The Evolution of a Responsibility to Protect in Africa : The African Unions Emerging Peace and Security Regime

The thesis focuses on, and tries to evaluate, the role that the African Union (AU) plays in protecting the peace and security on the African continent. The thesis takes an interdisciplinary approach to the topic by both utilizing international relations and international law theories. The two disciplines are combined in an attempt to understand the evolution of the AU’s commitment to the pragmatist doctrine: responsibility to protect (R2P). The AU charter is considered to be the first international law document to cover R2P as it allows the AU to interfere in the internal affairs of its member states. The R2P doctrine was evolved around the notion of a need to arrive at a consensus in regard to the right to intervene in the face of humanitarian emergencies. A part of the post-Cold War shift in UN behaviour has been to support local solutions to local problems. Hereby the UN acts in collaboration with regional organizations, such as the AU, to achieve the shared aspirations to maintain international peace and security without getting directly involved on the ground. The R2P takes a more holistic and long-term approach to interventions by including an awareness of the need to address the root causes of the crisis in order to prevent future resurrections of conflicts. The doctrine also acknowledges the responsibility of the international community and the intervening parties to actively participate in the rebuilding of the post-conflict state. This requires sustained and well planned support to ensure the development of a stable society.While the AU is committed to implementing R2P, many of the AU’s members are struggling, both ideologically and practically, to uphold the foundations on which legitimate intervention rests, such as the protection of human rights and good governance. The fact that many members are also among the poorest countries in the world adds to the challenges facing the AU. A lack of human and material resources leads to a situation where few countries are willing, or able, to support a long-term commitment to humanitarian interventions. Bad planning and unclear mandates also limit the effectiveness of the interventions. This leaves the AU strongly dependent on regional powerbrokers such as Nigeria and South Africa, which in itself creates new problems in regard to the motivations behind interventions. The current AU charter does not provide sufficient checks and balances to ensure that national interests are not furthered through humanitarian interventions. The lack of resources within the AU also generates worries over what pressure foreign nations and other international actors apply through donor funding. It is impossible for the principle of “local solutions for local problems? to gain ground while this donor conditionality exists.The future of the AU peace and security regime is not established since it still is a work in progress. The direction that these developments will take depends on a wide verity of factors, many of which are beyond the immediate control of the AU.

Movements and mechanical stresses in gas-filled flat plate solar collectors

Sealed gas filled flat plate solar collectors will have stresses in the material since volume and pressure varies in the gas when the temperature changes. Several geometries were analyzed and it could be seen that it is possible reducing the stresses and improve the safety factor of the weakest point in the construction by using larger area and/or reducing the distance between glass and absorber and/or change width and height relationship so the tubes are getting longer. Further it could be shown that the safety factor won't always get improved with reinforcements. It is so because when an already strong part of the collector gets reinforced it will expose weaker parts for higher stresses. The finite element method was used for finding out the stresses.

A Consumer Surplus Estimate of Peace & Love festival in Borlänge : A Travel Cost Approach

This thesis uses zonal travel cost method (ZTCM) to estimate consumer surplus of Peace & Love festival in Borlänge, Sweden. The study defines counties as zones of origin of the visitors. Visiting rates from each zone are estimated based on survey data. The study is novel due to the fact that mostly TCM has been applied in the environmental and recreational sector, not for short term events, like P&L festival. The analysis shows that travel cost has a significantly negative effect on visiting rate as expected. Even though income has previously shown to be significant in similar studies, it turns out to be insignificant in this study. A point estimate for the total consumer surplus of P&L festival is 35.6 million Swedish kronor. However, this point estimate is associated with high uncertainty since a 95 % confidence interval for it is (17.9, 53.2). It is also important to note that the estimated value only represents one part of the total economic value, the other values of the festival's totaleconomic value have not been estimated in this thesis.

Learning as movements in interspace

My research issues (in rearch project for PhD-degree, named Drama in School) concern how learning takes place in drama education in compulsory school. One part is to explore and problematize approaches to learning (in and through drama). In this paper will the concept learning be discussed by using a thought derived from Deleuze and Guattari’s nomad philosophy. They describe learning as a movement in the interspace. Focus is on process and inquiry, not on achievement of predetermined skills and competences. 

Peace & Love 2011 : Uppskattning av festivalens ekonomiska betydelse via segmenteringsansatsen

Syftet med denna rapport är att kartlägga samt värdera och presentera ekonomiska effekterkopplade till Peace & Love festivalen 2011 genom att tillämpa segmenteringsansatsen.Utgångspunkten är en uppdelning av festivalbesökarna i olika kategorier (segment) som därefteranvänds för att skatta den direkta ekonomiska effekten av festivalen. Uppskattningen av deekonomiska effekter som presenteras är baserade på enkätsvar från 1036 festivalbesökare samt1540 intervjuer vid entréerna. Resultatet från studien pekar på att den traditionella metoden med uppskattning av effekter via enuppdelning av konsumtion mellan turister och icke turister överskattar den totala effekten jämförtmed uppskattning via boendesegmentering med ca 10 procent. Den totala effekten viaboendesegmentering uppskattas till dryga 185 Mkr. Besökarnas konsumtion i samband medPeace & Love festivalen kan omräknas till 61,85 helårsverken. Peace & Love festivalen beräknasskapa drygt 22 helårsverken inom restaurang och handel i Borlängeregionen utöver de 23helårsverken som festivalorganisationen skapar.

Peace & Love 2010 : Värderade och icke-värderade ekonomiska effekter

Denna rapport syftar till at kartlägga samt värderat och presenterat ekonomiska effekter koppladetill Peace & Love festivalen 2010. Utgångspunkten är en definition av festivalens intressenter.Uppskattningen av de ekonomiska effekter som presenterats är baserade på enkätsvar från 519festivalbesökare. Resultaten från studien pekar på att festivalbesökare definierade som turister igenomsnitt spenderar drygt 2000 kr i samband med sitt besök exklusive utgifter för resa ochfestivalbiljett. Den totala festivalkopplade konsumtionen beräknas till 154 Mkr genom attmultiplicera siffrorna för genomsnittlig festivalkonsumtion för en besökare med det totala antaletbetalande besökare. Studien visar också att det finns ett betydande läckage ur den regionalaekonomin till följd av att försäljare inom festivalområdet kommer från andra delar i Sverige.Peace & Love-festivalens bidrag till den lokala ekonomin inklusive biljettintäkter beräknas istudien till 89 Mkr. Slutligen pekar studien på att fördjupade studier innehållande en mernoggrann uppskattning över besökargruppernas andelar respektive konsumtion krävs vid nästaårs festival för att säkerställa de resultat denna studie redovisar.

On processing GPS tracking data of car-movements in Borlänge, Sweden

The advancement of GPS technology enables GPS devices not only to be used as orientation and navigation tools, but also to track travelled routes. GPS tracking data provides essential information for a broad range of urban planning applications such as transportation routing and planning, traffic management and environmental control. This paper describes on processing the data that was collected by tracking the cars of 316 volunteers over a seven-week period. The detailed information is extracted. The processed data is further connected to the underlying road network by means of maps. Geographical maps are applied to check how the car-movements match the road network. The maps capture the complexity of the car-movements in the urban area. The results show that 90% of the trips on the plane match the road network within a tolerance.

Women's experiences of two different self-assessment methods for monitoring fetal movements in full-term pregnancy : a crossover trial

Background: Low maternal awareness of fetal movements is associated with negative birth outcomes. Knowledge regarding pregnant women's compliance with programs of systematic self-assessment of fetal movements is needed. The aim of this study was to investigate women's experiences using two different self-assessment methods for monitoring fetal movements and to determine if the women had a preference for one or the other method. Methods: Data were collected by a crossover trial; 40 healthy women with an uncomplicated full-term pregnancy counted the fetal movements according to a Count-to-ten method and assessed the character of the movements according to the Mindfetalness method. Each self-assessment was observed by a midwife and followed by a questionnaire. A total of 80 self-assessments was performed; 40 with each method. Results: Of the 40 women, only one did not find at least one method suitable. Twenty of the total of 39 reported a preference, 15 for the Mindfetalness method and five for the Count-to-ten method. All 39 said they felt calm, relaxed, mentally present and focused during the observations. Furthermore, the women described the observation of the movements as safe and reassuring and a moment for communication with their unborn baby. Conclusions: In the 80 assessments all but one of the women found one or both methods suitable for self-assessment of fetal movements and they felt comfortable during the assessments. More women preferred the Mindfetalness method compared to the count-to-ten method, than vice versa.