Power and control over global food production and distribution is becoming increasingly concentrated in a small number of multinational corporations. Corporately produced food is not principally produced to be eaten, but to be sold in order to make financial gain as with any other commodity. This endless pursuit of profit is having devastating social and ecological consequences the world over. Gro

Bladyteindex för skog är ett mått på mängden blad i skogen. Bladyteindexet används i klimatmodeller för att uppskatta viktiga biologiska processer för skogen som fotosyntes, evapotranspiration och kolutbyte med atmosfären. Dessa modeller behöver bladyteindexdata över stora skogsarealer, som rimligtvis inte kan mätas för hand. Man har upptäckt samband mellan satellitdata i form av skogars reflektanGround reflectance of forests has been suggested as a main source weakening the strength of relationships using satellite reflectance to predict forest leaf area index (LAI), a key input variable in models of carbon balance and global circulation. In this project a radiative transfer model was used to simulate the influence of ground reflectance in forest canopy reflectance in twenty forest stands

Populärvetenskaplig sammanfattning: Kolcykeln är enkelt uttryckt den globala balansräkningen av kolets (C) förflyttning genom olika sfärer såsom mellan atmosfären och biosfären, således är kolcykeln av stor betydelse för mänsklighetens existens. Exempelvis har atmosfäriska koncentrationer av koldioxid (CO2) och metan (CH4) ökat de senaste 200 hundra åren på grund av mänskliga aktiviteter (till stoCarbon is central to our existence. It plays a fundamental role in the carbon cycle. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) have been increasing for about two centuries as a result of human activities. The need to understand how carbon cycles through the Earth-system is important for a variety of reasons, but mainly in order to assess the effects of these rising green

This study discusses sustainable development with the help of a case study of the Chilean province Chiloé between 1960 and 2009 – main scene of the salmon industry that developed very rapidly in recent decades. Today, Chiloé faces the now common dilemma of ecological devastations and increasing income disparity, widely perceived as inevitable side-effects of development leading to local employment

The amount of environmental degradation occurring in our world today continues to rise in large part due to human behaviors. As this paper discusses the relation between households, their energy-saving behaviors, and how these behaviors can affect the environmental impact of individuals as well as national climate-change policies, the power each one of us has in making a change within this world b

This thesis aims to test firm specific factors that determine the capital structure of companies on the Stockholm stock exchange. The results will be compared with the results of earlier studies from USA and Switzerland. Furthermore, we will conclude if these firm specific factors have changed over time. The theories explained and used in this thesis are the Modigliani Miller model, Trade-Off theo

Development, where agriculture is a central component, is today often related to different aspects of sustainability. Sustainable development is argued to be most effective when implemented on a local level where non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are usually active agents. The implementation of sustainable practices, such as sustainable agriculture, could hence be argued to depend upon the eff

As of 2008 more than half the world’s population was living in urban areas and that trend is expected to continue. Satisfying and sustainable design is now a top priority for urban and community planners. While much of the current discourse and research is centered on large-scale sustainable technological development projects such as low carbon impact housing and transportation, many studies and p

This thesis explores the relationship between the Fair Trade system and producers' vulnerability to climate change. It is African focused, using material collected in Senegal, and as such looks at what adaptation strategies and resilience building potential the movement has using the Sustainable Livelihood Approach. It outlines the current environmental awareness of the movement, what climatic

I denna uppsats undersöker jag ekobyn Solbyn i ett historiskt perspektiv med hjälp av Doreen Masseys och Allan Preds kulturgeografiska teorier om plats. Solbyn ses i ljuset av ett längre skeende, som en del av en kritik mot det etablerade moderna samhället genom formulerandet av ett naturnära alternativ. Detta alternativ förstås även med Michael Foucaults begrepp heterotopi. Undersökningen är base

Pensioners betydelse för individer, för stater och för den globala ekonomin är tydlig i en värld med en åldrande befolkning. Exitbeskattning är en av de åtgärder som en stat kan överväga för att behålla kapital i den nationella ekonomin, för att förhindra förlust av skattekrediter, eller för att kompensera för förlusten av andra skatteintäkter. Men är exitbeskattning av pensionsrättigheter och peThe importance of pension schemes is becoming clearer as the world’s population continues to age. Pension schemes are not only important for individuals, but also for states and for the global economy. Exit taxation of pension rights or pension capital can be one of the measures a state considers to keep savings within the states own financial system, to prevent the loss of tax credits or to comp

With this thesis I contribute with critical and applied research that challenges empirically and theoretically the naturalization of research categories regarding gender within the different frameworks of development studies. In this study, I investigate initiatives to incorporate gender considerations into a project I collaborated within Chalatenango, El Salvador. This project was conceived withi

By challenging conventional categories in research that frequently make invisible important actors and actions in the society, this case study about rural territorial dynamics highlights ways in which people’s different roles are crucial for the societies’ various functions, productive or reproductive, and for their sustainability. This is done through the consideration of gender as a system that

Syftet är att belysa hur man på historiska museiutställningar i Skåne, Halland och Blekinge manifesterar och framhäver landskapens danska historia för att således skapa en bild av hur respektive landskap förvaltar och ger uttryck för sin historia före och kring Roskildefreden 1658 samt om det eventuellt går att skönja ett danskt historiskt medvetande i de undersökta utställningarna. Uppsatsens hyp

In this thesis I examine the forest as the nexus of social and environmental worlds in Israel. By exploring the history of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and afforestation, I synthesize the given literature using a lens of human ecology to delve into the cultural, social, political, and ecological processes by which afforestation is simultaneously a tool of nation-building and a mechanism of ethno

My thesis uses Anna Tsing’s metaphorical concept friction to investigate the interaction between the Egyptian national government, the international, national and local development organizations, and a local Bedouin community. My research is based on fieldwork in South Sinai, Egypt from August until December 2010. My thesis tries to explore an alternative understanding of sustainability, inspired

Facing interdependent, systemic problems such as resource depletion and climate change, recent civil society organizations’ (CSOs) strategies seem to address only parts of the current challenges the world faces. Different and partly new modes of learning, organization and innovation are emerging on the agenda of several CSOs operating in the field of sustainability. The linkages in between the CSO

For the last few decades, economic globalization has enabled the expansion of business activities around the world. This has led to important changes in the structure of international society. Non-governmental actors, business enterprises in particular, have gained political influence in the global political agenda. Corporate Social Responsibility appears in this context of economic globalization

In, the Balinese Village of Buahan Kaja, BPTP (Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology), a sector of the Indonesian concerned with research and technology, has implemented a program (Pri Mitani) which aims to (a) aid farmers in the conversion from conventional chemical based methods to organic, sustainable systems, (b) help farmers produce better quality produce that can be competitive on