The world is becoming urbanised. Between 1995 and 2025, it is estimated that the cities and towns of the developing world will have absorbed another two billion people. A majority of these people will be poor and settle down in the unregulated areas. It is therefore fair to say that the management and use of water in urban areas is a very complex and dynamic issue. The fact that cities in the South are composed of two systems, the regulated and the unregulated areas, and that considerable diversity exists between them, highlights the need for a context driven policy design in urban water management. For attaining urban water security in these cities, controlling water demand in the regulated areas while improving access to water of good quality in the unregulated areas must be a priority. This thesis is based on a case study of Windhoek, a city characterized by conditions of aridity, rapid urbanisation and primate city dominance. Since 1994, a thorough water demand management (WDM) strategy has been implemented in Windhoek, aiming at improving water use efficiency and to reduce water consumption through economic and non-economical measures. It has been the purpose to examine the development of urban water management along with urban growth, the response to WDM by the domestic and private business sectors, as well as challenges and benefits of allowing urban branch-lines along water transfer schemes. WDM can be an efficient tool in the struggle against luxury and non-efficient water use, to postpone bulk water investments and for cost-recovery. However, it is crucial that the incentives are based on and flexible according to socio-economic conditions, and that water managers acknowledge motives and attitudes that shape water use behaviour. One dilemma of WDM lies in the fact that if the supply capacity is increased, it is likely that demand will be adjusted accordingly. It is a tricky task to motivate water savings through demand management alongside with an improved water supply. Moreover, it is essential that savings are not only temporary, but also part of a long-term adjustment. Another predicament of WDM is that a high trust in water authorities actually lowered the efficiency of the strategy to meet the anticipated goal.

Environmental concern in contemporary societies is a complex phenomenon which is shaped and influenced by a host of different factors. One of the most important of these is the interplay between culture and nature that has taken place during the course of a nation’s history and the various ‛views of nature’ that such interplay has generated. Such views can e.g. manifest themselves in aesthetic judgments of natural scenery or, more generally, in the values that nature is seen to contain or carry. They form the base from which contemporary ideas, conceptions, and evaluations of nature are generated and debated. The five studies that together comprise this thesis explore the socio-cultural background of Icelandic environmentalism from a number of different perspectives. The first study concerns the depiction(s) of nature that can be found in the oldest literary works that have survived in Iceland. The second study deals with the first attempts by an Icelander to visualize nature in his homeland, using photographic media. The third study seeks to compare contemporary views of nature amongst Icelanders, e.g. concerning the appreciation of natural beauty, with those of Swedes and Danes. The fourth study reports the results of an extensive survey which probed the environmental values, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of present day Icelanders. The fifth study builds on this same survey but focuses on the public understanding and perceptions of sustainable development, and also on the connections between attitudes toward environmental and developmental issues. This overall thesis project was multi-disciplinary in nature, combining theory drawn from environmental philosophy, especially ethics and aesthetics, with the theories and methods of environmental sociology, politics and history. The empirical studies employed, furthermore sought to operationalize certain key theoretical constructs relating to views of nature, such as environmental value orientations and aesthetic appreciation of nature, and thus ‛build bridges’ between the concerns, theories and methods of the humanities, on one side, and those of the social sciences, on the other.

The main domain in which eating disorders are defined is medical, whereas socio-cultural perspectives are less common. Because social workers seeks to explain different problems taking societal factors into account, we asked ourselves if social workers have a way of understanding eating disorders, that is different from a medical point of view. Two focus group interviews were conducted; the one composed by social workers with experience of working with eating disorders, and the other by social workers without that experience, which enabled comparisons. The interviews were analyzed using socio-cultural and feminist perspectives. The result showed that the social workers use socio-cultural perspectives in explaining eating disorders. Both groups also emphasized the medical perspective, but the first group where less willing than the other to depart from this perspective. The conclusion were made that the social workers having experience of working with eating disorders are more into the medical discourse than are the ones without this experience. / Ätstörningar tolkas företrädesvis utifrån ett medicinskt perspektiv, medan förklaringar med utgångspunkt i perspektiv som betonar samhälleliga och kulturella orsaker är mindre vanliga. Eftersom sociokulturella faktorer, inom det sociala arbetets disciplin, är en central referenspunkt till de förklaringar som söks till olika problem, frågade vi oss om socionomer har ett annat sätt att se på ätstörningar, som skiljer sig från ett medicinskt synsätt. Två fokusgruppintervjuer genomfördes med socionomer med respektive utan erfarenhet av arbete med ätstörningar. På så sätt kunde jämförelser mellan grupperna göras. Materialet analyserades med hjälp av sociokulturella och feministiska perspektiv. Resultatet visade att socionomerna har en syn på ätstörningar som inkluderar sociokulturella faktorer. Även det medicinska perspektivet framhölls av båda grupperna, men gruppen med erfarenhet av arbete med ätstörningar var mindre benägen att frångå detta perspektiv. Av detta drogs slutsatsen att socionomerna som arbetar med ätstörningar är mer influerade av det medicinska synsättet än socionomerna utan denna erfarenhet.

Roads and traffic are a major non-point source of pollutants and may have severe impacts on surface water, groundwater, soil and vegetation. In cold climates, de-icing salt is one such pollutant that may cause increased chloride concentrations and induce other effects on the environment. Monitoring and quantifying environmental effects are crucial for governing decisions towards more suitable use of de-icing salt in order to achieve and maintain good environmental status around roads. This thesis presents an operational modelling tool for monitoring the transport and fate of de-icing salt in the roadside environment in order to quantify changes in the environment at various spatial and temporal scales, using salt application data, meteorological data, geology and generic descriptions of hydrogeological environments as main inputs. A combination of modelling and various independent field measurements provided an efficient means for evaluating and describing the spread of de-icing salt from the road to the surroundings, the deposition of salt and ploughed snow in the roadside, and the corresponding increase in chloride concentration in soil and groundwater. Both the spatial and seasonal variation in soil chloride concentration were significantly affected by de-icing salt application. The importance of type of soil, vegetation type, groundwater conditions and distance from the road was clearly demonstrated for modelling the transport and fate of de-icing salt in the roadside environment. Salt emissions from the road by surface runoff were estimated at 50-80% of applied salt and transport by snow ploughing and air emissions at 20-50%. The uncertainty in the spatial distribution of snow and salt deposition close to the road was high and a previous proposed exponential decline in salt deposition with distance from the road could not be justified within a couple of metres from the road. Future monitoring should include both modelling and systematic data collection in order to reduce the uncertainty in predictions of the environmental impact of de-icing salt. Modelling of chloride concentration, soil water content and soil temperature and measurements of electrical resistivity may be a cost-effective solution for quantifying changes in the roadside environment. / QC 20100526

In my essay, I write about the work at a pre-school in a segregated suburb. I begin my essay with examples from my workday. In one case, it is about Sara, playing games where other children are excluded and she also exhibits a power game towards me. In the second example, it is about how a group of children conspire and expose both themselves and others for destructive conspiracy patterns. When I write down what happens in the group of children at my pre-school, I see patterns reminiscent of destructive gangs. I reflect about whether I am witnessing that my preschooler is in the preliminary stage of youth gangs with destructive patterns. The purpose of my essay is that for my own sake, and from a social perspective to provides deeper understanding of the causes that can generate power game and conspiracy patterns in children in segregated neighborhoods. I also describe how it can be to work in a kindergarten in a segregated suburb. M y questions are what happen to children when norms in the home are in conflict with the norms of the preschool. The norms in the homes may also be an illegal act in Sweden, when punishment and spanking occurs. Children may be in a conflict of loyalties when they know that parents may not spank their children in Sweden, but still do it. I examine whether there may be negative factors in the family's integration that allows contexts do not meet in a positive direction, and therefore can cause cultural clashes. I start from my own experiences as child-minder in the suburbs during twenty five years. I do this by writing the essay, I reflect on my own thoughts, but also through reflective conversations with others. To obtain scientific perspective on my research, I have chosen as the starting point to the support of other studies in ethnological and sociological aspects. I have come to the conclusion that there may be several reasons for pre-school children of my workplace to act as they do. One reason that I think is important is that families in my pre-school are segregated in the segregation, their meetings consisting mostly of their own countrymen and relatives. The majority of parents have no work and their contact with the Swedish society is done by the authorities and at the pre-school. I have met families where parents have lived in Sweden for twenty years, but still have limited language in Swedish. I have also seen that there is an aversion to the "Swedish" and that there is a conscious choice to refrain from it.

Sweden has become an increasingly multicultural society where different religions and values ​​meet. Recently, the Swedish Labour Court decided, whether a company´s policy that demands an employee to shake hand, prevent the employee´s freedom of religion or if the policy had a legitimate purpose since it was a way of achieving equality between men and women at workplace.  The aim of this essay was to investigate how the court judges when the employer´s obligation not to discriminate on the ground of gender collides with an employee´s freedom of religion. In order to answer the question and achieve the purpose of this essay, the author has used a doctrinal method.  By studying the current law, the author of this essay has concluded that freedom of religion is protected by European Convention on Human Rights, article 9. The right to believe is complete, and is called forum internum. The right to practice a religion through a religious manifestation, is called forum externum. This right is not complete and can be restricted.  Freedom of religion has a strong legal protection, but there are situations where the right of others also must be considered. A employee has, in working life, not only rights, but also obligations towards the employer. This may imply restrictions on a employee's freedom of religion since the employer has the right to lead and distribute the work. An employer is obligated to work for an equal workplace. If the means used to achieve gender equality are appropriate and necessary, the freedom of religion in working life can be restricted.

Efter Andra Världskriget och författandet samt ratificerandet av den traditionella folkrätten har huvuddelen av de väpnade sammandrabbningarna haft karaktären av icke-internationella konflikter med en asymmetrisk uppsättning aktörer. Samtidigt har den värst drabbade aktören kommit att vara civilbefolkningen. Syftet med denna uppsats är att problematisera skyddet av civilbefolkningen i den nya tidens konflikter. I uppsatsen genomförs en kvalitativ textanalys av Säkerhetsrådets resolutioner och missionsspecifika strategier för skydd av civila i de tre FN-missionerna UNMIS, UNAMID och MONUC. Resultatet av analysen problematiseras därefter utifrån van Crevelds non-trinitarian theory för att undersöka vilka problem det finns med att tillämpa det traditionella folkrättsliga skyddet av civila i nya tidens konflikter. Det sammanvägda resultatet av studien visar att det finns problem med att tillämpa det traditionella folkrättsliga skyddet av civila i nya tidens konflikter, och att ett av huvudproblemen är att skyddet endast tycks adresseras av världssamfundet. / After the Second World War, and the creation and ratification of the traditional international law, the majority of the armed clashes has had the character of non-international conflicts with an asymmetric set of actors. Meanwhile, the most affected actor has come to be the civilian population. The purpose of this study is to problematize the protection of civilians in the conflicts of the new era. A qualitative method is used in the study in order to analyze the Security Council’s resolutions and mission specific strategies for the protection of civilians in the three UN missions UNMIS, UNAMID and MONUC. The result of the analysis is then problematized with van Creveld’s non-trinitarian theory in order to investigate what problems there are in applying the international humanitarian legal protection of civilians in the conflicts of the new era.The aggregated result of the study show that there are problems in applying the traditional international legal protection of civilians in the conflicts of the new era, and that one of the main problems is that the protection only seems to be a subject for the international community.

Sedan andra världskrigets slut har internationell debatt förekommit angående hur internationellt bemötande bör ske då en främmande befolkning utsätts för våld och övergrepp av dess egen statsledning. Ofta har inom ramen för denna debatt normen om icke-intervention kommit att ställas mot ett globalt förespråkande av mänskliga rättigheter.Efter uppmaning av FN:s tidigare Generalsekreterare Kofi Annan, upprättades år 2000 International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. Kommissionens arbete mynnade ut i en rapport benämnd The Responsibility to Protect, vilken syftar till att söka internationell konsensus kring möjligheten att genomföra intervention med humanitärt skydd som mål, samt rekommendationer om hur en sådan bör ske.Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom kvalitativ textanalys söka svar på i vilken omfattning rekommendationerna inom The Responsibility to Protect överensstämmer med internationellt agerande under den inomstatliga konflikten i Libyen 2011.Studiens resultat visar på att internationellt agerande från FN, dess medlemsländer samt internationella organisationer till viss del överensstämmer med rapportens förespråkade konflikthantering innan demonstrationer utbröt i Libyen. Vidare visar studien att internationellt agerande väl överensstämmer med The Responsibility to Protect´s rekommendationer, då de libyska demonstrationerna eskalerade och mynnade ut i en inomstatlig väpnad konflikt. / Since the end of the Second World War there has been an international debate on how to address conflictsituations, where foreign populations are victims of abuse by actions perpetrated by their own government. Thetraditional norm of non-intervention has been confronted with growing support of global perspectives of humanrights.After several pleas from the UN Secretary-General to form international consensus on interventions for humanprotection purposes, the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty was formed in 2000.The commission’s work led to a report entitled The Responsibility to Protect. The report refers to a broadspectrum of recommendations on when and how intervention for human protection purposes should beauthorized and carried out.This study aims, through a qualitative text analysis, to find the extent to which international actions towardsLibya during 2011, complies with guidelines given within The Responsibility to Protect.The result shows partial conformable actions from international actors in an initial phase, and after Libyaprotests escaladed in early 2011, the study indicates that international measures and actions seems to reflect amajor part of recommendations given within the scope of The Responsibility to Protect.

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Ordspråk som “gråt inte över spilld mjölk” är ett tecken på hur mycket mjölken som livsmedel värdesätts i det svenska samhället. I den här kvalitativa studien kommer mjölkens roll i samhället sättas i relation till skolans verksamhet. Fokusgruppen är grundskollärare som undervisar i de naturvetenskapliga ämnena i årskurs F-9. Utifrån kritisk djurteori analyseras upprätthållandet av maktrelationen mellan människan och djuret genom att undersöka via internetbaserad enkät hur lärare förhåller sig till mjölk och mjölkproduktion i undervisningen för de naturvetenskapliga ämnena.Det sammanställda resultatet visar att människans uppfattning om “mjölk och mjölkproduktion” i undervisningen påverkas av deras syn på kunskap och etikens relevans i undervisningen. Skolan är en institution som påverkas av samhällets gemensamma värderingar. Det finns yttre påverkan såsom ekonomisk stöd från politiker och läromedel från industrier som gynnas av att framställa mjölkens fördelar, vilket skapar förutsättningar och strukturer till att acceptera ett rådande maktförhållande som finns mellan människan och djuret. Lärare som inte har kunskap om mjölkproduktionens alla delar eller kan förhålla sig till etiska perspektiv (som ser på djuret som en individ snarare än objekt) finner oftast inga möjligheter till att ifrågasätta det som framställs på reklam eller mjölkindustrins informationsblad. De djur som representeras på reklam för att marknadsföra mjölkprodukter är oftast en idealisk bild av produktionsprocessen vilket skapar en illusion av att det inte finns något att problematisera. Grundskollärare finner därmed att det inte finns tid eller relevant koppling till kursplanens centrala innehåll i läroplanen för att mjölken ska kunna beröras i undervisningen. Studien kommer däremot fram till förslag på hur lärare kan använda djuretik som ett förhållningssätt i klassrummet för att t.ex. lyfta olika perspektiv och träna på att argumentera för sina personliga ställningstaganden.Den här studien belyser endast en liten del av hur skolans verksamhet bidrar till upprätthållandet av ett maktförhållande mellan människan och djuret. Studien visar även att skolan har potential att bidra med ifrågasättandet av samhällsordningen som legitimerar djurets position i mjölkproduktionssystemet och kan väcka diskussioner ur ett miljö-, hälso- och etisk perspektiv. Däremot krävs det att man har kunskap om, intresse för och viljan att våga ifrågasätta normer som är djupt integrerade i den svenska kulturen. Det krävs fler studier som undersöker sambandet mellan skolans förhållningssätt till djur och hur djur representeras i naturvetenskapliga ämnenas undervisningsinnehåll.