<p>The public sector in Norway purchases products and services for more then 300 billion NOK per year.</p><p>This purchasing power can play an important role in leveraging the market share of environmentally</p><p>sound products by increasing the level of environmental requirements in public contracts.</p><p>Environmental considerations in public procurement have been on the international agenda since</p><p>the 1992 conference in Rio, and the OECD, the EU and the Nordic Council of Ministers have also</p><p>placed Green Public Procurement (GPP) on their agendas. Together with statements from the 2002</p><p>World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, they all underline GPP as a tool for</p><p>making a shift to more sustainable production and consumption practices.</p><p>In Norway, the Government launched a Norwegian Action Plan on Environmental and Social</p><p>Responsibility in Public Procurement in 2007. The aim of the plan was to encourage the public sector</p><p>to demand environmentally sound products and services. However, several previous studies that</p><p>have assessed the status of GPP show that, despite efforts to promote environmental considerations,</p><p>there is a long way to go before these are fully integrated into public procurement practice</p><p>The aim of this study was to produce information about how widespread the use of environmental</p><p>criteria are in Norway, and to identify what drivers and barriers are seen to influence the GPP status.</p><p>Based on experiences from other studies, the method design chosen was an analysis of tender</p><p>documents complemented by case studies with interviews. Using both methods provided a way of</p><p>balancing the results so as to get the most objective status scores on GPP together with more</p><p>detailed answers on perceived drivers and barriers.</p><p>The results revealed that almost 60% of all tender documents included some kind of environmental</p><p>criteria, but 1/3 of these were so unclear that it was doubtful as to whether or not they would result</p><p>in any green procurement. Of the product groups that were in focus, the one that included paper and</p><p>print was by far the “greenest” of the groups, with the others both containing less GPP and more</p><p>unclear criteria. Compared to other studies this puts Norway at the same level as Sweden, and shows</p><p>a slight improvement in total GPP compared to previous assessments. Still, taking the high amount of</p><p>unclear criteria into account may lower the overall GPP score.</p><p>The interview results indicated that lack of knowledge, focus on economic considerations and</p><p>product functionality, lack of support and management focus and work pressure were the five main</p><p>barriers preventing GPP. Increased co-operation, increased focus from management, simplification of</p><p>criteria and more available products with environmental labels were identified as drivers. The drivers</p><p>and barriers identified correspond to those of previous studies, with some new finding such as</p><p>identifying the lack of product specific knowledge, where previous studies have focused more on lack</p><p>of procurement knowledge.</p><p>The findings are all important when it comes to working out a strategy to follow up the Norwegian</p><p>Action Plan. They give information about the needs identified by the procurement officers</p><p>themselves, thus giving an indication of what initiatives to prioritise.</p>

Environmental awareness has increased during the past 2-3 decades, and companies have gone from simply following legislation to adding environmental considerations into their business plans. The ongoing developments make it interesting to study how leading companies integrate environmental considerations into their product development processes. The aim of this thesis is to study how environmental considerations can be integrated into the product development process. It is based on studies made in the Swedish manufacturing industry. The research has used both quantitative and qualitative methods. The foundation for the conclusion was derived from the four different studies building this thesis. The aggregated conclusion from the studies suggests a conceptual model consisting of four cornerstones that should be addressed in order to ease the integration of environmental concerns: the management, product development process, DfE Mindset, and DfE Tools. The development of this model has its foundation in industrial case studies that show how leading companies have integrated environmental considerations in an innovative way. Combined with the conceptual model is a discussion concerning the usage of existing tools and how sub-activities carried out within the development process are less formal than before. This non-rigid structure is in line with what is suggested in current innovation research for radical innovation, since it enables creativity to flourish and does not limit designers. This freedom of action for the creativity of the personnel in the projects has raised the environmental work to a new level. The thesis also suggests how to use analytical and dialogue-based tools in a development project. It is beneficial to have a dialogue tool in the beginning of a project and in a radical innovation project, while it is beneficial to have an analytical tool later on in a project if more that one tool is used or in an incremental innovation project. / QC 20100820.

- / -

- / -

- / -

Bruttoavverkningen har accelererat de senaste decennierna och i takt med detta har kraven inom skogsbruket ökat. Idag behöver en omfattande miljöhänsyn tas. Detta ställer även högre krav på entreprenörerna. För att entreprenörerna ska klara av att leva upp till kraven är det viktigt att beställaren av tjänsten överlämnar en arbetsinstruktion i samband med avropande av traktuppdrag. Denna arbetsinstruktion och arbetsorder skapas i form av ett traktdirektiv. Ett kvalitativt traktdirektiv betraktas vara viktigt för Fiskarhedens Trävaru AB och för deras entreprenörer. En fallstudie har genomförts för att utvärdera och beskriva företagets nuvarande traktdirektiv. Resultatet visar att dagens traktdirektiv stundtals är bristfälliga genom att de är dåligt ifyllda. Viktigt innehåll kommuniceras därmed ej som det behövs. Ett förslag på nytt, förbättrat traktdirektiv, där innehållet är tänkt att fyllas i bättre, har därför tagits fram. Med hjälp av detta traktdirektiv kan Fiskarheden upprätthålla ett hållbart skogsbruk. / Gross felling has accelerated in recent decades, and as a consequence, the requirements for forestry have increased. Today a comprehensive environmental consideration needs to be taken. This also imposes higher demands on the contractors. In order for contractors to be able to live up to the requirements, it is important that the customer of the service hands over a work instruction in connection to the removal of region assignments. This work instruction and work order is created in the form of a region directive. A qualitative region directive is considered important for Fiskarhedens Trävaru AB and for their contractors. A case study has been conducted to evaluate and describe the company's current region directive. The results show that the current region directive is sometimes inadequate due to that they are poorly completed. Important content is therefore not communicated as needed. A proposal of a new improved region directive, where the content is intended to be filled in better, has therefore been developed. With the help of this region directive, Fiskarheden can maintain sustainable forestry.

The public sector in Norway purchases products and services for more then 300 billion NOK per year. This purchasing power can play an important role in leveraging the market share of environmentally sound products by increasing the level of environmental requirements in public contracts. Environmental considerations in public procurement have been on the international agenda since the 1992 conference in Rio, and the OECD, the EU and the Nordic Council of Ministers have also placed Green Public Procurement (GPP) on their agendas. Together with statements from the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, they all underline GPP as a tool for making a shift to more sustainable production and consumption practices. In Norway, the Government launched a Norwegian Action Plan on Environmental and Social Responsibility in Public Procurement in 2007. The aim of the plan was to encourage the public sector to demand environmentally sound products and services. However, several previous studies that have assessed the status of GPP show that, despite efforts to promote environmental considerations, there is a long way to go before these are fully integrated into public procurement practice The aim of this study was to produce information about how widespread the use of environmental criteria are in Norway, and to identify what drivers and barriers are seen to influence the GPP status. Based on experiences from other studies, the method design chosen was an analysis of tender documents complemented by case studies with interviews. Using both methods provided a way of balancing the results so as to get the most objective status scores on GPP together with more detailed answers on perceived drivers and barriers. The results revealed that almost 60% of all tender documents included some kind of environmental criteria, but 1/3 of these were so unclear that it was doubtful as to whether or not they would result in any green procurement. Of the product groups that were in focus, the one that included paper and print was by far the “greenest” of the groups, with the others both containing less GPP and more unclear criteria. Compared to other studies this puts Norway at the same level as Sweden, and shows a slight improvement in total GPP compared to previous assessments. Still, taking the high amount of unclear criteria into account may lower the overall GPP score. The interview results indicated that lack of knowledge, focus on economic considerations and product functionality, lack of support and management focus and work pressure were the five main barriers preventing GPP. Increased co-operation, increased focus from management, simplification of criteria and more available products with environmental labels were identified as drivers. The drivers and barriers identified correspond to those of previous studies, with some new finding such as identifying the lack of product specific knowledge, where previous studies have focused more on lack of procurement knowledge. The findings are all important when it comes to working out a strategy to follow up the Norwegian Action Plan. They give information about the needs identified by the procurement officers themselves, thus giving an indication of what initiatives to prioritise.

No description available.

This thesis describes an investigation of a model of support for students with emotional/behavioural disorder (EBD) that involves neurologically based behaviour (NBB). Students with EBD that may involve NBB do not consistently respond to the behavioural interventions typically offered in schools. Organic neurological differences and executive functioning deficits may be implicated in neurologically based behaviour. Students who present with neurologically based behaviour characteristics often are said to have a developmentally delayed or undeveloped recognition of cause and effect. Thus, logical consequences and school wide behaviour support systems tend to be ineffective. Some direct service providers now advocate “working from the bottom up” (Nunley, 2005; Deak, 2005; Solomon & Heide, 2005) to address students with violent or aggressive behaviour. In this study, such a bottom up approach involved the use of environmental modification, body awareness, somatic understanding, and various calming techniques and meditative strategies to quiet the physiological responses, triggered from the bottom and mid areas of the brain (Nunley, 2005; Deak, 2005; Solomon & Heide, 2005). Once the midbrain is calmed, higher order interventions, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, conflict resolution, mediation, and others were used to help students process information, put appropriate language to behavioural events, and reframe and redefine their needs in more acceptable terms (Garbarino, 2001, Nunley, 2005; Charles, 2008a). The education system has a legal obligation to educate students with neurologically based behaviour despite the extreme behavioural issues they raise. Educators need to develop additional strategies and techniques to address students with severe behaviour. This thesis highlights a theoretical framework for a model of support for students with emotional/behavioural disorder that involves neurologically based behaviour.

This thesis describes an investigation of a model of support for students with emotional/behavioural disorder (EBD) that involves neurologically based behaviour (NBB). Students with EBD that may involve NBB do not consistently respond to the behavioural interventions typically offered in schools. Organic neurological differences and executive functioning deficits may be implicated in neurologically based behaviour. Students who present with neurologically based behaviour characteristics often are said to have a developmentally delayed or undeveloped recognition of cause and effect. Thus, logical consequences and school wide behaviour support systems tend to be ineffective. Some direct service providers now advocate “working from the bottom up” (Nunley, 2005; Deak, 2005; Solomon & Heide, 2005) to address students with violent or aggressive behaviour. In this study, such a bottom up approach involved the use of environmental modification, body awareness, somatic understanding, and various calming techniques and meditative strategies to quiet the physiological responses, triggered from the bottom and mid areas of the brain (Nunley, 2005; Deak, 2005; Solomon & Heide, 2005). Once the midbrain is calmed, higher order interventions, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, conflict resolution, mediation, and others were used to help students process information, put appropriate language to behavioural events, and reframe and redefine their needs in more acceptable terms (Garbarino, 2001, Nunley, 2005; Charles, 2008a). The education system has a legal obligation to educate students with neurologically based behaviour despite the extreme behavioural issues they raise. Educators need to develop additional strategies and techniques to address students with severe behaviour. This thesis highlights a theoretical framework for a model of support for students with emotional/behavioural disorder that involves neurologically based behaviour.