Increasing population and rising incomes change food consumption patterns. The United Nations estimates that global food demand will double between 2010 and 2050 (Alexandratos & Bruinsma, 2012). As a result, many governments are promoting sustainable agriculture to increase their food production. The Swedish government aims to make agriculture in Sweden sustainable, resilient, competitive and attractive (Swedish National Food Strategy, 2017). This informs our choice of southern Sweden, the breadbasket of the country as the study area. Climate change, competition and concerns over the new Common Agricultural Policy are the main challenges of farmers in the region. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to investigate interorganisational collaborations from the perspectives of farmers in the region. We used exploratory approach to study collaborations among farmers and their partners where semi-structured interviews and observations were used to gather data. We adopted Creswell’s steps of data analysis. The study finds that many of the farmers have less knowledge of sustainability and sustainable agriculture. The study finds two main types of interorganisational collaborations existing between and among the farming companies and their partners - sustained dyadic collaborations and long-term collaborations. The study also finds the factors that enable and sustain collaborations in the sector. These factors are classified into enablers and sustainers. The enablers include climate change, legislation and regulations, globalisation, competency motivations, resource-related reasons, society-related reasons, partner reputation, expertise, quality and trustworthiness and capacity to deliver on promises, and the sustainers are trust building, transparency, good relationships and cooperation, shared vision, and good agronomic advice from partners. The study concludes that interorganisational collaborations between and among farming companies and their partners are driven largely by economic interests and climate change and therefore have little to do with sustainability.

Contorta (Pinus contorta) är ett barrträdslag som naturligt finns i västra Nordamerika och är inplanterat främst i norra Sverige. Syftet med detta arbete är att utvärdera hur långt och i vilken omfattning contorta spridit sig från äldre bestånd i södra Sverige. Resultatet skulle kunna användas vid bedömning om det finns en spridningsrisk i södra Sverige. De tre bestånden som användes vid detta arbete ligger i södra Östergötland och norra Småland. Datainsamlingen utfördes i tre steg i respektive bestånd: 1. Bedömning om contorta kan spridas och etableras från bestånd i södra Sverige. 2. Inventering av contortaplantor i subjektivt valda ytor. 3. Kvantitativ inventering av contortaplantor i systematiskt utlagda linjer, 2 meter breda och 250 meter långa, i fyra riktningar utgående från beståndskant. I inventeringen av subjektivt utvalda ytor hittades contortaplantor 350 meter från contortabestånd och i den kvantitativa inventeringen 50 meter från contortabestånd. Totalt hittades 27 contortaplantor (motsvarande 450 st/ha) i subjektivt utlagda ytor och 18 contortaplantor (45 st/ha) hittades i den kvantitativa inventeringen. Alla funna contortaplantor hittades på störd mark och där trädkronans täckning var noll, dvs. där ljustillgången var högst. Det är däremot inte möjligt att, utifrån denna studie, säga vilken faktor som är primär för contortaplantornas etablering, markstörning eller ljustillgång. / Contorta (Pinus contorta) is a coniferous tree species from western North America that has been introduced mainly in northern Sweden. The purpose of this work was to evaluate how far and to what extent (number of self-dispersal seedlings/ha) Contorta has spread from older populations in southern Sweden. The result can be used in assessing the risk of spreading in southern Sweden. The three forest stands used for this work were located in southern Östergötland and northern Småland, Sweden. The data collection was done in three stages in each stand: 1. Assessment if contorta can be disseminated and established from stocks in southern Sweden. 2. Subjective inventory of Contorta plants in selected areas. 3. Quantitative inventory of contorta plants along defined corridors, 2 meters wide and 250 meters long, in four directions from the edge of the stock. In the inventory of subjectively selected areas, contorta plants were found 350 meters from a contorta stand and in the objective inventory 50 meters from a contorta stand. A total of 27 contorta plants (equivalent to 450 plants/ha) was found in subjectively inventory and 18 contorta plants (45 plants/ha) were found in the quantitative inventory. All Contorta seedlings were found on disturbed ground and where the canopy cover of trees was zero, i.e. where the access to light was highest. On the other hand, based on this study, it is not possible to say which factor is most important for the establishment, field disturbance or light supply.

Abstract This BA thesis treats, question and provides information about the war of Kalmar 1611-1613. The essential focus is directed towards battles between Sweden and Denmark, the battle took place in southern Sweden. Denmark attacked Sweden to preserve domination over the trading market in the Baltic Sea, Sweden had extended its trade area and therefore challenged Denmark. There are three purposes in the thesis, which origins within warfare and permeates the circumstances of two different battles. The first purpose problematises how Denmark managed to conquer the castle of Kalmar without facing difficulties, rumours have it that the governor was a traitor. His name was Christer Somme and the first purpose involves unveiling the truth behind the rumours. My theory is that Somme was innocent to the accusations but acted more like a coward, than a governor maybe should have acted. Regarding the other purposes of the essay, the Danish armies in Småland were forced to retreat away from the low-populated farming society. Sources say that it was because of the special warfare the farmers used that was the main reason behind a Danish retreat. The second purpose of the thesis examines if that was the only reason behind it, or if there were other underlying factors. For the last purpose, a map is drawn to point out the way of choice for the Danish army in Småland as for their retreat, the army was led by Gert Rantzau. The map contains explanations why he ended up choosing that path, the purpose also tries to explain why the Danish armies split up in Sweden both to the east and west. Limitations had to be made in order not to stray away too far from the subject, and there was not enough time to examine everything I wanted to. Therefore, I limited this historic event and chose to not involve several governors. Even though there are rumours about them being agents for Denmark as well, I chose the one that is most mentioned in this war. Regarding issue number two, it had to be limited to only focus upon the reasons why Rantzau was forced to retreat and not exactly how it happened. A limitation with purpose number three was applied to only track that specific part of the army which was led by Rantzau. That was necessary since the assault often was divided into several locations. It would have been hard to make it in time if I decided to chart the entire entity of Denmark’s forays plus King Kristian IV’s.

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For many years Swedish archeologists have stumbled upon domestic cat remains in the Viking age graves. Most of the graves in this paper come from southern Sweden and Mälaren Valley where many finds have been studied. The questions are how much of the cats is left in the grave material, what kind of grave goods were deposited with the dead, if cats are usually buried either with men or women and what the combinations of all the different animal species that cats were buried with can tell us. The theory in this work is concerning human - animal relations between the vikings and their cats with the weight on antropocentrism. The point of the mentioned theory in this paper is to provide answers to what cats could mean in the viking burial ritual context. 17 grave fields have been analysed for this work with the biggest part of them located in the Mälaren Valley regions (14 grave fields), and 3 in southern Sweden. The result of this study implies that cats in the analysed Mälaren Valley and southern Sweden graves were buried with wealthy people like aristocrats and merchants. They were also seen as exotic pets during their lifetime. The cats were usually buried with other animals like dogs, horses and chickens which all propably had a status of sacral animals during viking age. Cats' remains condition is also brought up as the felines were found either as partial or full/ almost complete skelettons. Analysis results also imply that cats were buried as often with men as with women and there are also rare cases of child burials with these animals.

Vattenkraftverk utgör vandringshinder för den akvatiska faunan i vattendrag. Den vandrande fisken hindras från att nå sina lekområden vilket har lett till ett minskat bestånd. Omprövningen som ska ske av vattenkraften i Sverige kommer att ställa högre krav på miljöanpassningar och bevarandet av ekologin. Elbristen i Europa har lett till en paus av omprövningen. Pausen möjliggör för att få ytterligare kunskap kring utförandet av restaureringsarbetet innan implementeringen. Studiens syfte var att identifiera vilka utmaningar och möjligheter som finns med restaureringsarbetet av vattenkraft, både ur ett socialt och ekologiskt perspektiv. Metoden utgjordes av ett flertal intervjuer med personer som för studien hade relevant kunskap. Resultatet visar på att det finns möjligheter och utmaningar inom samarbete, finansiering och restaurering. Slutsatsen av studien var att omprövningen är en grund till förbättrat arbete som bidrar med tydligare riktlinjer för samarbete, en miljöfonden som kan finansiera miljöanpassningarna och att restaureringsåtgärder faktiskt kommer implementeras. Utmaningarna som identifierades var konflikten mellan olika intressen, den varierande effektiviteten av en fiskväg och kostsamma miljöanpassningar. En utrivning ger snabba positiva förändringar och kan också därför anses vara den mest effektiva miljöanpassningen. Slutligen, restaurering av vattendrag är värdefullt för den akvatiska faunan. / Hydroelectric power plants constitute migration barriers for the aquatic fauna in watercourses. The migrating fish are prevented from reaching their spawning areas, which has led to a reduced stock of fish. Omprövningen of hydropower in Sweden will place higher demands on environmental adaptations and the preservation of ecology. The electricity shortage in Europe has led to a pause of omprövningen. The pause makes it possible to gain additional knowledge about the execution of the restoration work before the implementation. The purpose of the study was to identify which challenges and opportunities exist with the restaureation of watercourses with hydropower, both from a social and ecological perspective. The method consisted of several interviews with people who had relevant knowledge for the study. The results showed that there are opportunities and challenges with cooperation, financing and restoration. The conclusion was that the omprövning contributes with possibilities such as clearer guidelines for cooperation, the environmental fund that can finance the environmental adaptations and that restoration measures will actually be implemented. The identified challenges were conflicts between different interests, the varying efficiency of a fish passage and financing the expensive adaptations. A removal produces rapid positive change and can therefore be considered the most effective environmental adaptation. Finally, restoration of watercourses is valuable for the aquatic fauna.