This Master Thesis “Evaluation of Environmental Impact Assessment procedure for thecoastal zone development in Lithuania and Sweden” was done in the Master’s Programme inSustainable Technology at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). The process of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one of the most important steps inthe coastal planning process. It is a procedure designed to identify the potential consequencesfor nature and the environment arising from development. This information is then used bydecision makers to assess whether or in what form proposed activities should go forward. The main aim of this report was to compare Environmental Impact Assessment procedurefrom legal and practical point of view in Lithuania and Sweden. Public participation in EIAprocedure was an important issue to analyse, compare and discuss between two countries. To be able to do this, a lot of factors were taken into consideration and were described anddiscussed in this Thesis Work. General characteristics of the regions, harbours, environmentalmanagement systems were important issues to make analysis more clear and informative. Two EIA reports from Klaipeda, by one from Loudden and Bergs harbours was used as casestudies to describe and compare EIA process in Lithuania and Sweden in practice. Thequestionnaire for Lithuanian stakeholders revealed their familiarity, knowledge and opinionsabout Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment tools. Alsosome recommendations for improvements of EIA as it’s related to the costal zonemanagement and suggestions for further studies were done. / www.ima.kth.se / Coastman

This Master Thesis “Overview of legal framework and territorial planning process for costalzone management” was done in the Master’s Programme in Sustainable Technology at theRoyal Institute of Technology.Cities in coastal areas and islands in particular have a special interest due to the particular rolethey may acquire as growth poles and gates to their hinterland in a broader process of spatial integration but also as centers of growing economic activities such as tourism, transport andfishing. Furthermore, they are also important as areas, which face increasing pressures from amultitude of actors for development with diverse interests. As a consequence their planning should be seen in the context of broader spatial strategies.Planning is an important tool for the integrated coastal zone management, but in order to beeffective it should be accompanied with a variety of policy instruments, put in timely action,developed in a strategic manner with a long term vision and take into consideration the interconnections across spatial levels.The study focused on the legal framework and territorial planning legislations analysis and comparison between two countries in the Baltic Sea region: Sweden and Lithuania. The main attentions was paid for the coastal zone management framework as they are on the increasing pressure through anthropogenic activities, such as building of new roads, hotels, private summer houses and so on. In this case, the study analyzes two harbors – relocation ofLoudden Port in Stockholm, Sweden and expansion of Klaipeda State Seaport in Klaipeda,Lithuania. In both cases the situation is complicated and involves social, economical, cultural aspects.Many different stakeholders with different interest are involved in planning process. It was overviewed the obstacles and the legislations failings concerning territorial planning andpublic participation in it, because despite big efforts to improve the integrated coastal zonemanagement, still exist barriers such as bureaucratic inertia, opposition to changes, conflicts coming from multiple interests, overlapping of local, regional and national competencies anddifficulties of cooperation among different bodies.The Thesis work was also concentrated on public participation in territorial planning process.Both countries differ in cultural social, economical, historical aspects. Consequently, theplanning and participatory processes are different in each country. In order to reveal better the existing situation concerning Klaipeda State Seaport expansion, there were questioned different stakeholders involved in this process. / www.ima.kth.se

This report is a presentation of the work realised during an internship at the consultancy division of Thales Security Systems from September 2005 to June 2006. Thales Security Systems is part of Thales, an international group in defence, aeronautics, etc. The work realised consisted in the creation of a new risk assessment methodology for a commercial offer called HELP, standing for Human, Environmental, Logical and Physical security. As a basis for the work, 5 existing risk assessment methodologies were studied, summed up and analysed: - Integrated security risk assessment: a methodology created by Thales Security Systems but not used because of its complexity - Ebios: a whole risk assessment methodology created by the French government - Marion: more or less an audit questionnaire - Audit questionnaire ISO 17799: an audit questionnaire created by Thales Security Systems - A confidential methodology: a methodology of another company with interesting concepts So as to complete this first work, many interviews were realised with specialists in risk assessment and strategy: - Counter-admiral Girard who insisted on the preliminary task of the definition of the mission and its limits, the return of experience as well as on the security frame of mind - Guy Dubois for the maintenance of the security level year after year - Thomas Lebouc for the tools used to apply the methodology - Gérard Pesch regarding the commercial offer - Yves le Dauphin for the human issues Afterwards, the different advantages and drawbacks of the studied methodologies have been studied so as to determine the essential characteristics that were necessary to have in the new methodology The new methodology has thus been created taking into account all these advantages, drawbacks and pieces of advice. The new methodology is a five step methodology: - Definition of the mission and its limits: determination of the objectives of the mission and its perimeter - General analysis of the system: study of the system in its environment - Risk analysis: determination of the threats, assets and Vulnerabilities - Protection standards: determination of the protection measures to implement - Budget, action plans and implementation So as to apply the methodology, several tools have been created. They are necessary for the good running of the methodology as they help to show results in a clear way. These tools are for example, a risk analysis board, a vulnerability audit questionnaire, diagrams, or protection standard sheets. / www.ima.kth.se

The focus of this study was to develop energy futures under different growthconditions in Nepal for 2050 and describes how the sustainable energy supply can bemade by using backcasting method to develop scenarios.The major distinguishingcharacteristic of backcasting analysis is a concern, not with what futures are likely tohappen, but with how desirable futures can be attained. It involves workingbackwards from a particular desirable future end-point to the present in order todetermine the physical feasibility of the futures and what policy measures would berequired to reach that point. Typically backcasting is applied on long-term complexissues, involving many aspects of society as well as technological innovations andchange. Furthermore in the long run, though, discontinuities are likely to occur andshould even be deliberately sought in some cases. Under these circumstances abackcasting approach is an interesting alternative. With these reasons, this studyuses the same method to develop scenarios. The future pictures developed bybackcasting approach are self-fulfilling, this study concludes two of three futurepictures are satisfying the aim of the study. There are three scenarios namely, the high growth (HG), the medium growth (MG)and the business as usual (BAU) scenario developed in this study for year 2050.These scenarios are developed on the basis of future population and economicgrowth. The HG scenario considers highest economic growth rate of 9% while MGand BAU scenario considers the growth rate of 6% and 4% respectively. The BAUand MG scenario with 809, 1460 million GJ of energy demand respectively, meet theaim of the study (i.e. to meet the future energy demand by renewable energyresources in sustainable manner) while the HG scenario with energy demand of4300 million GJ unable to meet its energy demand by sustainable energy resources available in the country. The energy crisis in Nepal is a major challenge for the current and future growth ofthe country. The aim of the study is to describe how to establish the sustainableenergy system under different growth scenarios, Nepal may have by 2050.The urgentneeds in Nepal’s energy sector are ; to reduce the country’s energy dependency, touse the resources efficiently and in a sustainable way and to provide the modern energy system on equitable basis. These needs can only be fulfilled with thesustainable use of renewable energy resources, which is sufficient in the country.The scenarios developed in the study are describing how these resources fulfillingthe future energy demand and how the demand can be reduced with the applicationof appropriate technology. The gap of energy use significantly varies across the different strata of population;the study eliminates this gap by allocating energy on equitable basis. Nepal has oneof the lowest per-capita energy consumptions in the world; to know the level of per-capita energy consumption, this study estimates the same for each scenariosdeveloped in this study. Several measures and technologies and their potential are presented in the study (todecrease the energy use or shifting into renewable energy fuels) and these measuresare a reality today or will be in the near future. For example the use of efficientcooking stove saves the fuelwood, passive building design reduces the heating andlighting requirements, and these technologies are already in practice. Thesemeasures have to be adopted in order to meet the demand by sustainable energysupply. Further these measures are fulfilling the objective of providing the cleanenergy to all. In all scenario the energy demand have been projected, afterward final(reduced) energy demand calculated by considering measures and technologies forreduction in energy use. This study primarily considers the measures andtechnologies to reduce the energy demand in residential sector, which is the highestenergy consuming sector. Based on the final demand the sustainable energy supplyhas been proposed for all scenarios. The scenarios are presented with three possiblealternatives for economic and population growth. The energy demand and supplysituation in each scenario tells whether the sustainable energy supply is possible ornot. Rather than comparison, these scenarios present the energy supply and demandsituation under the conditions they developed. The three scenarios developed in this study are not exhausting the possible solutionsfor sustainable energy supply in Nepal. The technologies and measures and thefutures are not evaluated from the cost perspective. This means the study does notestimates, how much investment is required to realise these pictures hence it doesn’tanswer whether they are feasible from cost perspective or even desirable. The study also leaves out other perspectives like emissions reductions, earning through cleandevelopment mechanism (CDM) etc. The purpose to present different energy-futures of Nepal is to encourage andstimulate stakeholders, policymakers and the citizens to take an active interest and tostart making the changes needed that leads to sustainable energy society. The energy-futures show that together with the economic and population growth, theenergy use in future will increase as well. This is the reason for highest energydemand in the scenario which considers highest economic growth and this demandcannot be fulfilled by the renewable energy sources unless the technologicalbreakthrough in future. So high growth scenario does not satisfy the aim of the study;however rest of the two scenarios are well in line with the aim and objectives of the study. The path to the presented energy-futures; the final step in the backcasting approachhas been left out in this study. The reason is due to, that requires further analysis ofthe energy-futures from several other perspectives as well as analysis over decisionmaking and planning processes and involvement of different stakeholders. Howeverthe presented energy-futures may in some cases indicate what type of measures anddecisions that needs to be taken and what kind of investments are needed. The aim of the study is not to present the most probable energy future but the energyfutures that satisfy the objective of establishing the sustainable energy system inNepal. The renewable energy resources and the related technologies are mainlyconsidered to fulfill the future energy demand, which is the aim of the study. Finally,this study involves high degree of uncertainty due to fact that future is unknown and the uncertainty in collected data, calculations and assumptions made. / Division Industrial Ecologywww.kth.se/itm/indecowww.ima.kth.se

Bicycle-sharing programs are a new trend in urban transportation. The main difference of a bicycle-sharing program with a regular bicycle rental is that is possible to get a bicycle in one station and return it in any other station. There are many models of bicycle sharing, each model with its pros and cons. This study analyzes the bicycle-sharing models in order to build a proposal of a bicycle-sharing program suitable for Brazilian median cities. The study begins with an overview of bicycle transportation, followed by the analysis of different bicycle-sharing programs. The last chapter formulates a proposal of a bicycle-sharing program suitable for Brazilian median cities. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative methods. The analysis includes a case study on the bicycle-sharing program in Stockholm. This case study is based on interviews with the manager of the program in the company in charge, and with the responsible official in Stockholm municipality. A questionnaire was moreover handed out to users of the program. This case study is complemented with a questionnaire sent by email to managers of bicycle-sharing programs in some cities around the world, this in order to provide more examples on how bicycle sharing can be organized. Finally, another case study was carried out in a Brazilian median city in order to evaluate the local awareness concerning bicycle transport, and the possibility of implementing a bicycle-sharing program there. A questionnaire was handed out to a sample of the local population and an interview was made with the local transport authority. The analysis of all data results in a proposal for a bicycle-sharing program suitable for the Brazilian context. The proposal comprises the choices of bicycles, stations, equipment related to the hiring process and service vehicle. It includes a complete financial appraisal with the necessary capital for implementing and managing the program. It shows that it is possible to build an affordable bicycle-sharing program adapted to Brazilian median cities. The program will create job opportunities and can contribute to a changed view of bicycle transportation in these cities. The proposal could also be applied in countries with the same characteristics as Brazil. / www.ima.kth.se

No description available.

Sveriges fastighetsbolag använder sig av flertalet olika strategier när det kommer till underhåll av sina byggnader. Strategierna som anammas kommer påverka hyresgästerna, byggnadernas livslängd och ekonomin i företaget. Orsaken till underhållet kan vara i förebyggande syfte, för akuta åtgärder, periodiskt planerade eller tillståndsbaserat underhåll. Beroende på skicket på fastigheterna kan det göra att akuta problem uppstår allt oftare vilket gör det svårare för företagen att planera hur de ska ta sig an de fel som förekommer. För att företagen inte ska förlora allt för mycket resurser och pengar på byggnaderna har man insett hur viktigt det är med en välplanerad underhållsstrategi. Fastighetsbolagen har även ändrat uppfattning om hur viktigt underhåll egentligen är, de har uppmärksammat att det inte endast är en kostnad utan något som kommer leda till en stark marknadsnärvaro och positiva resultat.     Syftet var att besvara hur företagens underhållsstrategi påverkar lönsamhet och kundnöjdhet. Vi gick tillväga genom att använda oss av en kvalitativ intervjustudie av tre fastighetsbolag kompletterat med en dokumentstudie av deras årsredovisningar för att få så bred inblick som möjligt. Studien begränsas till Sveriges fastighetsmarknad och företag delvis verksamma inom miljonprogrammen.   Studien tar upp de olika underhålls strategierna som tillämpas inom miljonprogrammen för att se om det finns likheter och skillnader mellan företagen. Studien tar även upp den brist av kunskap man haft angående underhåll och övergången från att underhåll har ansetts som en kostnadsdrivande faktor till en vinstdrivande.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is part of everyday life in various ways. This thesis focuses on the connection between disability and ICT among pupils with intellectual disabilities and on ways for researcher to study human and technology. The aim has been to study how ICT, agency and disability become constructed in a collective made up by actors such as humans (pupils with intellectual disabilities) and non-humans (computers, mobile phones, policy-documents).Two studies at two schools (totally the studies included nine classes) in the Norrbotten area in Sweden were conducted as a way to disentangle the aim and research questions. The studies which underlie this thesis are based on observations and interviews among six pupils in three classes in their everyday schooldays. Additionally an analysis of Bill 2004/05:175 was conducted.The thesis presents reviews of theoretical and methodological resources from disability studies, feminist studies and science and technology studies, Actor-Network Theory in particular, as well as an analysis of selected empirical material from the classes and Bill 2004/05:175. The analysis was conducted through themes, namely the following: introducing the classes, the schooldays and the school setting, the pupils' everyday life in school, the policy and understanding about intellectual disability among pupils, using ICT during the schooldays, ICT in everyday life, the youths' views of the computer, the ICT policies in Sweden and a sustainable ICT society for all.The main findings present how pupils with intellectual disability live disability, how the pupils regard disability and technology (express disability and technology to be). The thesis additionally explores how the pupils talk about themselves as users and how this in turn also relates to policy practices (more specifically, on the expressions in various statements in the bill and its focus on use, user and access). Another concern is how disability becomes intertwined with technology. Moreover, the thesis explores how actors in a form of collective bear effects on the body and its intertwining with disability and technology. Additionally, it examines the ways the pupils see themselves and how they act. The study shows that forms of unity as well as differences regarding access and users of ICT are found in the practice of policy-making as well as in the pupils' practices. The thesis additionally disentangles how one as a researcher can give voice to human and technology interaction when researching disabled pupils' agency and subjectivity. Thus, the thesis explores ways for researchers to study human and technology without relying on boundaries between them while at the same time being responsible in her/his claims. Here the work draws upon work from feminist studies; an inspirational source is Donna Haraway and more specifically her concept of situated knowledge.

As a result of Climate Change (CC) being one of the most urgent problems facing the twenty-first century, the adoption of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) is receiving international attention in the Global Development studies as a sustainable way to mitigate the negative effects of CC. However, there is a lack of grounded information on their effectiveness and efficiency, particularly in the Global South.  By focussing on Zambia to exemplify a country in the Global South, this study seeks to understand the relevance of adopting NbS towards combating effects of CC on human livelihoods (eliminating societal challenges) and fostering country-specific developmental objectives. The study primarily uses semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from projects involved in the implementation of NbS activities inclined to the preservation, conservation, restoration, management, or replication of natural ecosystems as ideal CC solutions. Firstly, the study adopts the DIFD-SLF to explore the most pressing challenges that people face, and to reveal the livelihood strategies implored by NbS project implementers to achieve the desired Livelihood outcomes within the communities of their influence (landscapes). Secondly, the study uses the development tenets of the two policy documents - Agenda 2030 and Zambia's 8NDP – for assessing the relevance of NbS towards the actualisation of both global and a country-specific developmental objectives, respectively.  The findings reveal that two livelihood strategies – Livelihood diversification and Agriculture Intensification/Extension – are being promoted by the projects to eliminate societal challenges, inspire economic growth, and environmental protection. Additionally, the study demonstrates how developing countries like Zambia can record progress towards achieving their country-specific development goals by leveraging on activities promoted through NbS adoption.

Seeking a more nuanced and reflexive treatment of criminality and deviance, this paper’s aim has been to demonstrate how ‘the other’ and ‘the other life’ is constituted discursively and how such constituting can be conceptualized in relation to the constructs of normalcy, respectability and functionality. The material consists of 8 life history interviews, from a total of 5 participants, who have all lived ‘the other life’. Employing a narrative analysis, it was examined how the narrators positioned themselves in their biographies in relation to the discursive conceptions surrounding the desired life and ‘the other (life)’. The findings demonstrate how their narratives unfold against the backdrop of middle-class and normative conceptions of how life should be lived. When positioned as ‘the other’, the narrators could be discursively rendered as abnormal and pathological, inappropriate, unworthy and abject, dysfunctional and ‘un-abled’. While such notions were oftentimes internalized in the narratives, the narrators also negotiated and resisted these connotations. Thus, through rejecting normativity, ‘the other (life)’ could be ‘queered’, and in so doing, chisel out new avenues of knowledge. Key words: The other, The other life, Normalcy, Respectability, Functionality, Queer theory, Life schedules, Life course criminology