lämpliga områden för etablering av vindkraft.</p><p>Gävle kommun används som fallstudie och detta arbete ska underlätta förfarandet att ta fram bra beslutsunderlag som varje planerare behöver göra. Syftet med denna studie är att underlätta och effektivisera den fysiska planeringens arbete och väcka medvetenhet för nyttan av GIS. Först sker en sammanställning av en del data som finns tillgängliga på Gävle kommun. Huvudsyftet är att sedan utföra en multikriterieanalys för att hitta lämpliga områden för vindkraftsetablering utifrån sammanställt data. Vindkraft valdes för att det är en viktig del i anpassningsarbetet för att motverka klimatförändringar och har en hög prioritet.</p><p>Kriterier och motstående intressen till vindkraftsetablering sattes upp och utifrån det utfördes sedan en multikriterieanalys. En fältstudie utfördes för att bedöma resultatets tillförlitlighet och hur resultatet överensstämmer med verkligheten. Resultatet påvisade att det fanns många lämpliga områden för vindkraftsetablering i Gävle kommun och att god överensstämmelse fanns med tidigare framtagna riksintresseområden för vindkraftverk. Fältstudierna visade även på god överensstämmelse med resultatet och verkligheten.</p><p>Multikriterieanalys är ett kraftfullt verktyg som ger tydliga resultat. Kunskap om metodiken och ämnet, t ex om den ska hitta lämpliga områden för vindkraft krävs god kännedom om vindkraft samt kunskap om data krävs för att metoden ska vara lätt att genomföra. Den ger ett begripligt resultat som har stor genomslagskraft och som det är lätt att ta till sig. Metoden är en väldigt användbar metod för att ta fram bra beslutsunderlag i ett planarbete.</p> / <p>The political focus is today set on questions concerning climate changes and this was proved when Panel of Climate Change and Al Gore were awarded with the Nobel Prize for Peace in the year of 2007. Sweden is the presidency country of the European Union in the second half of 2009 and the main questions are going to be about climate targeted on energy, biodiversity and sustainable development.</p><p>Some of the things that cause the climate changes are the emission of greenhouse gases made by the human being. To reduce the emission the goal with the Kyoto protocol, accepted by 160 countries, is set to reduce the emission by 5% until 2012. To achieve the goal the development and promoting of renewable energy has an important role, especially wind power. With the aid of physical planning, municipalities have an important role e.g. through compiling basic data for decision-making where suitable areas for wind power are pointed out.</p><p>Gävle municipality is used as a case study and one of the goals with this thesis is to facilitate the decision that is needed to be made by them who are working with physical planning. Another goal is to awake the awareness of geographical information system potential to be a powerful tool to make physical planning more efficient. As a first part a compilation is made of the data that are accessible in the databases of Gävle municipality. The main issue is to make a multicriteria analysis to find suitable areas for wind power on the compiled data. The theme of wind power was chosen because it is an important part of a sustainable development due to climate changes.</p><p>Criteria and counteractive interests to wind power were identified and used in a multicriteria analysis. A field study was made to control the result from the multicriteria analysis against reality and there were a good agreement. The result of the multicriteria analysis indicated that there are several suitable areas for wind power within the area of Gävle municipality and this was verified with the areas identified by the County Administration of Gävleborg.</p><p>Multicriteria analysis is a powerful tool that gives a result that is easy to understand. Knowledge about the method and subject, e.g. finding areas suitable for wind power good knowledge about wind power and data is demanded to make the method easy to perform.</p><p>The method gives a comprehensible result with a penetrating power and is easy to understand. The method is very useful to compile basic data for decision-making in physical planning.</p>

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and sustainability are inextricably linked. SEA can be used to assess the sustainability impacts of plan, program and policy (PPP) initiatives, inform decision-making with regard to sustainability issues and promote the trickle down of sustainability principles to project level assessment, among others. However, in terms of energy sector practice in particular, SEA application is neither well applied nor understood, there has been insufficient evidence of the operationalization of sustainability in SEA and little research showing how SEA might provide a systematic framework for the integration of sustainability principles. As a result, this thesis examines the relationship between SEA and sustainability, with the goal of understanding how sustainability principles and criteria can be integrated and operationalized in the development of energy futures. The thesis chapters are manuscript based. The first manuscript presents a literature review of ten years of academic research examining how SEA facilitates the integration of sustainability in PPP development decision making, while the second and third manuscripts focus on a ‘state of practice’ examination of SEA application and sustainability integration in international electricity sector case practice. The fourth manuscript applies a structured SEA framework that operationalizes sustainability principles using an expert-based assessment of alternative future scenarios for electricity development in Saskatchewan, along with an examination of implications for both electricity sector practice and SEA methodology. Finally, the conclusion discusses the major findings from the four manuscripts and identifies challenges for the operationalization of sustainability, the adoption of good-practice SEA elements in practice and makes recommendations for future SEA guidance and academic research. Overall, the lack of operationalization of sustainability in energy sector SEA suggests the need for improved SEA methodology and guidance that describes the scope of and approaches to sustainability in SEA and outlines how to effectively incorporate sustainability in SEA practice. In order for SEA to deliver on its sustainability mandate, impact assessment methodologies that allow for clarification of both the concept of sustainability and the uncertainty surrounding higher level policy, plan and program (PPP) decision-making need to be developed and more widely adopted. Lessons learned from practice that describe the appropriate use of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies also need to be better disseminated and shared amongst the SEA research and practitioner community. However, results from this research also illustrate that there is still inconsistent application of SEA processes, which likely stems from uncertainty and confusion on behalf of practitioners and decision-makers as to what the role and purpose of SEA is in PPP development. More case-practice evidence of SEA application is needed that demonstrates the purpose and benefits of SEA for sustainability in a variety of decision-making contexts. Evidence from this research also shows that tiering, both upward to higher PPP levels and downward to the project level, is occurring in some electricity sector SEAs. That SEA outcomes are potentially tiering upward to influence the development of legislation is a finding that counters the often-cited notion that tiering in SEA is idealistic. This research indicates the need for additional focus on institutional arrangements that allow for SEA application to effectively inform and influence PPP decision-making in support of sustainability. The need for SEA as a higher order assessment process to capture regional and strategic impacts is becoming increasingly important in light of current federal legislation that eliminates environmental impact assessment requirements for many small-scale projects. However, although SEA emerged, in part, to inform and direct decisions made at the project level, the link between SEA, sustainability and operational decisions still remains elusive in practice.

Idag fokuseras det politiska intresset på klimatfrågor och det visade sig inte minst när Nobels fredpris tilldelades Panel of Climate Change och Al Gore år 2007. Klimatfrågor med fokusering på bland annat energifrågan, biologisk mångfald och hållbar utveckling kommer att vara nyckelfrågor under andra halvan av 2009 när Sverige är ordförandeland för EU. Bidragande orsaker till klimatförändringar är mänskliga utsläpp av växthusgaser. Arbetet med att minska utsläppen sker bland annat genom Kyotoprotokollet, där 160 stater deltar, innehållande bindande åtaganden att minska utsläppen med 5 % fram till 2012. I och med arbetet med att minska växthusgaser är främjandet och utvecklandet av förnyelsebar energi en viktig del, särskilt i form av vindkraft. Kommunernas fysiska planering spelar en viktig roll i detta, t ex i framtagandet av lämpliga områden för etablering av vindkraft. Gävle kommun används som fallstudie och detta arbete ska underlätta förfarandet att ta fram bra beslutsunderlag som varje planerare behöver göra. Syftet med denna studie är att underlätta och effektivisera den fysiska planeringens arbete och väcka medvetenhet för nyttan av GIS. Först sker en sammanställning av en del data som finns tillgängliga på Gävle kommun. Huvudsyftet är att sedan utföra en multikriterieanalys för att hitta lämpliga områden för vindkraftsetablering utifrån sammanställt data. Vindkraft valdes för att det är en viktig del i anpassningsarbetet för att motverka klimatförändringar och har en hög prioritet. Kriterier och motstående intressen till vindkraftsetablering sattes upp och utifrån det utfördes sedan en multikriterieanalys. En fältstudie utfördes för att bedöma resultatets tillförlitlighet och hur resultatet överensstämmer med verkligheten. Resultatet påvisade att det fanns många lämpliga områden för vindkraftsetablering i Gävle kommun och att god överensstämmelse fanns med tidigare framtagna riksintresseområden för vindkraftverk. Fältstudierna visade även på god överensstämmelse med resultatet och verkligheten. Multikriterieanalys är ett kraftfullt verktyg som ger tydliga resultat. Kunskap om metodiken och ämnet, t ex om den ska hitta lämpliga områden för vindkraft krävs god kännedom om vindkraft samt kunskap om data krävs för att metoden ska vara lätt att genomföra. Den ger ett begripligt resultat som har stor genomslagskraft och som det är lätt att ta till sig. Metoden är en väldigt användbar metod för att ta fram bra beslutsunderlag i ett planarbete. / The political focus is today set on questions concerning climate changes and this was proved when Panel of Climate Change and Al Gore were awarded with the Nobel Prize for Peace in the year of 2007. Sweden is the presidency country of the European Union in the second half of 2009 and the main questions are going to be about climate targeted on energy, biodiversity and sustainable development. Some of the things that cause the climate changes are the emission of greenhouse gases made by the human being. To reduce the emission the goal with the Kyoto protocol, accepted by 160 countries, is set to reduce the emission by 5% until 2012. To achieve the goal the development and promoting of renewable energy has an important role, especially wind power. With the aid of physical planning, municipalities have an important role e.g. through compiling basic data for decision-making where suitable areas for wind power are pointed out. Gävle municipality is used as a case study and one of the goals with this thesis is to facilitate the decision that is needed to be made by them who are working with physical planning. Another goal is to awake the awareness of geographical information system potential to be a powerful tool to make physical planning more efficient. As a first part a compilation is made of the data that are accessible in the databases of Gävle municipality. The main issue is to make a multicriteria analysis to find suitable areas for wind power on the compiled data. The theme of wind power was chosen because it is an important part of a sustainable development due to climate changes. Criteria and counteractive interests to wind power were identified and used in a multicriteria analysis. A field study was made to control the result from the multicriteria analysis against reality and there were a good agreement. The result of the multicriteria analysis indicated that there are several suitable areas for wind power within the area of Gävle municipality and this was verified with the areas identified by the County Administration of Gävleborg. Multicriteria analysis is a powerful tool that gives a result that is easy to understand. Knowledge about the method and subject, e.g. finding areas suitable for wind power good knowledge about wind power and data is demanded to make the method easy to perform. The method gives a comprehensible result with a penetrating power and is easy to understand. The method is very useful to compile basic data for decision-making in physical planning.

The pearl oyster Pinctada martensii or Pinctada fucata is the oyster for produce the South China Sea Pearl, and the production of pearl oyster Pinctada martensii plays a key role for the economic and social welfare of the coastal areas. To guarantee both rich and sustainability of providing pearl oyster productions, addressing the suitable areas for aquaculture is a very important consideration in any aquaculture activities. Relatively rarely, in the case of site selection research, the researchers use GIS analysis to identify suitable sites in fishery industry in China. Therefore, I decided to help the local government to search suitable sites form the view of GIS context. This study was conducted to find the optimal sites for suspended culture of pearl oyster Pinctada martensii using GIS-based multi-criteria analysis. The original idea came from the research of Radiarta and his colleagues in 2008 in Japan. Most of the parameters in the GIS model were extracted from remote sensing data (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and Landsat 7). Eleven thematic layers were arranged into three sub-models, namely: biophysical model, social-economic model and constraint model. The biophysical model includes sea surface temperature, chlorophyll-α concentration, suspended sediment concentration and bathymetry. The criteria in the social-economic model are distance to cities and towns and distance to piers. The constraint model was used to exclude the places from the research area where the natural conditions cannot be fulfilled for the development of pearl oyster aquaculture; it contains river mouth, tourism area, harbor, salt fields / shrimp ponds, and non-related water area. Finally those GIS sub-models were used to address the optimal sites for pearl oyster Pinctada martensii culture by using weighted linear combination evaluation. In the final result, suitability levels were arranged from 1 (least suitable) to 8 (most suitable), and about 2.4% of the total potential area had the higher levels (level 6 and 7). These areas were considered to be the places that have the most suitable conditions for pearl oyster Pinctada martensii for costal water of Yingpan.