An analysis of the potential of local stewardship as a management mode for increasing and enhancing ecosystem services in the urban landscape : Three case studies in Stockholm Municipality – Igelbäcken Allotment Garden, Akalla Allotment Garden and the Vinterviken Garden

The capacity of urban areas for generating quality of life is largely dependent on theecological processes and the green spaces of the cityscape. The ecosystem services supportedand generated by urban green spaces are fundamental to human well being in cities.Hence, this master thesis explores the possibilities of local stewardship as a possiblemanagement mode for enhancing ecosystem services in the urban landscape. It does so by ananalysis of management rights to state-owned lands in the municipality of Stockholm andthrough evaluating to what extent the institutional structure of the management enables localstewardship. Further, by choosing three case studies comprised of Igelbäcken AllotmentGarden, Akalla Allotment garden and the Vinterviken garden, all three located on state-ownedland in Stockholm Municipality, this thesis explores how the rules in use are fashioned andfollowed and what role leadership plays in this process. Finally, the motivational drivers forgetting involved in local stewardship in all three case studies were explored.The study is of a qualitative nature primarily utilising semi-structured interviews withgardeners at the case studies, employees at the municipality and direct observation as a meansto gather data. The key findings of this study suggest that the possibilities of local stewardshipof green areas owned by Stockholm municipality are limited. The resources for the municipaldistricts’ administering of local stewardship initiatives are insufficient and the institutionalstructure is complicated and unclear.The rules in use in the respective case studies are dependent on the leadership in the gardensand this thesis suggests that a mix of planning-led and visionary-led leadership could beemployed in order to maintain a resilient institutional structure. The motivational drivers forthe engagement in the case study areas differ but are dominated by practices within cultural,recreational and provisioning ecosystem services. Hence, the local stewardship examined inthe three case studies indicates that the green-area management is not based on biodiversityconservation but is primarily oriented towards nurturing cultural and provisional ecosystemservices. However, these practices contribute to enhancing additional ecosystem services.The results of this study have indicated the importance of exploring the interplay betweeninstitutions, leadership and motivational drivers in order to design more efficient urbanmanagement designs that involve local stewardship groups

An analysis of the potential of local stewardship as a management mode for increasing and enhancing ecosystem services in the urban landscape : Three case studies in Stockholm Municipality – Igelbäcken Allotment Garden, Akalla Allotment Garden and the Vinterviken Garden

The capacity of urban areas for generating quality of life is largely dependent on theecological processes and the green spaces of the cityscape. The ecosystem services supportedand generated by urban green spaces are fundamental to human well being in cities.Hence, this master thesis explores the possibilities of local stewardship as a possiblemanagement mode for enhancing ecosystem services in the urban landscape. It does so by ananalysis of management rights to state-owned lands in the municipality of Stockholm andthrough evaluating to what extent the institutional structure of the management enables localstewardship. Further, by choosing three case studies comprised of Igelbäcken AllotmentGarden, Akalla Allotment garden and the Vinterviken garden, all three located on state-ownedland in Stockholm Municipality, this thesis explores how the rules in use are fashioned andfollowed and what role leadership plays in this process. Finally, the motivational drivers forgetting involved in local stewardship in all three case studies were explored.The study is of a qualitative nature primarily utilising semi-structured interviews withgardeners at the case studies, employees at the municipality and direct observation as a meansto gather data. The key findings of this study suggest that the possibilities of local stewardshipof green areas owned by Stockholm municipality are limited. The resources for the municipaldistricts’ administering of local stewardship initiatives are insufficient and the institutionalstructure is complicated and unclear.The rules in use in the respective case studies are dependent on the leadership in the gardensand this thesis suggests that a mix of planning-led and visionary-led leadership could beemployed in order to maintain a resilient institutional structure. The motivational drivers forthe engagement in the case study areas differ but are dominated by practices within cultural,recreational and provisioning ecosystem services. Hence, the local stewardship examined inthe three case studies indicates that the green-area management is not based on biodiversityconservation but is primarily oriented towards nurturing cultural and provisional ecosystemservices. However, these practices contribute to enhancing additional ecosystem services.The results of this study have indicated the importance of exploring the interplay betweeninstitutions, leadership and motivational drivers in order to design more efficient urbanmanagement designs that involve local stewardship groups

Etiological aspects of esophageal atresia

Esophageal atresia (EA) is a severe congenital malformation, characterized by a discontinuity of the esophagus. To identify possible preventive measures, it is important to understand the etiology of EA, but little is known about risk factors. The principal aim of the present thesis is to contribute to a better understanding of the etiology of EA. The role of potential etiological maternal risk factors for EA in the infant has been approached. Studies I and II also concerned aspects of EA that warrant being addressed in a large and population-based investigation, covering the incidence, mortality, and cancer risk as well as the characteristics of an unselected cohort of patients. EA is rare, which makes it difficult to study. In Sweden, however, there is a unique possibility of conducting large population-based studies through the nationwide registers available. In all studies included in the present thesis, Swedish nationwide population-based registers were used, linked through personal identity numbers. In study I, a population-based cohort study of 1,126 EA patients, the incidence of EA and the associated mortality and cancer risk were assessed. The mean incidence was found to be 3.16 per 10,000 live births, without any temporal changes (p for trend=0.94). EA patients had an almost 12 times higher risk of mortality compared to the background population (SMR 11.8, 95% CI 10.3-13.5). Survival improved substantially, however, during the study period (p for trend=0.0001). Occurrence of associated anomalies and very low birth weight were linked with a worse prognosis. Although uncertain, the risk of cancer did not seem to be increased in patients operated on for EA (SIR 0.9; 95% CI 0.2-2.6). Studies II, III, and IV were all population-based, nested case-control studies, including over 700 cases of EA, conducted to assess the association between selected maternal exposures and the risk of EA in the infant. In study II the risk factors maternal parity, age and ethnicity were approached. There seemed to be an increased risk of EA among infants of mothers having their first delivery. An over 30% decrease in risk of EA was found for mothers delivering their second (OR 0.68; 95% CI 0.56-0.83) or third child (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.49-0.83), compared to first time mothers. The risk of having an infant with EA was found to increase with maternal age. Infants of women giving birth when 35-40 years and >40 years old showed a 2-fold (OR 2.09; 95% CI 1.09-3.99) and 3-fold (OR 3.04; 95% CI 1.37-6.74) increase in risk of EA, respectively, compared to those of mothers <20 years. There was a 66% increase in risk of isolated EA in infants of mothers of Caucasian (OR 1.66; 95% CI 1.06-2.61), compared to non-Caucasian ethnicity. In study II the characteristics of an unselected cohort of infants born with EA were described. Infants born with EA had a lower birth weight and were more often prematurely born, of male gender and twins, compared to infants born without this malformation. In study III the potential maternal risk factors tobacco smoking, obesity and low socioeconomic status were assessed. No associations were found between these exposures and the risk of having an infant with EA. In study IV we addressed the risk of having an infant with EA among women with diabetes. Maternal diabetes during pregnancy seemed to increase the risk of EA in the child. The adjusted risk of EA was 70 % higher among infants of women with diabetes than among those of women without the disease (OR 1.7; 95% CI 1.0- 2.9)

The Upside of Upcycling : An Investigation of Construction Waste Materials’ Potential for Upcycling through Material Driven Design

The main objective of this thesis is to show the potential that construction waste materials from Skanska’s projects have for upcycling. Materials are investigated through a comprehensive pre-study and their potential is showcased in developed concepts. Further, this thesis aims at suggesting implementation steps that facilitate circular material handling at Skanska. The conclusions are that waste at construction sites usually occurs from spillage, plethora and provisional installations, and materials suitable for upcycling are metal profiles for indoor and outdoor use, processed and unprocessed wooden planks, pallets, and plywood. Moreover, it is concluded that Skanska’s initial step towards increased circularity within material flows is to create a cross-functional project group to set up future goals and actions. Followingly, suggested areas for the project group to review further is education and knowledge creation, management of logistics and supply chain, external collaborations, and Skanska’s brand image from a sustainability perspective.  Skanska is one of the leading project management companies in Sweden, aiming at being climate neutral throughout the entire value system by 2045. This thesis is motivated with background in the amount of emissions caused by production of new materials for construction and building projects. From Skanska’s annual sustainability report it is discerned that over 50 % of CO2 emissions arise from material production. Further, there is great potential in exploring solutions others than recycling for construction waste materials to minimize the sector’s use of resources. How design can be used as a research method to investigate and explore the potential of different waste materials is yet unexplored, which motivates the importance of this work further. General methods such as a literature study, interviews, observations, analysis, and evaluation are used for gathering information and come up with results and conclusions regarding construction materials and sustainability work. Although, the foremost unique research approach in this thesis is Material Driven Design, and since upcycling of waste materials is investigated, Repurpose Driven Design is of great importance as well. The product concepts developed through these approaches are the primary results from this work since they contribute to fulfill the objective.

The Upside of Upcycling : An Investigation of Construction Waste Materials’ Potential for Upcycling through Material Driven Design

The main objective of this thesis is to show the potential that construction waste materials from Skanska’s projects have for upcycling. Materials are investigated through a comprehensive pre-study and their potential is showcased in developed concepts. Further, this thesis aims at suggesting implementation steps that facilitate circular material handling at Skanska. The conclusions are that waste at construction sites usually occurs from spillage, plethora and provisional installations, and materials suitable for upcycling are metal profiles for indoor and outdoor use, processed and unprocessed wooden planks, pallets, and plywood. Moreover, it is concluded that Skanska’s initial step towards increased circularity within material flows is to create a cross-functional project group to set up future goals and actions. Followingly, suggested areas for the project group to review further is education and knowledge creation, management of logistics and supply chain, external collaborations, and Skanska’s brand image from a sustainability perspective.  Skanska is one of the leading project management companies in Sweden, aiming at being climate neutral throughout the entire value system by 2045. This thesis is motivated with background in the amount of emissions caused by production of new materials for construction and building projects. From Skanska’s annual sustainability report it is discerned that over 50 % of CO2 emissions arise from material production. Further, there is great potential in exploring solutions others than recycling for construction waste materials to minimize the sector’s use of resources. How design can be used as a research method to investigate and explore the potential of different waste materials is yet unexplored, which motivates the importance of this work further. General methods such as a literature study, interviews, observations, analysis, and evaluation are used for gathering information and come up with results and conclusions regarding construction materials and sustainability work. Although, the foremost unique research approach in this thesis is Material Driven Design, and since upcycling of waste materials is investigated, Repurpose Driven Design is of great importance as well. The product concepts developed through these approaches are the primary results from this work since they contribute to fulfill the objective.

Reproductive history and risk of colorectal adenocarcinoma.

BackgroundSex hormones may be associated with colorectal adenocarcinoma, although the association of pregnancy history and risk of colorectal cancer is not consistent.MethodsWe conducted a population-based nested case-control study of persons born between 1932 and 2008 who are in the Swedish Multi-Generation Register. In total, 12,915 women and 15,519 men with colorectal adenocarcinoma were identified during follow-up in the Swedish Cancer Register; 10 age- and sex-matched controls were selected for each case. Number of children and age at first and last birth were analyzed in relation to the risk of colorectal adenocarcinoma, using conditional logistic regression, to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).ResultsCompared with women without children, women with 1 or 2 children had an OR of 1.02 (95% CI = 0.93-1.13) of developing adenocarcinoma in the proximal colon; those with 3 or 4 children, 1.18 (1.06-1.32); and those with ≥5 children, 1.30 (1.05-1.61) (test for trend P &lt; 0.01). The corresponding associations in men were 0.92 (0.84-1.00), 1.02 (0.92-1.13), and 0.97 (0.78-1.20), respectively (test for trend P = 0.13).ConclusionsHigher parity in women was associated with the risk of adenocarcinoma of the proximal colon, although not the distal colon or rectum. A similar risk with family size was not seen for fathers. Still, the influence of lifestyle factors cannot be ruled out

Reproductive History and Risk of Colorectal Adenocarcinoma

BackgroundSex hormones may be associated with colorectal adenocarcinoma, although the association of pregnancy history and risk of colorectal cancer is not consistent.MethodsWe conducted a population-based nested case-control study of persons born between 1932 and 2008 who are in the Swedish Multi-Generation Register. In total, 12,915 women and 15,519 men with colorectal adenocarcinoma were identified during follow-up in the Swedish Cancer Register; 10 age- and sex-matched controls were selected for each case. Number of children and age at first and last birth were analyzed in relation to the risk of colorectal adenocarcinoma, using conditional logistic regression, to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).ResultsCompared with women without children, women with 1 or 2 children had an OR of 1.02 (95% CI = 0.93-1.13) of developing adenocarcinoma in the proximal colon; those with 3 or 4 children, 1.18 (1.06-1.32); and those with ≥5 children, 1.30 (1.05-1.61) (test for trend P &lt; 0.01). The corresponding associations in men were 0.92 (0.84-1.00), 1.02 (0.92-1.13), and 0.97 (0.78-1.20), respectively (test for trend P = 0.13).ConclusionsHigher parity in women was associated with the risk of adenocarcinoma of the proximal colon, although not the distal colon or rectum. A similar risk with family size was not seen for fathers. Still, the influence of lifestyle factors cannot be ruled out