In the northern, sub-arctic, regions of the world the climate is cold a substantial part of the year which affecting people's health as low temperatures and darkness stress the body. At the same time the cold climate offers opportunities that can be utilized in an innovative manner, both technically and aesthetically, to develop the winter environment to be attractive and health promoting in outdoor activities.The aim of the study was to develop a methodology for giving voice to citizens to be used in the process of urban planning and design for good health in a cold climate. The qualitative investigations of citizen’s experiences of health promoting aspects included two workshops focused on the following questions; What are your experiences of health and well-being in a cold climate? How can this city be planned to promote health during the winter season? The 53 participants came from two cities in the northern part of Sweden. At Workshop 1 small groups of citizens (5-8) were asked to make a collective collage cutting and pasting images from magazines without talking to each other while soft music was playing in the background.When finished the silence was broken and the participants presented their contributions. At Workshop 2 small groups of citizens (5-8) were given maps of the city with different paths for walking tours aimed to pinpoint areas for improvement. After the walk the group presented their ideas for each other and a number of innovative ideas surfaced.Including citizens in the process of urban planning is not only a good source of ideas and information useful in the planning process but may be an opportunity to strengthen health literacy and healthy behavior. This study may serve as an example of an empowerment - based method including citizens in the process of urban planning and design.

Tests with different mills were performed to grind limestone and dolomite to particle sizes which can be used for filling and coating materials. Different vibrating ball mills, mills of co-ball-type and an attrition mill were used. Vibrating ball mills produce products with the most narrow particle size distribution. The attrition mill yielded the highest specific surface area.

Ett forskarteam från Luleå tekniska universitet har fått regionala medel för att undersöka hur kyla, is, mörker och snö kan användas som en resurs för god hälsa. Förundersökningen Hälsa på hal is ska ge ett förbättrat underlag för planering av attraktiva utemiljöer som lockar till fysisk aktivitet i kallt klimat.– Samarbetet i projektet mellan forskare från Hälsopromotionsgruppen och forskargruppen i Arkitektur är nytt. Här kopplas två kompetensområden ihop och vi får en mer komplett syn och utveckling inom människors hälsa, som båda grupperna jobbar med. Mötet mellan människor med olika kunskap och erfarenheter gör att barriärer bryts och något nytt kan skapas, säger projektledare Mia Tossavainen. Förundersökningen innehåller två workshops och nu har den första workshopen hållits i Luleå med de fyra forskarna och de 25 experterna som på olika sätt jobbar med människor. Pensionärer, studenter och kommunanställda var några av de olika expertgrupperna som deltog. De ska tillsammans ta reda på hur man ska gå tillväga för att få reda på vad som lockar människor att röra sig utomhus på vintern. Nästa workshop hålls i Pajala och då ligger fokus på hur utemiljöerna kan planeras och byggas. Då deltar experter i planering och projektering från Pajala- och Luleå kommun samt bland annat Trafikverket, BDX och Lulebo. Miljöerna ska byggas i Luleå och Pajala och ska stimulera till bättre folkhälsa, bosättningar och etablering av nya företag. Metodiken baseras på människors upplevelser om vad som är attraktivt och hälsofrämjande. De regionala medlen kommer från Norrbottens läns landsting och länsstyrelsen Norrbotten. Institutionen för Hälsovetenskap, LTU, är sökande och projektledare Mia Tossavainen kommer att leda och organisera arbetet. Ett nära samarbete hålls med de vetenskapliga ledarna som är Catrine Kostenius (Hälsovetenskap), och Kristina L Nilsson (Arkitektur), samt medfinansiärerna Tyréns AB, Northland Resources, Luleå kommun (stadsbyggnadskontoret) och Pajala kommun. Lotta Berglund (Hälsovetenskap) ingår också i projektgruppen

The purpose of the project was to develop a basis for a joint project application regarding urban planning and health promotion in cold climate with the co-partners at OU and if possible with a partner in Northern Norway. The aim was to establish a research platform and cooperation regarding at least one joint research and development application.Two workshops, one at Oulu University and one at Luleå university of technology, have been organized on the theme “urban planning for good health in cold climate”.In Oulu, the research and planning activities regarding the new suburb Hiukkavaara was the major focus on the workshop. In Luleå the resources and challenges with the cold climate and present winter conditions were the topic. Municipalities (Oulu, Pajala and Luleå), the county administrative board the county council of Norrbotten as well as companies were invited to the workshops. Several meetings with the project partners - both video and IRL (in real life) have been organized with researchers at OU and with NTNU, Trondheim. The planned work regarding investigation of cooperation with Tromsö or Finnmark University showed that our research activities and plans did not fit with any research groups at these places. However there was interest for the project both at UiT and at Asplan Viak (a consulting company).A physical research meeting at Ltu in February with researchers from NTNU, OU, Metsähallitus and Ltu resulted in a joint work with a general application that may be adjusted to calls from NordForsk, Horizon 2020, Interreg Nord and Kolarctic ENPI.All planned activities in the project have been performed and the partnership with OU is deepened and a partnership with NTNU is established. The partnership and coming research cooperation will be confirmed with one or several applications for funding projects regarding urban planning for built environment promoting health and wellbeing in cold climate. 

Leaching characteristics are used for the evaluation of secondary materials used in road construction. In order to form a basis for comparison of the leachability, Swedish rock material have been investigated using the availability test NT ENVIR 003. Microscopic studies of the mineral composition, Acid-Base-Accounting and pH-measurements have been used to explain the leaching results. Overall, the content of identified opaque minerals is low and the leachable amounts of the heavy metal elements and sulphur are very small. At oxidising conditions the leachability of sulphide bound elements increases notably. Chromium and vanadium present as substituted ions in the crystal lattice of oxides show very low solubility. The results have been compared to similar leaching tests of metallurgical slags used in road construction. The dissolution of the major phase, the solubility of the heavy metal mineral and the total concentration of the element are factors influencing the dissolved amount of the heavy metal element. Compared to the crystalline rock materials, the amorphous fuming slag from a copper smelter has very low solubility, while blast furnace slag is easily dissolved due to hydrolysis. The soluble amounts of sulphide bound elements in rock material is higher compared to blast furnace slag. X-ray diffraction analysis has been performed on two rock materials. The objective was to identify potential structural changes due to ageing and mechanical activation. Line broadening caused by lattice disturbance could not be observed, most likely because of too low energy input. The investigation did not provide evidence of surface changes due to ageing. Two Swedish rock materials have been investigated regarding the influence of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans to enhance the leaching of zinc and copper. A substantial part of the elements were dissolved due to chemical leaching already during the pH stabilisation to pH2. The experiments were run as single tests and no final conclusions can be drawn regarding the bacterial influence on the leaching of copper and zinc in the rock materials.

Extraction of rock material and ore for construction and metal production involves large quantities of wastes and by-products. Iron- and steelmaking slag has durability qualities and latent cementitious properties which are positive in construction. The leaching of so-called hazardous metals is important in the evaluation of secondary materials for utilization, while knowledge of the leaching behaviour is not required for rock materials used in road making. Iron- and steelmaking slags have varying content of glass and puzzolanic minerals that hydrate in contact with water. The influence of the puzzolanic properties in leaching tests is not considered. Swedish rock materials have been investigated with the availability test, NT ENVIR 003, in order to form a basis for comparison of soluble trace elements. A long-term leaching test, NVN 7347, has been used to determine whether diffusion is the dominating leaching mechanism in a quenched, amorphous BF slag. Four different slag types, modified by rapid cooling, have been investigated with the compliance test, EN 12457-2. Overall, the solubility of metals from the rock materials was low but a substantial part of sulphide-bound elements were released under oxidizing conditions, and compared to metallurgical slags, the released amounts of some elements were larger. The major phase had an important influence on the solubility of trace elements. An amorphous slag without puzzolanic properties has low solubility and prevents leaching of enclosed trace elements. For a cementitious slag, both dissolution and stabilizing reactions take place during a leaching test and the matrix may be dissolved to a large degree. Quenching of a slag for increased glass content implies more phase transformations, and equilibrium will not be reached in a short- term test. The reactions of the puzzolanic minerals hamper the evaluation of leaching tests results. For a proper assessment, knowledge of material properties and leaching tests is essential. The solubility of the trace elements in the original and modified steelmaking slags was low and a reduction is difficult without better control of the major phases. Rapid cooling results in a more homogeneous slag with few phases and the control of the properties are thereby enhanced. Results from leaching tests of both rock materials and slags should be used in a wider context in order to give the test results a reasonable importance in the evaluation of the materials.

Hållbart samhällsbyggande inkluderar sociala, ekonomiska, ekologiska och tekniska aspekter. Inom det tvärvetenskapliga FoU-projektet Attract integreras samtliga dessa aspekter för att kunna åstadkomma attraktivt och hållbart boende i kallt klimat. Det tvååriga FoU-projektet omfattar en budget om drygt 23 miljoner, och finansieras huvudsakligen av Vinnova, HLRC samt de medverkande företagen.

Four types of steel slags, a ladle slag, a BOF (basic oxygen furnace) slag and two different EAF (electric arc furnace) slags, were characterized and modified by semi-rapid cooling in crucibles and rapid cooling by water granulation. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of different cooling conditions on the properties of glassy slags with respect to their leaching and volume stability. Optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and a standard test leaching (prEN 12457-2/3) have been used for the investigation. The results show that the disintegrated ladle slag was made volume stable by water granulation, which consisted of 98% glass. However EAF slag 1, EAF slag 2 and the BOF slag formed 17%, 1% and 1% glass, respectively. The leaching test showed that the glass-containing matrix did not prevent leaching of minor elements from the modified slags. The solubility of chromium, molybdenum and vanadium varied in the different modifications, probably due to their presence in different minerals and their different distributions.

Rock materials used in road construction contain heavy metal elements bound in minerals that are more or less soluble. There are no requirements for investigations of leaching behaviour before use of rock materials in Sweden, which is the case regarding other materials as, e.g., slags. This implies that there is a lack of data to be used when other materials are evaluated. Seven rock materials and two gravels representing non-weathered material for use in base or sub-base course from three counties in Sweden have been investigated regarding mineral composition in order to explain the leaching behaviour. Microscopic studies of the mineral composition, acid-base-accounting and pH-measurements have been used to explain the leaching results achieved with the availability test. The identified transparent minerals were the expected silicate minerals for the sampled rock-forming materials. Overall, the content of identified opaque minerals was low. How an element is bound in the mineral is decisive for the dissolution of the heavy metal elements. Sulphide bound elements have a notably high fraction that is soluble, especially under oxidising conditions. Chromium and vanadium present as substituted ions in the crystal lattice of oxides are not dissolved. The dissolution of the buffering rock forming silicates is much slower than the dissolution of the acid-producing sulphides. The results have been compared to similar leaching tests of metallurgical slag used in road construction. The dissolution of the major phase, the solubility of the heavy metal mineral and secondary reactions are factors influencing the dissolved amounts of heavy metal elements. Compared to the crystalline rock materials, the amorphous fuming slag from a copper smelter has very low solubility, while blast furnace slag is easily dissolved due to hydrolysis. The soluble amounts of sulphide bound elements in rock material is higher compared to blast furnace slag. The kinetics of the acid-producing and acid-consuming reactions of the rock materials needs to be further investigated. The blast furnace slag and the fuming slag can be used in road construction without any risk of harmful environmental impact due to heavy metal leaching.

Leaching characteristics are used for the evaluation of waste materials in road construction. Few leaching tests have been performed on natural rock materials which implies that there is a lack of data to be used in comparison with waste materials. In order to form a basis for comparison of the leachability, nine natural road construction materials in Sweden were investigated using the availability test NT ENVIR 003. The results show that the leachable amounts of heavy metals and sulphur generally are very small, but under oxidizing conditions the solubility of sulphide bound elements increases notably. Vanadium and chromium are probably present as ionic substitutes for other elements in mineral lattices and show very low leachability. The leachable amounts of some heavy elements, e.g. zinc, nickel and copper are higher in the rock materials and gravels than in the blast furnace slags.

Leaching results are used in the assessment of slag for use in construction. The stability of the major phase in iron- and steelmaking slags has a direct influence on the leaching of all elements enclosed in the matrix. Steelmaking slags have varying content of glass and puzzolanic minerals, and water granulation is a means of enhancing the glass content. A crystalline and an amorphous blast furnace slag have been investigated with a long-term test to determine if diffusion or dissolution was the controlling leaching mechanisms for each slag type. Both slag types were leached by dissolution according to the results. However, leaching of slags with puzzolanic phases implies that reactions take place, resulting in both dissolution and stabilization of elements. The phase transformations probably hamper the evaluation of leaching results and should be considered.

Laboratory treatment tests of AOD slag from stainless steelmaking have been performed by MiMeR. An induction furnace was used for slag reduction tests. The reduced slag was either water granulated or cooled in an Al2O3 crucible. Metal droplets, suitable for recycling as metallic materials in the steelmaking, were recovered after the slag granulation. Characterizations of slag samples from the tests show considerable influences of the treatments on physical and mineralogical properties of the slag. Some other possible methods for treatments and utilization of the slag were also discussed.