There is a tendency in archaeology dealing with watercraft landing sites in a wider context to assume a direct relationship between sites in coastal and shore-bound areas and the practise of landing, without any deeper practical or theoretical exploration of the reality of any such relationship. This problem has its origins in the poor archaeological and conceptual definitions of watercraft landing sites obstructing any real understanding of the role of these sites in the maritime cultural landscape. Landing sites are taken for granted and they are undervalued as an archaeological source of explanation; notwithstanding, the concept of the landing site is readily used in archaeology in order to underpin archaeological interpretations on the maritime activities of past societies. In order to break away from the simplified understandings of past water-bound strategies based on the undefined concept of the landing site, this dissertation suggests a definition of watercraft landing sites in a wider social sense as water-bound contact zones; places of social interaction that can be archaeologically identified and investigated. This perspective integrates the understanding of the intentional character of human activity related to watercraft landing with the remaining archaeological traces. Archaeological definitions of landing sites that can be tested against the archaeological data are provided, and thereby, the dissertation contributes with the possibility to archaeologically evaluate and approach the social function of watercraft landing sites. This dissertation demonstrates that there can be an archaeology of landing sites.

Today, there is a general notion that water resources are best managed according to their river basins. River basin management may be approached from a wide variety of angles. This thesis focuses on information management, institutional arrangements and strategic policy support, with special reference to the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). The overall objective is to examine strategies, possibilities and hindrances for river basin management, with the ultimate goal of identifying key aspects to be considered - and prioritised - for “successful” European water management and WFD implementation. An assessment of the information management of three transboundary water regimes in Europe showed that a technical/scientific paradigm ap-pears to dominate in river basin accords. This is visible, for example, in the data collection, which is dominated by state and environmental impact information, and the use of passive channels for communicating with stakeholders and other interest groups. The studies addressing institutional arrangements for river basin management according to the WFD showed that the implementa-tion level of the directive is relatively low – both at national and international levels. For instance, competent authorities have not been established (strictly) according to the borders of the estab-lished River Basin District (RBDs). Further, in international RBDs, the ambitions and plans for cooperation vary considerably. Despite the general low implementation level, steps have still been taken in the “direction” of river basin management. At the national level, all examined countries have established RBDs according to river basins, and at the international level, joint river basin management plans will probably be coordinated for a majority of river basins shared by EU Member States. However, the same pattern could not be discerned for river basins extending outside the borders of the EU. In order to support strategic policy making on issues related to the implementation of the WFD, two assessments were made, one addressing international co-operation and water quality in the Baltic Sea Region, and one encompassing rankings of all the newly established RBDs based on a number of identical indicators. Although there is a need to refine these assessments, they may be regarded as simple – but yet robust – models for bench-marking. / QC 20100914

Syftet är att evaluera Baselramverkets riskreglering i en konjunkturcykel med hänsyn till Östersjöregionens storbankers systemviktiga funktion. Studien antar främst en kvantitativ ansats i de två första delarna, nyckeltalsanalysen och buffertsimuleringen men även en kvalitativ ansats antas i den tredje delen, intervjuer.  Studien utgår från teorierna om Basel I och Basel II, nyckeltalsteori samt från tidigare forskning. Resultatet i studien består av nyckeltalanalys och simulering av åtta, i Östersjöregionen verksamma, bankers nyckeltal och buffert under 21 år samt sex djupintervjuer med representanter för såväl banker som regulatorer.  Slutsatser Att det inte finns något samband mellan Baselregleringens kapitaltäckning och bankernas risk eller konjunktur, att riskvägningen tenderar till att vara godtycklig och har större påverkan på buffert än Baselregleringens kapitaltäckning samt att mer transparens behövs i bankerna tyder på att Baselregleringens kapitaltäckningskrav i mycket liten utsträckning visar Östersjöregionens storbankers faktiska risk. / The purpose is to evaluate the Basel framework risk regulation in an economic cycle, in account to the systemic function of the large banks in the Baltic Sea region. The study mainly adopts a quantitative approach in the two first parts, the key ratio analysis and the buffer simulation. A qualitative element is also implemented in the third part, interviews. In a theoretical perspective the study is based on the Basel I and Basel II framework, key ratio theories and previously conducted research.  The result consists of key ratios analysis and buffer simulation for eight banks in the Baltic Sea region for a period of 21 years and interviews with six representatives of banks and regulatory institutions.  Conclusion                                   The absence of correlation between the Basel regulation capital adequacy and the bank risk nor economic cycle, that risk weighting tends to be arbitrary and have greater impact on bank buffer than capital adequacy regulation has, and that more transparency is needed in banking; suggests that the Basel capital adequacy to a small extent reflect actual risk.

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This study is conducted with the purpose to unfold hidden sides of the EU – Russian energy cooperation and to shed a light on possible reasons for existing problems that have rarely been voiced before. This study provides an alternative view on the role of the Baltic Sea region in the overall EU – Russian energy dialogue and its current situation. In this research the historical observation of the energy interdependence regime development is examined and the crucial turning points in the energy interdependence like the EU enlargement 2004, the gas cut offs 2006 and 2009, and crises 2014 are reconsidered. The energy security policies of the EU and Russia are analyzed by adopting the realist approach and applied to the case of the Baltic Sea region. Furthermore, based on the regional complex security theory and interdependence theory, the way how interstate gas relations in the Baltic Sea region affect the EU – Russian interdependence is discussed.

Diploma thesis "Nordic Cooperation. Its Transformation in the Second Half of the 20th Century and Its Current Shape" deals with the Nordic cooperation among Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden from the second half of the 20th century with the focus on the period from the 1990s till 2008. At the beginning, there is an introduction to the history of cooperation in Scandinavia till the 1990s and a description of two main institutions of the Nordic cooperation: the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers. The main chapter analyses the Nordic cooperation from the 1990s, it focuses on areas and intensity of the cooperation and describes concrete programmes, projects, institutions, targets and results of the cooperation. The thesis also deals with the question of the impact of the three Baltic States involvement in the Nordic cooperation in the 1990s. The answer is that the internal Nordic cooperation has been developing very intensively - it was demonstrated by the analysis of the Nordic cooperation in the 1990s in the main chapter - without any affecting of the Baltic States involvement in the main. On the contrary, the Baltic States involvement has brouhgt the external opportunity for the Nordic countries to integrate into the cooperation in the Baltic Sea region.

This essay examines policy discourses in the 30th Baltic Parliamentary Conference held in 2021. By examining several policy proposals from the resolution adopted by the participants, as well as related key documents and speeches from parliamentarians, the underlying assumptions and logics shaping these policys are examined. The thesis analyses whether there are gendered patterns in the policy discourses. The policy areas examined are about cooperation, identity, climate, and the environment. The material is analysed by combining the theory feminist discursive institutionalism and by using Carol Bacchi's method "What's the problem represented to be?". The conclusions are that there are many underlying problematisations that contribute to shaping policies in the 30th Baltic Sea Conference, which are supported by hidden gender coded language. The problematisations underpinning the policys are ”hiding” other ways of evaluating and shaping problems, solutions, and policy areas.

Ausgehend von der Annahme, dass die Ostseeregion primär eine von Städten und urbanen Zentren geprägte Region ist, untersucht diese Studie die Entstehung und Entwicklung grenzüberschreitender Zusammenarbeit von Großstradtregionen im Ostseeraum. Auf der Grundlage poststrukturalistischer Forschungsansätze ergänzt durch Governancetheorien wird ein umfassendes theoretisches Instrumentarium erarbeitet, mit dem drei Fälle grenzüberschreitender Zusammenarbeit von Großstadtregionen aus der Ostseeregion untersucht werden. Die konzeptionelle Grundidee besteht hierbei darin, Vergleichbarkeit nicht durch die Anwendung vorher festgelegter Kriterien, sondern durch die Formulierung und Anwendung eines gleichbleibenden Katalogs offener Forschungsfragen herzustellen. Zunächst werden für diese Arbeit drei Einzelfallstudien zur Öresundregion, Göteborg-Oslo Region und der Euregio Helsinki-Tallinn erstellt. Dann werden in einer vergleichenden Gegenüberstellung Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede erarbeitet und auf dieser Grundlage Faktoren, welche die Entstehung und Entwicklung grenzüberschreitender Zusammenarbeit begünstigen, abgeleitet. Darüber hinaus rückt das Ergebnis der Analyse drei weitere Aspekte für die Entwicklung grenzüberschreitende Zusammenarbeit in den Mittelpunkt, die in angewendeten theoretischen Ansätzen bisher unberücksichtigt geblieben sind, die aber erheblichen Einfluss auf die Entwicklung der einzelnen Region haben: geographische Lage, Timing und Marginalisierung. / Based on the assumption that the Baltic Sea Region is primarily composed of cities and urban areas, this study explores the evolution and development of the cross-border cooperation of large urban areas in the Baltic Sea Region. Using post-structuralist theoretical approaches supplemented with governance theory, the study develops a comprehensive theoretical tool for the analysis of three cases of cross-border cooperation of urban areas in the Balitc Sea Region. The conceptual idea was to safeguard comparability through the application of a common set of open research questions, rather than to apply a set of pre-given criteria. First, this piece of research provides the three single case studies of the Oresund Region, the Gothenburg-Oslo Region and the Euregio Helsinki-Tallinn. Then a comparative analysis elaborates on the commonalities and differences and derives supporting factors for cross-border cooperation based on that background. Finally, the comparative analysis also points to three additional relevant aspects for the development of cross-border cooperation that have not been included into the theoretical approaches but which had remarkable influence on the development of the single cases: geographical localisation, timing and marginalisation.