Buildings, especially in hot climates, consume a lot of energy when people want to be comfortable inside them, which translates to very expensive fees each month. The most innovative response to this problem is renewable energy, that is used, in this case, to run mechanical HVAC systems. Renewable energy is the solution for many problems, but to avoid urban heat islands when using excessive HVAC systems (powered by renewables), and to solve thermal comfort-related problems, there has to be other solution. The major challenge to find it would be to have a change of thinking process. If a building in a hot-arid region uses natural processes to emulate the functions of HVAC systems, and the proper passive strategies, then, it will provide thermal comfort to its users, diminishing the need of a mechanical system. This hypothesis will be carried out by extracting the natural processes found in a specific case in nature, applying them into a building's design, and then simulating its energy efficiency with the adequate software. There will be a comparison of the same proposed building without the natural processes, to have tangible numbers showing that these proposed strategies, in fact, work. With explanatory detailed diagrams and the energy analysis, the hypothesis could be proven correct or incorrect. The significance of this approach relies on the proximity to the natural processes that have been working in different aspects of life since the beginning of time. They have been there all the time, waiting until architects, engineers, and people in general use them, instead of making more new energy-using inventions. By having the numbers from a conventional building and the ones of the proposed building, and the right environmental diagrams, the experiment should be valid. In the near future, there should be more research focused on nature and its processes, in order to be able to reduce the use of mechanical systems, and with that, reduce the energy use and the carbon footprint.

Abstract Historically, design has been associated with unique, handmade products and utilities; however, the advent of the Industrial Revolution introduced the system of mass-production, which generated a recurrent and ambivalent problem: the lack of customized products. Generative Design redresses this issue. This new design method is based on a system of rules, which produce a design that maintains individuality and character. Generative Design takes one away from natural elements and the distinct personalities of designs and products. Forming a design out of certain algorithms and sets of rules constricts it to artificiality and separates it from the natural. Hence, Generative Design has mostly developed without paying close attention to natural processes and human interaction. Based on the research, an attempt has been made to bridge the gap between the artificial and the natural, instituting a dialogue between the two. This study has brought together the two concepts of Generative Design and mass production to produce a series of designs which can be mass-produced yet remain unique because of their connection to the natural world.

<p>Inorganic chlorine (Clinorg) is generally considered to be inert and has been used as a tracer for groundwater movements. This assumption is thereby fundamental for current knowledge about soil biogeochemistry. However, recent work showed that Clinorg can be retained, i.e. immobilised, in soil, which contradicts the previous assumptions. The aim of this laboratory study was to investigate if the processes that immobilise Clinorg in soil are affected by molecular oxygen (O2), and if the immobilisation occurs in the top soil layer only or also further down were the soil structure is different from the upper soil layer. Two experimental set-ups have been established. In the first experiment regarding the O2 regime (OXANIS), the immobilisation of Clinorg was studied in soil under oxic and anoxic conditions, respectively. In a second incubation study (SOLIS) the immobilisation was studied under oxic conditions in different layers of a coniferous forest soil. To investigate the immobilisation of Clinorg, a method using radiolabelled chloride 36 (36Clinorg) was applied. The use of radiolabelled chloride is an excellent and reliable method for studying transformation processes in soil systems. The results of the laboratory study showed that Clinorg retention rates under oxic conditions were much higher than retention rates under anoxic conditions, indicating an important role of O2. Furthermore, the immobilisation of Clinorg occurred in all soil layers were oxygen is provided, but rates were highest in the top soil layer (organic layer, O-horizon). Clearly, O2 influenced the net Clinorg retention, but additional studies are required to identify the processes behind this result. The calculated immobilisation rates for Clinorg in the three soil horizons correspond to the amount of organic material detected in the different soil horizons indicating a strong connection between the occurrence of organic matter in soil and the immobilisation of Clinorg.</p>

Inorganic chlorine (Clinorg) is generally considered to be inert and has been used as a tracer for groundwater movements. This assumption is thereby fundamental for current knowledge about soil biogeochemistry. However, recent work showed that Clinorg can be retained, i.e. immobilised, in soil, which contradicts the previous assumptions. The aim of this laboratory study was to investigate if the processes that immobilise Clinorg in soil are affected by molecular oxygen (O2), and if the immobilisation occurs in the top soil layer only or also further down were the soil structure is different from the upper soil layer. Two experimental set-ups have been established. In the first experiment regarding the O2 regime (OXANIS), the immobilisation of Clinorg was studied in soil under oxic and anoxic conditions, respectively. In a second incubation study (SOLIS) the immobilisation was studied under oxic conditions in different layers of a coniferous forest soil. To investigate the immobilisation of Clinorg, a method using radiolabelled chloride 36 (36Clinorg) was applied. The use of radiolabelled chloride is an excellent and reliable method for studying transformation processes in soil systems. The results of the laboratory study showed that Clinorg retention rates under oxic conditions were much higher than retention rates under anoxic conditions, indicating an important role of O2. Furthermore, the immobilisation of Clinorg occurred in all soil layers were oxygen is provided, but rates were highest in the top soil layer (organic layer, O-horizon). Clearly, O2 influenced the net Clinorg retention, but additional studies are required to identify the processes behind this result. The calculated immobilisation rates for Clinorg in the three soil horizons correspond to the amount of organic material detected in the different soil horizons indicating a strong connection between the occurrence of organic matter in soil and the immobilisation of Clinorg.

This thesis aims to discuss the archaeological concerns about how surveys can provide data tht is meaningful to construct spatial patterning and its intricacies for inferences through altering processes diversified as cultural and natural processes. Along with that there is also a second concern dealing with the application of these theoretical issues to practical basis. It consists both methodological limits and also limits governed by the legislation of the particular area according to the aim of the study. A particular space, semi-arid climate is selected for comparing the amount of attrition and accretion caused by natural factors, to be able to apply the studies to Anatolian geography. However applications from around the world are frequently discussed here, these are mainly the case studies bringing methodological scheme for the appropriate data collection.

Contained herein is a close examination of self-awareness and self-portraiture as it applies to the works of artist Jeffrey Hoffman. Water, frozen into various forms and combined with natural elements of wood, slowly melt over an indeterminable amount of time, each droplet documented as the process transforms the elements. Through this process, we see change. We see time. We see truth. This documentation of change and time through natural elements is where the artwork comes full circle. Working with new media to explore man's interconnectivity to life, energy, and the cosmos, he produces time based installations, photographs, videos, and sculptures that serve as both existential metaphors and Tantric symbols. With the use of digital cameras and video, a record is created by which the disintegration which occurs from the unseen forces of gravity, heat and time upon sculptures made from natural elements and ice is examined. In its sculptural form, his work can be categorized as Installation art and Performance art due to its evolving nature. Each piece is intended to either change over time or to have that change halted by another temporal force like that of flowing electricity. The possibility of allowing varying levels of self-awareness to emerge through self portraiture is also examined. The existential, as well as the metaphysical, can be present in a physical form when the form is imbued with evidence of an evolutionary process. In many ways, the work serves as a self portrait. It is a means for Hoffman to examine his own existentialism as a student of the modern western world and life.

The argument advanced is this thesis is that the entities that make up the environment are those that do not owe their origin to any willful creative activity but have evolved through accidental natural processes. This fact of not being willfully created makes the environment ontologically independent and confers on it intrinsic value as opposed to instrumental value. This intrinsic value is one that all the entities that make up the environment share. It is further argued that this intrinsic value is aesthetic rather than moral. Only beings that are specially endowed with certain capacities, like reflection and understanding, could be said, in the context of this work, to have intrinsic moral value in the sense of being moral agents. But as moral agents, we need to give moral considerability to all the natural entities in the environment since they share the same natural right with us, based on our common origin. So, even though the nonhuman, natural entities in the environment do not have moral rights, they have natural rights. It is further argued that this natural right could be best safeguarded in a legal framework.

The argument advanced is this thesis is that the entities that make up the environment are those that do not owe their origin to any willful creative activity but have evolved through accidental natural processes. This fact of not being willfully created makes the environment ontologically independent and confers on it intrinsic value as opposed to instrumental value. This intrinsic value is one that all the entities that make up the environment share. It is further argued that this intrinsic value is aesthetic rather than moral. Only beings that are specially endowed with certain capacities, like reflection and understanding, could be said, in the context of this work, to have intrinsic moral value in the sense of being moral agents. But as moral agents, we need to give moral considerability to all the natural entities in the environment since they share the same natural right with us, based on our common origin. So, even though the nonhuman, natural entities in the environment do not have moral rights, they have natural rights. It is further argued that this natural right could be best safeguarded in a legal framework.

Behovet av klimatanpassning i kustområden är stort, och fortsätter öka världen över. Naturbaserade lösningar (NBS) är flexibla och multifunktionella åtgärder som samverkar med naturliga processer, vilket gör dem anpassningsbara till förändrade förhållanden, till skillnad från hårda kustskydd. Genom denna studies kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra skånska kustkommuner har förutsättningar för NBS att främja klimatanpassning visats vara på god väg. Kustkommunerna ser NBS som ett självklart förstahandsval inom kustskydd. NBS har fått större genomslag i och med ökat samarbete på lokal, regional, nationell och internationell nivå genom nätverk och projekt, vilket har möjliggjort stort utbyte av praktiska lärdomar och kunskap om NBS, naturliga processer och klimatförändringars effekt i kustområden. Samverkan är en viktig del i klimatanpassningsarbetet där samlad expertis bidrar till gemensam förståelse för NBS funktion och mervärden. Idag finns konsensus om ett naturbaserat arbetssätt, där tjänstepersoners och eldsjälars kunskap, intresse och engagemang spelar en avgörande roll för det kommunala arbetet med NBS. Deltagande i NBS-projekt ger mer praktisk erfarenhet och synliggör åtgärdernas positiva effekter, vilket i sin tur kan skapa lokala politiska incitament för att integrera och använda NBS ytterligare i klimatanpassningsarbetet. Dock påträffas flertalet svårigheter, i huvudsak gällande förlegad lagstiftning som inte är kompatibel med NBS flexibilitet, tidskrävande och komplicerade tillståndsprocesser samt frånvaron av uttalat tillvägagångssätt gällande gränsöverskridande åtgärder för hur kommuner, myndigheter samt enskilda fastighetsägare ska samarbeta och dela på ansvaret. För att kunna normalisera och skala upp implementering behöver NBS bli inkluderade som standardalternativ vid beslut om olika kustskyddsåtgärder. Svenska kustkommuner kommer behöva ta ställning och diskutera acceptansen för klimatförändringars olika grad av påverkan i kustområden, där obekväma beslut och övervägandet av andra strategier såsom förändrad markanvändning och planerad reträtt väntas bli mer påträngande. Studiens resultat kan förhoppningsvis uppmuntra naturbaserade insatser inom svenskt klimatanpassningsarbete ytterligare, för att säkerhetsställa levande kustområden där natur och samhällen kan bevaras och klimatsäkras för dagens och framtida klimatförändringar. / The need for climate adaptation in coastal areas is great, and continues to increase worldwide. Nature-based solutions (NBS) are flexible and multifunctional measures that interact with natural processes, which makes them adaptable to changing conditions, as opposed to hard coastal protection. Through this study's qualitative interviews with four southern Swedish coastal municipalities, the conditions for NBS to promote climate adaptation have been shown to be on the right track. The coastal municipalities see NBS as an obvious first choice in coastal protection. NBS have had a greater breakthrough by increased cooperation at local, regional, national and international level through networks and projects, which has enabled a great exchange of practical lessons and knowledge about NBS, natural processes and the effect of climate change in coastal areas. Collaboration is an important part of the climate adaptation work, where collective expertise contributes to a common understanding of NBS' function and co-benefits. Today, there is consensus on a nature-based approach, where the knowledge, interest and commitment of officials and champions play a crucial role in the municipal work with NBS. Participation in NBS projects provides more practical experience and highlights the positive effects of the measures, which in turn can create local political incentives to further integrate and implement NBS in climate adaptation work. However, many difficulties are encountered, mainly regarding outdated legislation that is not compatible with NBS flexibility, time-consuming and complicated permit processes, and the absence of a stated approach regarding cross-border measures for how municipalities, authorities and individual property owners should cooperate and share responsibility. To be able to normalize and scale up implementation, NBS needs to be included as a standard alternative when deciding on various coastal protection measures. Swedish coastal municipalities will need to take a stand and discuss acceptance of climate change's different level of impact in coastal areas, where uncomfortable decisions and the consideration of other strategies such as changed land-use and planned retreat are expected to become more intrusive. The results of the study can hopefully encourage nature-based initiatives in Swedish climate adaptation work further, to ensure living coastal areas where nature and communities can be preserved and climate-secured for current and future climate change.