Introduktion: Varje år omkommer cirka 800 000 personer i suicid vilket gör det till en av de ledande dödsorsakerna världen över. Den suicidala problematiken och dödsfallen i suicid skiljer sig mellan män och kvinnor. Män tenderar att vara överrepresenterade världen över när det gäller mortalitet till följd av suicid. Däremot är kvinnor överrepresenterade när det gäller morbiditet. Tidigare studier har visat att hälsan hos både män och kvinnor påverkas av faktorer avseende jämställdhet. Karolinska Institutet (2021) och Svenska Yle (2021) rapporterar att kvinnors suicid ökar i Sverige och Finland. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka trenderna i suicidincidens under perioden 1990 – 2019 hos män och kvinnor i länderna Norge, Danmark, Finland och Sverige. Vidare är syftet att undersöka förhållandet i suicidincidens mellan män och kvinnor samt vilka associationer det finns mellan suicidincidensen i dessa länder och variablerna arbetslöshet, arbete och utbildning. Detta för att få kunskap om vilka faktorer som påverkar suicidincidensen.  Metod: Studien genomförs som en kvantitativ nordisk komparativ epidemiologisk studie med ett postpositivistiskt förhållningssätt och en abduktiv forskningsansats. Vidare har tidsserieanalyser med simpelt glidande medelvärde tillämpats som metod för att undersöka trenderna i suicidincidens inom respektive kön och land samt förhållandet i suicidincidens mellan könen. Pearson’s r korrelationstest har använts för att undersöka korrelationerna mellan de oberoende variablerna arbetslöshet, arbete och utbildning och den beroende variabeln suicidincidens. Simpel och multipel linjär regressionsanalys har använts för att undersöka associationerna mellan dessa variabler. De oberoende variablerna för respektive land och kön har testats mot suicidincidensen för samma land och mot samma kön.  Resultat: Resultatet ger ingen tydlig bild av hur variablerna arbetslöshet, arbete och utbildning påverkar suicidincidensen i de olika länderna och det är inte heller möjligt att göra några generaliseringar. Pearson’s r korrelationstest tyder på att det förekommer korrelationer mellan de oberoende variablerna arbetslöshet, arbete och den beroende variabeln suicidincidens. Resultatet varierar dock kopplat till olika grupper och olika perioder.  De statistiskt signifikanta simpla regressionsanalyserna tyder på att uppåtgående trender i arbetslöshet och utbildning förutspår uppåtgående trender i suicidincidensen. De simpla regressionsanalyserna tyder också på att uppåtgående trender i arbete förutspår nedåtgående trender i suicidincidensen, förutom i grupper kvinnor i Norge under perioden 1990 – 2019 och 1990 – 2001 där uppåtgående trender i arbete förutspår uppåtgående trender i suicidincidensen. De statistiskt signifikanta multipla regressionsanalyserna tyder på att uppåtgående trender i arbetslöshet och arbete förutspår uppåtgående trender i suicidincidensen. De multipla regressionsanalyserna avseende utbildning tyder på att uppåtgående trender förutspår nedåtgående trender i suicidincidensen, förutom i gruppen kvinnor i Sverige där uppåtgående trender i utbildning förutspår uppåtgående trender i suicidincidensen. I både de simpla och multipla regressionsanalyserna varierar resultatet i olika grupper och under olika perioder. Resultatet visar också att suicidincidensen har minskat under perioden 1990 – 2001 i samtliga länder men att det under perioden 2002 – 2019 ökat i länderna Norge och Sverige och att förhållandet i suicidincidens mellan män och kvinnor varierar i olika länder under olika perioder.  Konklusion: Studiens huvudfynd är att suicidincidensen visar nedåtgående trender inom båda könen i Norge, Danmark, Finland och Sverige under perioden 1990 – 2001. Under perioden 2002 – 2019 visar suicidincidensen däremot uppåtgående trender i länderna Norge och Sverige och det är framförallt den kvinnliga suicidincidensen som ökar under denna period. Studien visar att förhållandet i suicidincidens mellan män och kvinnor minskar i Finland och Norge under perioden 1990 – 2001 och i Norge, Sverige och Danmark under perioden 2002 – 2019. Det finns en association mellan arbetslöshet, arbete och utbildning samt suicidincidens, men denna association varierar inom olika länder, mellan olika kön och under olika perioder.  Studien visar att suicid är ett komplext fenomen som inte kan förstås genom att enbart undersöka enskilda faktorer eller variabler. För att det ska vara möjligt att nå en förståelse för det suicidala perspektivet behöver ett helhetsperspektiv antas. Endast då kan ett lyckat preventivt arbete nås. Vidare finns det flera olika teorier som kan användas för att förstå suicidproblematiken. / Introduction: Every year, about 800,000 people perishes due to suicide, making it one of the leading causes of death in the world. The suicidal behavior and deaths due to suicide differs between men and women. Men tend to be overrepresented worldwide in terms of mortality as a result of suicide. However, women are overrepresented in terms of morbidity. Previous studies have shown that the health of both men and women is affected by factors regarding gender equality. Karolinska Institutet (2021) and Svenska Yle (2021) report that women who perishes due to suicide are increasing in Sweden and Finland. The purpose of this study is to investigate the trends in suicide incidence during the period 1990 – 2019 in men and women in the countries Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Furthermore, the purpose is to investigate the relationship in suicide incidence between men and women, as well as which associations there are between suicide incidence in these countries and the variables unemployment, labour force and education. This is done to gain knowledge about which factors that affect the suicide incidence.  Methods: The study is conducted as a quantitative Nordic comparative epidemiological study with a post-positivist approach and an abductive research approach. Furthermore, time series analysis with a simple moving average have been applied as a method for examining the trends in suicide incidence within each gender and country, as well as the gender ratio in suicide incidence between the sexes. Pearson's r correlation test has been used to examine the correlations between the independent variables unemployment, labour force and education and the dependent variable suicide incidence. Simple and multiple linear regression analysis have been used to investigate the associations between these variables. The independent variables for each country and gender have been tested against the suicide incidence for the same country and against the same sex.  Results: The results do not provide a clear picture of how the variables unemployment, labour force, and education affect the suicide incidence in the different countries, nor is it possible to make any generalizations. Pearson's r correlation test indicates that there are correlations between the independent variables unemployment, labour force and the dependent variable suicide incidence. However, the result differs in relation to different groups and during different periods.  The statistically significant simple regression analysis indicates that upward trends in unemployment and education predict upward trends in suicide rate. The simple regression analysis also indicates that upward trends in labour force predict downward trends in suicide incidence, except in the group women in Norway during the period 1990 – 2019 and 1990 – 2001 where upward trends in labour force predict upward trends in suicide incidence. The statistically significant multiple regression analysis indicates that upward trends in unemployment and labour force predict upward trends in suicide incidence. The multiple regression analysis regarding education indicate that upward trends predict downward trends in suicide incidence, except in the group of women in Sweden where upward trends in education predict upward trends in suicide incidence. In both the simple and multiple regression analysis, the results vary in different groups and during different periods. The results also show that the suicide incidence has decreased during the period 1990 - 2001 in all countries, that it has increased in Norway and Sweden during the period 2002 - 2019 and that the differences in suicide incidence between men and women varies in different countries during different periods.  Conclusions: The main finding of the study is that the suicide incidence shows downward trends in both sexes in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden during the period 1990 – 2001. During the period 2002 – 2019, the suicide incidence shows upward trends in the countries Norway and Sweden and it is mainly the female suicide incidence that increases during this period. The study shows that the ratio of suicide incidence between men and women decreases in Finland and Norway during the period 1990 – 2001 and in Norway, Sweden and Denmark during the period 2002 – 2019. There is an association between unemployment, labour force and education and suicide incidence, but this association varies within different countries, between different genders and during different periods.  The study shows that suicide is a complex phenomenon that can not be understood by merely examining individual factors or variables. In order for it to be possible to reach an understanding of the suicidal behavior, a holistic perspective needs to be adopted. Only then can successful preventive work be achieved. Furthermore, there are several different theories that can be used to understand the suicide problem.

<p>This interdisciplinary study shows that because of the changing demands from consumer caused by the growing influence of the internet and file-sharing the Nordic Gaming industry is going through an economic evolution. This result was derived by using qualitative questionnaires directed towards Gaming industry decision makers in the Nordic region combined with critical discourse analysis based on the methodology of Norman Fairclough, using theories of different characters to understand the field.</p><p>In this thesis the case of the Nordic Gaming industry is used to assert that because of changing demands of consumers and an ever growing piracy movement, societies are evolving into transitional economies where it is increasingly harder to sell products consisting of pure information.</p>

This interdisciplinary study shows that because of the changing demands from consumer caused by the growing influence of the internet and file-sharing the Nordic Gaming industry is going through an economic evolution. This result was derived by using qualitative questionnaires directed towards Gaming industry decision makers in the Nordic region combined with critical discourse analysis based on the methodology of Norman Fairclough, using theories of different characters to understand the field. In this thesis the case of the Nordic Gaming industry is used to assert that because of changing demands of consumers and an ever growing piracy movement, societies are evolving into transitional economies where it is increasingly harder to sell products consisting of pure information.

Abstract Title: DREAMING OF A UNITED ‘NORDEN’ (The North) – Four central Nordic actors about the progress and extent of Nordic cooperation The Nordic cooperation are often spoken as in terms of a peaceful international cooperation that is built upon a wide range of similarities among its members, such as a common culture, language similarities and a related kind of political system etc. But in spite of the fact that these so called propitious factors are present, many of the attempts that has been made trying to bring the states of the North (Norden) closer together has turned out unsuccessfully. Therefore no far-reaching Nordic cooperation has come to be implemented. The aim of this essay is to find out what the main reasons could be why this has been the case. I have chosen to take a closer look at the motives given by the former Nordic Prime ministers Tage Erlander (Sweden), Karl August Fagerholm (Finland), Einar Gerardsen (Norway) and Mauno Koivisto (Finland). To find out their thoughts on this subject I have studied their (political) memoirs. The reason I have chosen these actors is because they have been personally involved in the attempts to deepen the Nordic cooperation, for example in such fields as economics and military defence. When trying to find out what can explain the extent of the Nordic cooperation I’m also interested in finding out if there is a certain kind of motives that are more dominant then others. Is it common culture, interests or leadership which is the most dominant category of motives? These three mentioned categories are taken from arguments given by different schools of international relations theories such as realism, liberalism etc. After analysing the memoirs I have been able to come to the conclusion that it according to Erlander, Fagerholm, Gerhardsen and Koivosto are motives concerning interests that have been the most determining factor when talking about motives that can explain the extent of the Nordic cooperation. Further we can conclude that these interests have been of both domestic as well as of international nature. But it also seems like we can’t ignore the case specific conditions when we’re trying to understand international relations, such as the Nordic cooperation.

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.

The aim of this study is to compare the subject syllabuses for history education in uppersecondary school of Finland, Norway and Sweden. Three syllabuses from Norway, two from Finland and one from Sweden for courses that are compulsory for higher education preparatory programmes in the three countries have been analysed and compared. Qualitative content analysis has been used to find similarities and differences for what the countries find important with and in the history subject. A deductive analysis has been used for the part of the syllabus where the aim and the goals are written. An inductive analysis has been used for the part of the course content. By using a deductive content analysis with a coding scheme based on common historical didactic terms, the result of this study shows that every country finds that historical consciousness, narration, historical empathy, historical method and the uses of history are important parts of the history subject and education. However, the countries differ when it comes to if they see these parts as the aim or as a goal with the subject or the education. The inductive content analysis shows that all countries find sources and work with sources, uses of history, time periods, global historical events and processes and development of state and societies as important parts of the education. A difference between the countries is that Finland and Norway have more specific national history content in the syllabuses than Sweden has. Therewith does this result show that both Norway and Sweden find it important to problematize the time periods and to have different historical questions, aspects and explanations in the content of history education.

Diaconia research in the Nordic countries 2015-2019 This master thesis is a systematic literature review of the field of diaconal research in the Nordic countries during the period 2015 - 2019. I have conducted a Mixed Methods Research Synthesis on 134 selected titles, corresponding to the search protocol. Diaconia is sometimes defined as the social work or social care performed by the Christian church, but as my report shows, the concept of Diaconia can be defined in several ways, from narrow to wide delimitations. As a research field, Diaconia research is not clearly defined. One of the findings of my study is that Diaconia research draws from and contributes to ecclesiology, sociology and psychology of religion, systematic theology, church history and patristic studies. The main Nordic research site for diaconal studies is VID Specialized University in Norway. Other major contributors to the field are Uppsala University (CRS), Ersta Sköndal Bräcke University, University of Eastern Finland and MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society. My report shows recent developments in the theology of Diaconia, and makes visible differences and similarities in the understanding of the Deacon’s office in the Nordic majority churches. Deacons in Finland, Norway and Sweden struggle with similar challenges of mandate and responsibilities, which is shown by comparison between several referenced studies. These challenges appear to be connected to gender, a low over all appreciation of social care in society and church alike, and not the least, outdated theological interpretations of the Deacon’s office as humble or lowly service. Contributions from an international research project at University of Eastern Finland are aiming to correct some of these misunderstandings by retranslating texts from the patristic era. All in all, the referenced studies show, that diaconal works in the Nordic countries are making important contributions to society, expanding beyond the concept of care, engaging in theological development, social innovation, social mobilisation and interreligious cooperation. My study makes a theoretical contribution by adapting the concentric model for Diakonia developed by Erik Blennberger (1946 – 2018), based on this empirical finding.

This essay concerns the relationship between humans and animals during the Late Iron Age, 450-1050 AD, in the Nordic region. The archaeological and osteological material studied is animal style ornamentation and inhumation and cremation graves. The essay is based on a human-animal perspective and is inspired by Human-Animal Studies (HAS). This perspective shows how an anthropocentric worldview and human exceptionalism have come to influence the previous research regarding humans and animals. From this perspective, the animal's agency becomes central, which means that the animal acts as its own subject that mutually affects people and each other. Several parallels between the animal style ornamentation and the osteological material are also apparent both within the previous research and within my own analysis. In the previous research, a secondary view of animals abounds, and the focus is on human agency. But in the study's analysis, it becomes clear how the animal's agency is present. In both materials examined, bodies are mixed and assimilated in different and unique ways. The interpretation of the material is that people during the Late Iron Age thought "with both people and animals" and that people wanted to be influenced by animals. There was a world view were all living beings were a transversal unit, a so-called zoe. Both humans and animals were becomings initiated in a process of eternal co-creation.

Livsmedelsindustrin står inför stora utmaningar i framtiden, varav en är att erbjuda och producera livsmedel till en växande population på ett hållbart sätt. Ett sätt att övervinna denna utmaning är att implementera AI-teknik som kan användas för att effektivisera och främja hållbar utveckling inom livsmedelsindustrin. Syftet med studien är därför att kartlägga nivån av AI-readiness hos livsmedelsföretag i Norden, det vill säga undersöka hur redo dessa verksamheter är att implementera AI-teknik. Frågeställningen har besvarats genom en digital enkätundersökning baserat på det teoretiska ramverket TOE - Technology, Organization and Environment. Enkäten besvarades av 59 anonyma respondenter. Svaren kategoriserades baserat på det huvudsakliga verksamhetslandet för respondentens företag, den del av industrin företaget främst är verksamt inom och företagets storlek. Det insamlade datat har analyserats med hjälp av Chi2-test som resulterade i insikten att större företag har högre nivå av AI-readiness än små företag. Resultatet indikerade även på tre förbättringsområden för att öka nivån av AI-readiness. Företag bör i större utsträckning utveckla en strategisk plan för implementering av AI-teknik, säkerställa tillräckligt med mänskliga resurser med rätt kompetens och öka kunskapen om externa regleringar bland sina anställda. Den kunskap som studien genererar kan vara relevant för företag som arbetar med implementering av AI-teknik, för företag verksamma inom livsmedelsindustrin som vill öka sin AI-readiness samt för framtida forskning inom liknande områden. / The food industry faces major challenges in the future, one of which is to provide and produce food for a growing population in a sustainable way. One way to overcome this challenge is to implement AI-technologies that can be used to promote sustainable development in the food industry. The purpose of this study is therefore to map the level of AI-readiness among food companies in the Nordic region, specifically to investigate how ready these businesses are to implement AI-technology. The question has been answered through a digital survey based on the theoretical framework TOE - Technology, Organization and Environment. The survey was answered by 59 anonymous respondents. The answers were categorized based on the main country of operation of the respondent's company, the part of the industry the company is mainly active in and the size of the company. The collected data has been analyzed using Chi2-tests which resulted in the insight that larger companies have a higher level of AI-readiness than smaller companies. The result also indicated three areas of improvement to increase the level of AI-readiness. Companies should to a greater extent develop a strategic plan for the implementation of AI-technology, ensure sufficient human resources with the right skills and increase the knowledge of external regulations among their employees. The knowledge generated by the study can be relevant for companies working on the implementation of AI-technology, for companies operating in the food industry that want to increase their AI-readiness, and for future research in similar areas.

Sammanfattning Examensarbete i redovisning och finansiering för Civilekonomprogrammet Ekonomihögskolan vid Linnéuniversitetet Författare: Freja Schött och Annie Gustavsson Handledare: Natalia Semenova                       Examinator: Anna Stafsudd Titel: TCFD – ett nytt sätt att klimatredovisa. En studie av nordiska bolag Bakgrund: Redovisning av risker och möjligheter som klimatförändringar medför har fått allt större betydelse för intressenter i deras riskbedömning. TCFD har därför publicerat rekommendationer för att göra redovisningen av klimatrelaterade frågor mer standardiserade och jämförbara. Tidigare forskning har visat en låg efterföljandegrad av TCFD rekommendationerna. Det ifrågasätts därför vad det är som påverkar omfattningen av klimatredovisning enligt TCFD och hur omfattningen varierar bland bolag. Syfte: Studiens syfte var att undersöka vilka bolagsspecifika egenskaper som bidrar till nordiska bolags efterföljandegrad av TCFD rekommendationerna. Metod: Studien genomfördes utifrån en deduktiv ansats. En tvärsnittdesign tillämpades och med hjälp av en kvantitativ innehållsanalys undersöktes 77 nordiska bolags års-, klimat- och hållbarhetsredovisningar för år 2020. Utifrån hypoteser som baserats på tidigare forskning och legitimitetsteorin analyserades data med hjälp av statistiska modeller. Slutsatser: Studien visar att de bolagsspecifika egenskaperna bolagsstorlek, miljöprestanda, skuldsatthet, energi- och industrisektorn samt ursprungsland påverkar omfattningen av klimatredovisning enligt TCFD. Det empiriska resultatet tyder på att finansiell prestanda, aktieägarspridning, statligt ägande och fåtal sektorer inte kan förklara efterföljandegraden. / Abstract Master Thesis in Business Administration School of Business and Economics at the Linneaus University Authors: Freja Schött and Annie Gustavsson Supervisor: Natalia Semenova                     Examiner: Anna Stafsudd Title: TCFD – a new way to climate report. A study of Nordic companies. Background: The reporting of risks and opportunities associated to climate change have great importance to investors when executing their risk assessment of a company. Therefore, TCFD published recommendations for climate reporting with the intent of making the reporting more standardized and comparable. Previous research shows low compliance with the TCFD recommendations. This study questions the factors affecting the compliance with TCFD and how the compliance varies between the Nordic companies. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate which company characteristics contribute to Nordic companies’ level of compliance with the TCFD recommendations. Method: This study is taking a deductive approach. Furthermore, a cross- sectional design is applied and with a quantitative content analysis 77 Nordic companies’ annual-, climate- and sustainability reports was examined for the year 2020. The empirical data was analyzed using statistical models to test hypothesis based on previous research and legitimacy theory. Conclusions: Our study finds that size, environmental performance, debt, the energy and industrial sector, and country are company characteristics which affect the compliance of climate reporting according to TCFD. In addition, the empirical result indicates that financial performance, shareholder distribution, state ownership and some sectors cannot explain the compliance.