There is a lot of talk about the necessity of creating accessibility within cities, but is it created for everyone? A multitude of different disabilities exists and this study focuses on the accessibility for the visually impaired in Stockholm. Persons with visually impairment have it more difficult to participate in the physical and social environment on the same terms as a person with full vision, and it is therefore important to create an environment where they can participate. The group of visually impaired is highly diverse with many kinds of impairments and their own needs, which makes it difficult to create only one solution. In Sweden there are laws and regulations regarding accessibility. The municipality of Stockholm uses the laws as a foundation for their guidelines and work with accessibility adjustments.  The purpose with this thesis is to give an insight to the problems in the urban environment that the visually impaired experience and how they can be solved, and to raise awareness of the deficiencies in the urban environment. To fulfil the purpose a literature study and a case study have been conducted. The case study is composed of observations of the urban environment and its adjustments in design and interviews with four persons with different kinds of visually impairments. The focus during the interviews has been on the everyday experiences and struggles created by the design and what kind of aids they use. An interview with the Traffic Administration Office (Trafikkontoret) regarding their work with accessibility, have been done to complement the case study. The results are showing that the probing cane, guide dog, an accompanying person, GPS and apps are the most commonly used aid tools. The tools are typically used in combination with each other, but are not sufficient enough to let the visually impaired independently move around in new environments. Digital aid which is not dependent on adjustments in the urban environment are being tested, however adjustments in the physical environment will still remain important. The biggest problems in the city are obstacles blocking the walking path and large open spaces. Open spaces can be improved by distinctive guide paths. Contrasts in colour and structure have been a huge aid to discover obstacles and elements such as crossovers and bus stops in the environment. / Det pratas mycket om vikten av att skapa tillgänglighet i städer, men blir det anpassat för alla? Det finns många olika funktionsnedsättningar och den här studien har valt att undersöka hur tillgängligheten är för synskadade i Region Stockholm. Personer med synskador har svårare att delta i den fysiska och sociala miljön på samma villkor som personer med fullt seende och det är därför viktigt att skapa förutsättningar för att de ska kunna delta. Gruppen synskadade är en väldigt heterogen grupp med många olika typer av synnedsättningar som har olika behov och det blir därför svårt att skapa en lösning som fungerar bra för alla. Sverige har olika lagar som sätter en grund för hur tillgänglighet ska arbetas med. Stockholms stad följer dessa och har de som grund till sina riktlinjer för tillgänglighetsanpassningar och arbetet kring det.  Syftet med detta arbete är att få en inblick i vilka problem synskadade personer kan uppleva när de rör sig i stadsmiljön och hur de skulle kunna lösas, och med det öka kunskapen om vilka brister det finns. För att kunna uppfylla syftet har en litteraturstudie samt en fallstudie gjorts. Fallstudien består av platsobservationer för att studera hur stadsmiljön är anpassad för synskadade, och intervjuer med fyra individer med olika synskador. Intervjuerna innehåller framförallt deras vardagliga problem och hinder de möter i utformningen av stadsmiljön, vilka hjälpmedel de använder samt deras önskemål om förbättringar. Fallstudien har även kompletterats med en intervju med Trafikkontoret för att få en inblick i hur de jobbar.  Resultatet visar att de hjälpmedel som finns att användas idag huvudsakligen är teknikkäpp, ledarhund, ledsagare, GPS och appar. Dessa kombineras vanligtvis med varandra, men ingen av de är tillräckligt bra för att en synskadad person ska ta sig fram på egen hand i nya miljöer. Digitala hjälpmedel som inte är beroende av fysiska anpassningar testas och är under utveckling, men anpassningar i stadsmiljön kommer fortsatt vara viktigt. De största problemen i stadsmiljön är att ta sig runt hinder som blockerar vägen och stora öppna ytor. Öppna ytor kan förbättras genom tydliga ledstråk. Kontraster i både färg och struktur är till stor hjälp för att upptäcka hinder och andra inslag i stadsmiljön som övergångsställen och busshållplatser.

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Le sommeil s’avère crucial pour le bien-être de l’organisme. En particulier, le sommeil est une période privilégiée pour le maintien et la plasticité du cortex. En outre, de nombreuses études ont démontré son importance dans les processus de mise à l’échelle des synapses neuronales, la consolidation mnésique, la régularisation des émotions ainsi que la performance cognitive. La période et la structure du sommeil sont gouvernées par deux processus, soit la pression homéostatique et le rythme circadien. Le rythme circadien endogène, généré par le noyau suprachiasmatique de l’hypothalamus, se maintient synchronisé au rythme jour-nuit environnemental par l’information photique provenant des cellules ganglionnaires intrinsèquement photoréceptrices de la rétine. Par conséquent, la lumière et le fonctionnement de la rétine s’avèrent importants pour le maintien du rythme circadien et, en conséquence, le sommeil. De ce fait, il n’est pas surprenant que la cécité soit reliée à une plus grande fréquence de troubles du sommeil. Ceux-ci proviennent, du moins en partie, de rythmes circadiens non-synchronisés ou en libre cours causé par l’absence d’information photique. La cécité induit aussi une modulation anatomique et fonctionnelle du cortex, en particulier dans les aires visuelles. Cette réorganisation corticale peut, donc, aussi moduler l’activité corticale lors de l’état de sommeil. Les études, qui font l’objet de cette présente thèse, visent à investiguer les effets de la cécité sur la période et la structure du sommeil. En particulier, des données comportementales et physiologiques furent comparées entre un groupe de participants avec cécité, ne reportant aucune perception visuelle résiduelle, et un groupe contrôle de participants ayant une vision normale. La cécité était d’origine congénitale chez la moitié des participants et elle fut acquise plus tard dans la vie chez les autres participants aveugles. Les présentes études rapportent sur la qualité de leur sommeil, le rythme éveil-sommeil, la phase du rythme circadien, ainsi que la macro- et microstructure de leur sommeil. En lien avec les études antérieures, les aveugles démontrent une plus grande fréquence de phases anormales du rythme circadien, de troubles du sommeil et de déstabilisation du rythme éveil-sommeil. De plus, bien que la structure du sommeil demeure généralement présente en absence de vision, certaines modulations électrophysiologiques furent observées. En particulier, des différences dans l’activité corticale lors du sommeil NREM observées entre les aveugles congénitaux et les aveugles tardifs suggèrent que la réorganisation corticale, provenant de la perte de vision, peut être observée lors du sommeil. De plus, la modulation des aires corticales visuelles associée avec la cécité résulte en une absence de certaines composantes caractéristiques des différents stades du sommeil. Notamment, l’oscillation occipitale de fréquence alpha observée lors d’un état de repos et lors de l’endormissement se voit absente chez les aveugles. Les résultats démontrent que la modulation du rythme circadien ainsi que la réorganisation corticale associée avec la cécité agissent sur la période et la structure caractéristique du sommeil. / Sleep is a crucial state for the wellbeing of humans. More specifically, sleep is a privileged period for cortical maintenance and plasticity. Accordingly, numerous studies have demonstrated the importance of sleep in synaptic downscaling processes, memory consolidation, emotional regulation, as well as cognitive performance. The timing and structure of sleep is shown to be governed by two main processes: the homeostatic pressure and the circadian rhythm. In turn, the endogenous circadian rhythm, produced by the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, is entrained to the day-night environmental cycle by photic input from the intrinsically photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells. Thus, light is necessary for the proper entrainment of the circadian rhythm, and consequently, for sleep. It is, therefore, not surprising that blindness is associated with a greater incidence of sleep disturbances. Specifically, these disturbances can be, in part, explained by abnormal or free-running circadian rhythms resulting from the absence of photic input. Further, absence of visual input also induces anatomical and functional changes throughout the brain, and specifically in the visual cortical areas. Such cortical reorganisation could, potentially, also modulate the cortical activity of sleep. The studies that compose the present thesis aim to expand upon the effects of blindness on the timing and structure of sleep. Specifically, both behavioural and physiological data were collected and compared between a group of blind participants, reporting no conscious light perception, and a control group of normal sighted participants. In the blind group, half of the participants were born blind, while the other half had acquired blindness later in life. The studies report on the various components of sleep, including its quality, the sleep-wake rhythm, the phase of the circadian rhythm, as well as its macro- and microstructure. In line with previous studies, a larger incidence of abnormal circadian phase, sleep disturbances, and reduced sleepiv wake stability were observed in the blind group. Further, although the macro- and microstructure of sleep remains generally present in the absence of vision, certain electrophysiological differences were, nevertheless, observed. Differences in NREM cortical activity observed between the congenitally and late blind participants suggest that the cortical reorganisation associated with the absence of vision may be detected through electrophysiological recordings of sleep. Further, modulations of cortical activity in blindness also resulted in the absence of certain characteristics of the different stages of sleep. Namely, occipital alpha oscillations, typically observed during a quiet resting state and in the transition from wake to sleep, are absent in blind individuals. These results, therefore, demonstrate that both the circadian rhythm abnormalities and the cortical reorganisation that is associated with the absence of vision can influence both the timing and the structure of sleep in blind individuals.

One of the biggest issues facing VR as a platform is the limitation of the user’s physical space. Not everyone has a lab, empty warehouse, or open space in their home or office, and even if they do, the hardware also limits the physical space the user can take advantage of. Fitting the entirety of the environment within few square meters is a strict limitation for many applications. A method of moving the user within a larger space is needed, but current methods come with drawbacks. Developing a new movement method that avoids these drawbacks will help ensure a better experience for the user.

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This design-based research provides design considerations for developing educational tools for teaching programming to blind primary schoolers, as an effort towards more inclusive classrooms, given that the tools available today are not accessible to these students. Existing tools were analyzed and tested, and co-design practices were applied in exploring ‘instructions’ as a main logic operation for computer programming, through experimenting with diverse types of interfaces, having visually impaired participants at the center of the process. Physical and mental patterns, relevant for improving the accessibility of such tools, are unveiled and further discussed in this study.

The licentiate thesis examines what spending time in a forest garden can offer children when this environment is used for teaching aimed at sustainability. What do the children remember from their visits to the forest garden? What do they find special or memorable? What can the children learn there? To answer such questions, walk-and-talk conversations were conducted with children who for a three-year period had regularly visited a forest garden during school hours. The overall purpose of the licentiate thesis is to deepen knowledge about what spending time in a forest garden in a school context can offer children, reflected from the children's perspectives. Furthermore, the thesis aims to deepen knowledge about walk-and-talk conversations as a data collection method when children are respondents. This leads to the research questions: 1. In what ways can walk-and-talk conversations as a data collection method reflect children's perspectives in an environment and in relation to places? What are the possibilities and limitations of the method? 2. What significance do forest garden visits in a pedagogical context aimed at learning for sustainability have from the children's perspective? The theoretical starting points of the licentiate thesis draw on social studies of childhood, ecological literacy and affordances. Another concept that emerged in the analysis process was plant blindness. Data consisted of audio-recorded walk-and-talk conversations, children's photographs and recorded informal, supplementary interviews. A total of 28 children (11 boys and 17 girls) participated in sub-studies II and III. The children were aged 7-9 years, but most were 9 years old. The licentiate thesis consists of three sub-studies: Sub-study I is a literature review that focuses on opportunities, limitations, and challenges in using walk-and-talk conversations as a data collection method with children and young people. Walk-and-talk conversations can increase opportunities to capture children's perspectives and help to reduce power imbalances between children and researchers. However, analysing data from child-led walks and conversations can be challenging, while awareness of the researcher's own position and assumptions becomes particularly important. Sub-study II deals with the forest garden from children’s perspective. The first category, ‘to appreciate the place the forest garden’, contained the following themes: physical work, relationships with animals and plants, aesthetic and edible aspects and food, and friends. Most of the children enjoyed staying in the forest garden with its natural features. They valued the care of living organisms and felt that spending time in the forest garden was fun and exciting. In the second category, ‘aspects of learning in the forest garden’, the following themes emerged; practical skills, coexistence and caring, and biological knowledge and ecological understanding. Sub-study III deals with the four most photographed phenomena in the forest garden. The first were the plants, including trees and shrubs, which provided sensual, aesthetic and emotional affordances. The second was the pond, which provided physical affordances and wishes, while the third, the barbecue area, provided social affordances. Finally, the tipi provided affordances for privacy and imagination. To conclude: children's forest garden visits, with learning and nature encounters, can contribute to sustainable development. The investigated forest garden was an outdoor environment designed for children with natural features and with a focus on organic farming, where the forest garden educators helped to create a framework for both learning and relational opportunities. Developing ecological literacy in the new generation is a crucial concern, and the results of the licentiate thesis suggest that establishing educational outdoor environments where children receive parts of their education can contribute to the development of such literacy. The creation of outdoor environments for children is thus an important sustainability issue. / Licentiatuppsatsen undersöker vad skogträdgårdsvistelser kan erbjuda barn när en sådan miljö används för undervisning riktad mot hållbarhet. Det övergripande syfte är att fördjupa kunskap om vad skogsträdgårdsvistelser i en skolkontext kan tillföra barn, speglat utifrån barnens perspektiv. Vidare syftar uppsatsen till att fördjupa kunskaper om samtalspromenader som datainsamlingsmetod när barn är respondenter. Licentiatuppsatsens teoretiska utgångspunkter tar avstamp i barndomssociologi (Social Studies of Childhood), ekologisk litteracitet och affordances. Ett annat begrepp som framkom efter analysprocessen var växtblindhet. Den undersökta skogsträdgården, var en natur- och utomhusmiljö med inriktning mot ekologisk odling designad för barn, där skogsträdgårdspedagogernas pedagogiska inramning bidrog till att skapa både pedagogiska och relationella möjligheter. Metodvalet har varit ljudupptagna samtalspromenader, barns fotografier samt inspelade informella, kompletterande intervjuer. Sammanfattningsvis visar resultaten att barns skogsträdgårdsvistelser, lärande och naturmöten bidra till hållbar utveckling. Utvecklandet av ekologisk litteracitet hos den uppväxande generationen måste betraktas som central, och licentiatuppsatsens resultat pekar mot att anläggandet av pedagogiska utomhusmiljöer där barn får delar av sin undervisning kan bidra till utvecklandet av sådan litteracitet. Tillskapandet av utomhusmiljöer för barn är därför en viktig hållbarhetsfråga.

D. Litt et Phil. (Literature and Philosophy) / Eye health promotion is an important aspect of VISION 2020 campaign that aims to eliminate unwarranted cases of avoidable blindness worldwide by the year 2020. Most developing countries, including South Africa, have a serious burden of eye diseases and unwarranted causes of visual impairment and blindness. The purpose of this research therefore was to highlight the lack of an integrated eye health promotion policy in the South African primary health care system which can play a major role in the elimination of this burden of disease and also to make proposals for eye health promotion policy development in South Africa. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods was used in this study. Questionnaires and interviews were conducted with all national and provincial health managers of portfolios relevant to eye care. Also, various health policy documents were requested from the National and Provincial Department of Health to ascertain claims of any existing guidelines on eye care. The policy documents and guidelines obtained had no specific reference to eye health promotion. Only 11 (23%) of the managers of provincial health directorates reported that they have integrated vision screening in their health promotion programmes as part of eye health promotion strategies. Eye care managers in the provinces reported that school visits accounted for 75% of eye health promotion programmes target areas. Also, apart from the Northern Cape Province which has no eye care manager and consequently no eye health promotion programmes, the Western Cape Province also does not have eye health promotion programmes and relies mostly on private sector for eye care services. The lack of an integrated eye health promotion policy and most probably the lack of a dedicated directorate that deals with eye health promotion issues may be a contributing factor to the overwhelming lack of integrated eye health promotion activities in South Africa. It is therefore recommended that an integrated eye health promotion model be developed and be part of the South African primary health care system. / Health Studies