Presently there are extremely high expectations on the railway in Sweden. As a result of the political will to strengthen the railways position in the transport market, a number of major railway projects have therefore been decided. However, the political ambition has also resulted in a greater need of capacity than before. Which has led to an overload of the Swedish railway network and therefore also wear of tracks, locomotives and wagons.Since the railway in comparison with for instance the car not always has been the most popular mode of transportation, then only a small part of the investment has been devoted to developing its system. This has resulted in matters and tasks within the area being greatly put aside. An example of a issue that has not been prioritized concerns guidelines for the shaping and usage of the walking ways on railway yards. At present, there are no guidelines for how these walking ways should look and be used, which has resulted in a number of injuries and accidents occurring among the workers.The purpose of this work is therefore to present new suggestions for the design and use of these walking ways. The goal has been to develop an overall assessment of the situation based on a visit to the railway yard in Hagalund, interviews with experts and an information gathering within the topic. This is intended to form the basis for the suggestions and in the future also for a safer environment for the workers.During the site visit to the depot in Hagalund, it was discovered that some of the walking ways in the yard were in need of maintenance. It turned out that they were not being filled up, because the stone fractions are considered to contaminate the macadam laying next to it. During the site visit, one saw how some of the streets disappeared among larger fractions and that there was macadam Class I on the yard, although it is not allowed to be there. With the help of the interviews, one could map out the reason why it looks like it does today at the depot in Hagalund. In the discussions with the various characters, there was clearly a need to renew and standardize the guidelines for how these walking ways should be built and maintained. With the help of the site visit and the interviews, our proposals for guidelines were developed. One proposal is at least a width of 0.7 m along streets intended for walking along existing tracks and 0.7-1 m along future ones.

How can the overlooked typology of storgårdar (big court yard)be implemented on a site on the eastern side of Södermalm? A critique of the current implementation of 7 smaller city-block style buildings. Exploring how the storgård typology can be used to give homes to families with 3 or more children while also creating an asset to the city in the form of an inner-city park, a public facing ground floor and public squares.

This study examined the opinions of 552 residents of rural Virginia regarding acceptance of manufactured homes, formerly known as mobile homes, and their occupants. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent respondents' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, innovativeness, and perceptions of manufactured home characteristics, its occupants and neighborhood characteristics, predicted the acceptance of manufactured homes. Data were obtained from two mail surveys distributed among eight rural counties. One survey covered single-section manufactured homes (N = 274) and another covered double-section manufactured homes (N = 278). A proposed theoretical model was adapted from M. J. Dear and S. M. Taylor's (1982) model for community attitudes toward mental health care facilities. Hypotheses were tested through multiple regression analyses. The statistical model for the full sample included 13 independent variables. Six variables (perceived manufactured home occupant behavior, proportion of manufactured homes in the county, perceived manufactured home condition, manufactured home type, respondents’ gender, and manufactured home knowledge) emerged as significant predictors of manufactured home acceptance (R² = .3541). Separate regression models for the single- and double-section manufactured home subsamples were evaluated. In the single-section manufactured home subsample, perceived manufactured home occupants’ behavior, proportion of manufactured homes in the county, and perceived manufactured home condition were significant predictors of single-section manufactured home acceptance (R² = .2522). In the double-section manufactured home subsample, perceived manufactured home occupants’ behavior, perceived manufactured home condition, respondent's manufactured home knowledge, and neighborhood physical homogeneity were significant predictors of double-section manufactured home acceptance (R² = .3574). Results suggested respondents' socioeconomic and demographic characteristics were not important in predicting manufactured home acceptance. Instead, acceptance was mostly the result of perceptions about occupants’ behavior, a finding consistent with Dear and Taylor's (1982) study about acceptance of mental health facilities. In general, double-section models were more accepted than single-section models. / Ph. D.

Mine tailings result from surface mining coastal plain soils and sediments and are redeposited in a slurry form to the mined area. Mine tailing contains a low amount of organic matter, a low pH, and a high P fixation capacity. This research was carried out in the Atlantic Coastal Plain region to determine if mine tailings reclamation could be accomplished by utilization of yard waste compost and wood ash. Yard waste compost was used to increase the organic matter content and wood to increase pH of the mine tailings. Field research was conducted to determine the effect of yard waste compost and wood ash incorporation into mine tailings on (Zea mays L.) and peanut (Arachis hypogaea) yields. Levels of yard waste compost applied to the mine tailings were 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12% by weight, and wood ash was applied twice at a rate of 2.4 t ha⁻¹. Increases in corn and peanut yields on the mine tailings were attributed to increased available water from the application of yard waste compost and to increased pH from the application of wood ash. Successful use of the yard waste compost and wood ashes for reclamation of the mine tailing is shown by the higher peanut yields on the tailings soils than adjacent natural soils. Although the corn grain yields were relatively high (up to 7830 kg ha⁻¹) where yard waste compost and wood ash were applied to the tailings, the overall corn grain yields were higher on the adjacent natural soil. Probable reasons for lower corn grain on the tailings were inadequate available water at times of maximum need and N and/or P deficiencies. Zinc deficiency was induced in corn plants by the high level of P fertilization required to overcome the high P fixation capacity of the mine tailings. The Zn deficiency could be corrected by either foliar or broadcast-disk in application of ZnSO₄. / Master of Science

No description available.

Since the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) has been a major source of affordable housing provision for low to middle-income families. Meanwhile, growing concern about potential decrease of property value in neighborhoods has been the main obstacle for most of the affordable housing projects. As a result, LIHTC projects are facing backlash from neighborhoods near the potential affordable housing projects – NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard). However, during decades, it has been always controversial whether LIHTC is actually affecting neighborhood property value in negative way. This study tests the hypothesis that the LIHTC projects affect negatively on neighborhood single-family home property value in Austin, Texas. Single-family homes within 2000-feet radius from the selected LIHTC projects were analyzed based on the Travis County Appraisal District annual appraisal values between 1993 and 2008. / text

This practice-as-research project investigates how a piece of site-responsive Installation Art, titled Triple Point Dunnage (exhibited in Royal William Yard, June 2009), can be used to generate knowledge about memory work through experience of site. Working in dialogue with the ideas of Daniel C. Dennett, Lucy Lippard and Gaston Bachelard, I attempted to create a permeable and fluctuating creative setting for the memory work of participants. An approach that used site as a stimulant within a process which also incorporated theoretical themes. During the period of design and construction, I interacted with and recorded interviews with people who had a personal connection with the site or with an interest in how memory works. The final installation presented layers of spoken fragmented content in a dialectic relationship within the installation’s spatial construction. The responses of the installation’s visitors and participants were collated through a response book and interviews. These were analysed in order to discover to what extent, if at all, the properties I had developed and designed into the work had shaped the engagements of the participants. The multi-valented properties of the work generated an array of responses that suggested that the viewers had fashioned their experience by blending the fragmented stories of others with their own personal histories. This engagement resembles Dennett’s concept of “self-narrator” and resonates with Bachelard’s concept of the fusion of physical and psychological space and Lippard’s understanding of place. By exploring memory through site Triple Point Dunnage generated a sense of place that was a fusion of the participants’ responses to the external physical environment and their associative memories stimulated by the affective fragmented properties of the work.

I den här kvalitativa intervjustudien har vi haft som utgångspunkt att studera pedagogers syfte med förskolans gård, samt att studera vilka yttre och inre faktorer som påverkar pedagogernas möjligheter att skapa den miljö de önskar. Med de yttre och inre villkoren menar vi förutsättningar som finns för pedagoger, så som ekonomi, tid och engagemang. En del förutsättningar är svårare att styra över än andra. Hur kommer det sig?I bakgrunden behandlar vi ämnet utomhuspedagogik ur olika aspekter för att få kunskap om ämnet och varför det har blivit ett växande intresse inom förskolan. För att nå ytterligare kunskap om ämnet har vi valt att intervjua nio förskolepedagoger på tre olika förskolor i södra Sverige. Dessa förskolor består av både kommunal och privat ledning.Resultatet i vår studie visar att samtliga pedagoger är eniga om att förskolans gård är av vikt för barns lärande och att den därför behöver vara rikt utrustad, fördelaktigt med många, små och innehållsrika rum, som stimulerar barns alla sinnen. Det framkommer att pedagogerna anser att deras roll är lika betydelsefull utomhus som inomhus och de benämner sig själva som medforskande pedagoger, alltså att de tillsammans med barnen utforskar omvärlden. Pedagogernas tankar gällande villkoren för att skapa en önskvärd gård skiljer sig åt på de kommunala och privata förskolorna. Varför? / In this qualitative interview study, we have had as a starting point to study teachers' purpose with the preschool yard, as well as study the possible external and internal factors that affect preschool teachers' ability to create the environment they desire. With the external and internal conditions we mean the conditions that exist for preschool teachers, such as finance, time and commitment. Some conditions are more difficult to govern than others. How is that?In the background, we treat the topic outdoor education from different aspects in order to gain knowledge about the subject, and why there has been an increasing interest in preschool. To achieve further knowledge on the topic, we have chosen to interview nine preschool teachers in three different preschool in southern Sweden. These preschools are controlled by both municipal and private managements.The results of our study show that all teachers agree that the preschool yard is important for childrens’ learning and therefore need to be richly equipped, beneficial with many, small and rich rooms, which stimulate children senses. It appears that the teachers’ thinking their role is just as important outdoors as indoors, and they call themselves exploring educators. This because of that they together with the children they explore the outside world. The teachers' thinking about the conditions to create a desirable yard differs between the municipal and private preschools. How come?

I denna studie var syftet att utforska förskolpedagogers upplevelse av sin förskolegård samt närliggande miljö med koppling till barns motoriska utveckling, utifrån två frågeställningar. På vilket sätt anser pedagogerna att förskolegårdens utfärdande främjar barns motoriska utveckling och rörelsebehov? Upplever pedagogerna att de tar tillvara på närliggande miljö och på vilket sätt anser de att den främjar barns motoriska utveckling?   Studien utgår från Reggio Emilia som teoretiskt ramverk där utemiljön och pedagogens roll som medforskare har stor betydelse för att främja barnens motoriska utveckling.   Metoden som användes i studien var kvalitativ i form av intervjuer, där sex pedagoger från tre förskolor belägna i ett mindre samhälle i Mellansverige deltog. Som komplement till intervjuerna genomfördes även observation av förskolegården utan närvarande pedagoger eller barngrupp för att användas vid analysen och resultatdiskussionen.   Resultatet visar att pedagogerna anser att förskolegården är viktig för barnens motoriska utveckling samtidigt som närmiljöns betydelse lyfts, i detta fall skogsmiljön som motoriskt utvecklande på ett mer utmanande sätt. Det framhålls att materialet, främst det fasta har stor inverkan på barnens motoriska utveckling. Resultatet visar även att pedagogerna anser sig ha en viktig och betydande roll för att hjälpa och stötta barnen i utforskandet av utemiljön. / In this study, the purpose was to explore the preschool teacher´s experience of their preschool yard and the nearby environment related to children's motor development, based on two issues. In what way do the educators consider that the schoolyard´s design promotes children's motor development and movement needs? Does the preschool teacher take advantage of the nearby environment and how does it promote children´s motor development?   The study is based on Reggio Emilia as a theoretical framework where the environment has a great importance to promote the children´s motor development.   The method used in this study was qualitative in terms of interviews, where six preschool teachers from three different preschools located in a smaller society in the middle of Sweden attended. A compliment to the interviews was also observations of the preschool yard preformed without preschool teachers and children, to be used at the analysis.   The result shows that the preschool teacher´s consider that the preschool yard and nearby environment are important for the children’s motor development. It also emphasizes that the material, mainly the fixed one has big impact. The result also shows that the preschool teacher´s consider themselves to have an important role to support the children in the exploration of the outdoor environment.

This study is investigating how preschool educators’ interactions in and with differentenvironments, with a specific focus on the preschool yard, become meaningful for theeducator’s actions in the preschool activities. The questions aimed to be answered in thestudy are: • How do educators’ actions in preschools develop in relation to: - the perceived, the conceived and the lived environment? - the preschool yards environments? The study used qualative method with semi-structured group interviews in three differentpre-schools. The preschool educators who participated in the study answered anddiscussed questions about environments in the preschool, with specific focus on thepreschool yard. With inspiration from “Production of space” (Lefvebre, 1991) the empirical data of thefocus groups were analyzed, and Nordin-Hultman`s (2004) concept of “becoming” is partof the discussions meaning making. This study is investigating and discussing how preschool teachers are acting and becomingin relation to the environment where the preschool activities take place. The results showhow interaction between material, mental and social dimensions become important for theteachers sense of opportunities and challenges to develop their pedagogical activities. Safety, socialization and design of in- and outdoor environments are some of the areasemphasized in these relations.