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With an ageing population, there is a need for elderly to be involved in the technology changes and be involved in finding ways for it to fit them and their needs. Virtual reality is one example of new technology that can be used to engage and help elderly. This, in combination with devising an experience with co-watching and co-location, there is potential to have something where watching creates value for the user. The aim of this thesis was to look at how co-located and co-watched 360-degree films in a head mounted device was experienced by elderly and which implications could be drawn in terms of arranging and executing 360-film sessions. The data was collected through non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Drawing from a thematic analysis two main themes emerged:Enriching the everyday life through new and reminiscing experiencesTogetherness while co-watching depends on external social factors From there, the results are discussed and summarized into six key implications; the role of the administrator, the group composition, value of watching, enhancing the cowatching experience, decrease weight of head mounted devices and the importance of content, to consider in future work. / I en värld med en åldrande befolkning, finns det ett behov av att inkludera äldre människor i hur tekniken förändras och hitta lösningar för tekniken att passa dem och deras behov. Virtual reality är ett exempel på ny teknik som kan användas för att engagera och hjälpa äldre, och detta i kombination med utformningen av en upplevelse med samtittning och samlokalisering finns det potential för att själva tittandet skapar värde för användaren. Syftet med denna uppsats var att se hur samtittande och samlokalisering i en head mounted device vid tittandet av 360-graders filmer upplevdes av äldre människor och vilka slutsatser som kunde dras beträffande arrangemanget och verkställandet av 360films sessioner. All data samlades in via icke-deltagande observation och semistrukturerade intervjuer. Genom att tematiskt analysera all data kunde två huvudteman fastställas:Berika vardagen genom nya och andra minnesvärda upplevelserGemenskapen under samtittande beror på yttre sociala faktorer Därifrån är resultatet av studien diskuterat och sammanfattat i sex viktiga slutsatser att ta hänsyn till i framtiden; rollen som sessionsledare, gruppsammansättningen, värdet i att titta, förbättra upplevelsen av samtittandet, minska vikten på head mounted devices och betydelsen av innehållet i filmerna.

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.

Humankind’s tremendous industrial and technological progress over the last two centuries has been driven by the natural abundance and availability of fossil fuels. As those reserves deplete, the prudent course of action would be to develop other readily available fuel sources. Some research efforts using biomolecules involve the hydrogenases and nitrogenases with the goal of evolving dihydrogen. At the nitrogenase active site, the iron-molybdenum cofactor (FeMo-co) catalyzes the reduction of dinitrogen and protons to form ammonia and dihydrogen. Toward the goal of producing dihydrogen passively as an alternative fuel, a novel advanced material has been developed. CdSe nanoparticles complexed with FeMo-co, in both aqueous and organic solvent systems showed complex formation. When the system was interrogated by EPR spectroscopy, evidence of electron transfer was observed. The CdSeMSA●NafY●FeMo-co system when illuminated with visible light evolved dihydrogen consistently in four different experimental sets under the same reaction conditions. NifEN protein plays an important role in the biosynthesis of FeMo-co in addition to the involvement of NifU, NifS, NifB, NifX, NifH and NafY. After NifB synthesizes a FeMo-co precursor, 6-Fe NifB-co, NifEN further incorporates additional Fe, S, Mo, and (R)-homocitrate to complete the synthesis of FeMo-co. Molybdenum is provided to NifEN as its oxoanion, Mo(VI)O4 2- ; however, in FeMo-co molybdenum is in the oxidation state of Mo(IV). EPR spectroscopic investigation of NifEN turnover samples showed a signal at g = 2.00 that was dependent on molybdate concentration. Power and temperature profiles gave evidence that the g iv = 2.00 EPR signal was distinct from the Fe-S clusters in NifEN. The species observed at g = 2.00 was assigned to the reduction of Mo(VI) to Mo(V). How to utilize the effectiveness of FeMo-co and complex it to photoactive materials for the purpose of evolving dihyrogen upon illumination, thus providing a sustainable alternative energy source is one subject of this dissertation. A related subject is to gain an understanding of the biosynthetic pathway of FeMo-co by investigation of NifEN turnover experiments. This understanding should contribute towards the development of improved catalysts for meeting future energy demands.

This dissertation addresses key questions raised in Human Geography and Economic Geography concerning scale and the production of space, alternative economic geographies and co-operative economic development. It is the product of a five year ethnographic investigation with co-operative enterprises in Western Massachusetts and the broader Connecticut River Valley of Western New England. It explores neglected questions about how subjects are producing co-operative economic identities, enterprises and development strategies amid capitalist cultural dominance; and how structural, financial and governmental aspects of their enterprises participate in cultivating the desire and capacity to expand co-operative space. In line with poststructuralist feminist perspectives within and outside the disciplines of Human and Economic Geography, each chapter challenges ontological presumptions often made about the economy, scale, power and size and offers theoretical contributions based upon empirical research with co-operative enterprises.The three chapters of this dissertation explore the co-production of co-operative space and subjects; the "practices of scale" in the Valley Alliance of Worker Co-operatives; and co-operative development in a regional context. They challenge the presumptions that space and economy are (and must be) structured by capitalism; power is constituted by hierarchy, size and "scale"; and subjects and subjectivity are insignificant to the project of constructive development. Contrary to structuralist critiques of worker co-operatives based upon size, political conservatism and vulnerability, I argue that worker owned enterprises empower workers despite capitalist cultural dominance and relative size.

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While IT-enabled innovations continue to disrupt long-lasting industries, emerging concepts and theories seek to explain implications of digitalisation on its value, competition and organisation. Over the past two decades, the notions of digital capability and business model reconfiguration as antecedents of organisational performance have become increasingly influential in the Information Systems literature. Appreciation of the role of strategic agility, external resources and interorganisational collaborations on IT-enabled value propositions has shaped the core logic and fundamental assumptions of the two aforementioned concepts. Nevertheless, the relationship between digital capability and business model reconfiguration remains underinvested and largely elusive. In order to reconcile such fragmented literature, the aim of this study is to investigate the coevolutionary dynamics of digital capability and business model reconfigurations. Digital capability reflects on the organisational ability to identify IT-enabled opportunities and deploy IS/IT to mobilise resources and structures in order to exploit those opportunities. Business model reconfiguration encapsulates management agenda to elevate value propositions for customers, partners and other stakeholders in order to create and capture value. It entails altering organisational resources and processes to enable such value propositions. Empirical data that is used in this thesis is gathered from an insurance company and contains information about the internal and external contexts, decisions, actions and performance between 2008 and 2016. There are four major phases during this time period. As identified, during each, the company revised its strategic intentions, invested in new IS/IT and human resources and reconfigured its business model. Results of this study illustrate that organisational digital capability drives strategic intentions for co-exploration and co-exploitation of value with partners. Such emerging strategies shape the configuration of the firm’s business model, which in turn leads to investments for generating the required IS competencies. This process increases the organisational digital capability, which affects the future cycles. Development of each IS competency is a result of co- exploration strategies. It is likely that such IS competencies are leveraged for co-exploitation in the future phases. In addition, Business-to-Business (B2B) IS competencies are instrumental in operationalising business models: however, as the number of partners grow and configuration of business models change, dyadic connections are likely to be replaced by standard ones.          Strategies of co-exploration and co-exploitation could lead to innovative, adoptive or evolutionary business model reconfigurations. However, for incumbent organisations, business model innovation seems to follow several business model adaptations and evolutions. That is, a great deal of organisational learning and tinkering with business models, strategic intentions and technological backbone is needed to innovate business models. The final contribution of this research is the analytical model devised for exploring the essence of strategic decision making in dynamic environments. Based on the Appreciative Systems Model, the model illustrates how the perception of the constant flux of events and ideas leads to strategic intentions based on value and reality judgments, which in turn triggers action to operationalise those understandings. Both formulating the intentions and executing them will change future events, perceived ideas and emerging intentions based on evolving values and standards.

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