Research was undertaken for this thesis to uncover characteristics of resilient volunteers and stewardship groups, both of which are a major element of the social mobilisation strategy used in Australia to manage natural resources. The ability of volunteers and groups to overcome problems, deal with new issues as they arise, and keep going under pressure is termed 'resilience'. A 'resilience management' approach to natural resource management uses the idea of 'adaptive change' or panarchy to understand the development of resilience and thus, sustainability in human communities. According to this theory, sustainable communities are both changeable and stable, adapting to new situations as they arise. The research approach used in the study is called 'phenomenography'. It is an interpretive approach, based on the central assumption that there is variation in the ways in which people experience the same phenomenon. Phenomenography was used to see if lessons about resilience and sustainability could be learnt from catchment volunteers. All participants were 'catchment volunteers' working along the east coast of Queensland. They were drawn from a variety of organisations and programs including Landcare; Coastcare; Bushcare; Greening Australia; Waterwatch; treeplanting groups; and Integrated Catchment Management Committees. A total of 26 personal and group interviews involving 85 participants were conducted. Interviews comprised a series of semi-structured questions that were tape-recorded, then transcribed verbatim. Through a process of comparing and contrasting themes in the transcriptions, six conceptions emerged. These were: catchment volunteering was experienced as seeking and maintaining balance; developing/maintaining an identity; empowerment; learning; networking; and sustainable. Analysis of these themes was used to develop a model of catchment volunteer experiences depicting relationships between conceptions (termed the 'Outcome Space' in phenomenography). In this study the Outcome Space emerged as a set of scales, signifying the importance of keeping a balanced perspective on volunteering - a balance between things such as personal goals and organisational goals; between dedication to an unpaid vocation and family life; and between social benefits and environmental benefits. From the Outcome Space, several conceptual and practical outcomes were developed. These included: a typology of participation based on volunteer experiences; a table describing forms of empowerment in catchment volunteering; a table listing drivers for catchment volunteers; an illustration of Holling and Gunderson's adaptive cycle as it applies to stewardship groups; a table of factors that enhance the resilience and sustainability of stewardship groups; a model of the relationship between external pressures and resilient, sustainable stewardship groups; and guidelines for developing resilient sustainable stewardship groups. These outcomes contribute to an understanding of individual, group and community level responses to environmental issues; and how resilience can be developed in volunteers and stewardship groups and programs.

The goal of this thesis is test and comparation of the offline tools for prediction of protein structure and creation of metaprediktor, which allows the user to select the appropriate tool, according to given parameters. Testing tool is based on a dataset of proteins, which is based on the SCOP database and it is trying to be as balanced as possible to include proteins from different families and thus could best evaluate individual tools. The results of this thesis are requirements of metaprediktor and also which data and settings can be allowed and processed and how it will be implemented.

The Chassidic Chabad movement is one of Judaism’s most successful and influential groups interms of missionary presence around the world and distributed missionary material online.Chabad’s final Rebbe is still regarded by his followers to be the long-awaited final redeemerand Messiah, despite his clinical death in 1994. The aim of this study is to describe how theChabad-followers, through the movement’s publications, maintain the belief in the Rebbe asthe Jewish Messiah, and the theological interpretive tools utilized in order to ‘survive’ as aunited movement. The study indicates that Chabad is still a united and radical messianicmovement, wherein, internal theological mechanisms interpret the Rebbe as corporally alivebut concealed by illusion, and will soon be revealed or imminently resurrected to complete theredemption of the world. The study also discusses the movement’s extreme right-wingedpolitical stance in regards to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, the movement’s Holocausttheology as means to further understand how the group ‘survived’ the cognitive dissonance thedeath of the Rebbe created and the theological similarities between Chabad and earlyChristianity. / Den Chassidiska Chabadrörelsen är en av judendomens mest framgångsrika och inflytesrikanya religiösa rörelser när det gäller missionär närvaro runt om i världen och missionärt materialonline. Chabads sista Rebbe anses av hans anhängare att vara världens sista försonare ochMessias, trots hans uppenbara kliniska död år 1994. Denna studie beskriver hurChabadanhängare, genom rörelsens egna tryckta och online publikationer, upprätthåller tron påRebbe som den judiska messias och de teologiska tolkningsverktyg som rörelsen använder föratt ‘överleva’ som en enad grupp. Studien indikerar att Chabadrörelsen, ändå till våra dagar, ärenad och radikal-messianistisk där man genom interna teologiska mekanismer tolkar Rebbensom levande i materiell kropp, gömd genom illusion men snart uppenbarad eller snartåteruppväckt från de fysiskt döda och i båda fallen för att fullgöra världens försoning där Gudförsonar människan i den materiella världen. Studien diskuterar också rörelsens extremahögerpolitik, i synnerhet när det gäller Israel-Palestina konflikten och förintelseteologi som ettsätt att vidare förstå hur gruppen ‘överlevde’ den kognitiva dissonansen Rebbens död skapadei termer av misslyckad profetia och de teologiska likheterna mellan Chabadrörelsen och tidigkristendom.Nyckelord: NRR,

La "Faith-based" diplomatie américaine et les ambiguïtés du plan Marshall : le cas de la France dans l’après-guerre. Le Président Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) affirme dès 1946 que les E.U. doivent s’armer d'une « diplomatie fondée sur la foi » pour encourager la reconstruction spirituelle d'une Europe « déchristianisée » face au communisme. Pour faire barrage au marxisme de l’Union Soviétique, il fallait commencer par la France, vue comme la pierre de voûte spirituelle. Plus que toute autre nation, elle bénéficie avec le plan Marshall d'un puissant soutien financier militaire, économique et d'une conquête des cœurs et des esprits. De multiples agences interviennent dans cette période alors que les Églises américaines redécouvrent cette terre de mission. Généralement articulées autour de la conviction religieuse des Présidents, les initiatives sont relayées sur le terrain par l’engagement d’acteurs privés. Officialisée en 1998 par le président Clinton dans la promulgation de l’Acte international sur la liberté religieuse, cette approche a justifié la ténacité des missionnaires de 1945 à nos jours dans une France catholique religieusement peu diverse. Encouragées par le quatrième Réveil la plupart des missions américaines, églises protestantes historiques, nouvelles religions ou NMR (mormons, adventistes, témoins de Jéhovah etc...) et Évangéliques ont bien accueilli cette opportunité, phase d’introduction pour certaines ou de redémarrage pour d’autres déjà présentes dès le 19ème siècle. Bien que l'entreprise de « nation building » économique et culturelle de la France ait été perçue par l’opinion américaine de l’époque comme l'une des plus décevantes de l’après-guerre, les résultats de la transformation de la société française sont apparus avec un décalage dans le temps. Pouvons-nous alors retracer les sources des mutations transatlantiques des religions d'origine américaine et l’évolution du paysage religieux français aux activités gouvernementales et missionnaires en ce début de la Guerre froide ? / President Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) claims in 1946 that the U.S. should advance a "faith-based" diplomacy to encourage the spiritual reconstruction of a “dechristianized” Europe .To stand in the way of a Marxist and Godless Soviet Union, it has to begin with France, seen as the spiritual stone arch. More than in any other nation, the Marshall Plan brings a financial, economic and military support, willing to conquer hearts and minds. Many key governmental agencies are involved in this time period, while American churches engaged in aid relief are rediscovering France as a new mission territory. Usually strongly influenced by the religious conviction of the Presidents, "Faith-based policies” supporting Foreign policies are reinforced on the ground by the engagement of private voluntary organizations (PVOs). Formalized in 1998 by President Clinton as a tool in Foreign policy in the enactment of the Act on International Religious Freedom, this approach justifies the tenacity of missionaries from 1945 to the present day in a secular and catholic France. Encouraged by the Fourth Awakening, most American missions, mainstream Protestant churches, new religions like NRM (Mormonism, Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc...) and Evangelicals, welcome this mixed opportunity: a comeback for a few denominations already presents in the 19th century and for others a chance for a fresh beginning. Although the business of "nation building”, the reshaping of the economic and cultural life of France, is perceived by the American public opinion as one of the most disappointing of the post-war, a deeply transformed French society will later emerge. The overlapping of American public and private organizations, of American churches and missionaries lay the groundwork for the radical transformation of a French monolithic religious landscape. Without doubt this can be traced to this short and critical experimental period of the Early Cold War.

In the beginning of 2021 the documentary “The selected children” was aired in one of the public Swedish television channels. In the film we follow the filmmaker as he returns to his elementary school that he left almost three decades ago. His memories where positive but the film depicts abuse with a focus on the leadership and a rope swing . The ensuing media debate was influenced by the fact that the school was, and still are, a waldorf school (Steiner school) and the cult concept was frequently used. This bachelor thesis aimed to find the underlying reasons for the media usage of the cult concept in this context and further how and why a description of a school in the past became a novelty in the present. The perspective is religion sociology and medialization. The purpose is to understand how and why the cult concept is used in nationwide written news media, narrowed down to 11 articles published in Aftonbladet, Dagens ETC, DN, Expressen, GP, SvD och SVT nyheter during May and June 2021. I used a qualitative content analysis method combined with an abductive reasoning. The theory used was in the field of cults, NRM and medialization with an emphasis on media logic also described as media modus operandi. The result shows that the cult concept is used to describe and frame the extreme characteristics of the school. There is a connection between the school and other waldorf schools both in the description of the schools as cults related to abuse and abnormality but the main reason is the foundation in relation to the waldorf pedagogy and anthroposophy. The media uses a very narrow number of sources describing the school, waldorf schools and the anthroposophic movement. The descriptions are made in the present as if the film was depicting the present school as well. As such the sources alongside the framing language constructs the news value in line with the media logic. In conclusion I argue that the findings show that media uses the cult as a description aswell as a news story in line with the theory, describing how the news are storytellers as they have developed into the entertainment industry.