Search

In 2007, the Norwegian Ministry of Environment initiated an unprecedented project of environmental conservation through land use planning, introducing buffer zones as measures to integrate local development with conservation of wild reindeer. Through studies of national policy developments and a case study of a planning processes and spatial zoning, using institutional theory, the paper investigates how competing policies and understandings of appropriate activities in the edge areas are reflected in zoning regulations and planning practice, and whether the buffer zone contributes to resolving conflicts in the edge areas. Competing national policies for the edge areas, a legal development favoring ecological buffering and a history of top-down management and local socio-economic marginalization results in removal of large parts of an existing ecological buffer zone and the creation of a new development zone. The integrated conservation and development approach has no advocates and while bearing much promise amounts to little. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores what happens when the ideal of sustainable development meets the real and pressing problems in coastal zone planning. Insights into how coastal zone planners understand environmental problems and navigate political visions, knowledge requirements, stakeholder involvement and local conditions, are key to understanding how to develop a holistic approach in line with sustainable development. The paper applies Q-methodology to identify the dominant discourses and explore planners' perceptions and practices for sustainable coastal zone management. The Q sorts were realized in 2018-2019 in Northern Norway with planners in 10 small municipalities and 8 county level representatives. It is argued that it provides new insights into the challenges that planners face in striking a balance between the overarching values and the practical tasks that planners face in everyday planning; and that the interpretation of factors using Q-methodology should focus on all statements to ensure holism and avoid overlooking important information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Petroleum activities are associated with high risks. In the 1980s, concerns arose about the environmental impacts of 'normal' petroleum activity. Regular operations go hand-in-hand with emissions to air and discharges to sea. Both have been subject to extensive regulation since the 1990s. This paper analyzes the design and implementation of the Norwegian system that regulates operational discharges to the marine environment. It analyzes the changing relationships among science, politics and the industry and describes how the turn from a prescriptive to a predominantly performance-based approach was fundamental in making progress toward less polluting practices. The article describes how risk regulation was institutionalized and highlights the benefits of involving the industry in the pursuit of environmental protection. It also cautions against a lax attitude toward control and oversight, as complexification of risk objects and the increase of institutional risks can lead to mismatches in risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of fresh water resources meets a range of often conflicting interests. Waterways usually run across political and administrative borders and hence make management difficult and collective action politically challenging. In order to meet these challenges, multi-level bioregional approaches to water management have been called for. Such an approach is institutionalised in the EU's Water Framework Directive (WFD). This paper presents the experiences of the Morsa water sub-district in southern Norway, a pilot for implementing the WFD. The paper discusses Morsa in the light of four principles for multi-level water governance: management on a bioregional scale; polycentric governance; public participation; and an experimental approach to water governance. Contrary to widely held assumptions that collective action in polycentric networks will be difficult because actors will follow their own narrow interests, the findings demonstrate how this is not an absolute truth, and how social action cannot be fully explained by rational action theories. The analysis concludes that the relative success of Morsa relates to a complex of factors, including openness of practices and active involvement of key actors, strong but including leadership, and a knowledge based ‘hybrid’ type of multi-level network combining horizontal and vertical network governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2010, Norway introduced local management of national parks and other large protected areas. Boards comprised of local politicians are delegated extended powers in the management of the protected areas. This paper examines how this system of local management deals with the conflicting dimensions of local interests versus national obligations, and conservation versus use. The study is based on data from surveys to protected area board members and other actors involved, and on case studies in two protected areas. The main finding is that the boards, accountable to central government but comprised of politicians accountable to the local voters, aim to balance local interests and national obligations, and conservation and use. Popular involvement and anchorage is, however, weak due to lack of mobilization and transparency. Furthermore, formal restrictions hindering the boards from dealing with local economic development could make the boards less attractive for the local political leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We have investigated why conflicts linked to the distribution of power between governments and actors at the national and local levels concerning environmental management of mountain areas in Norway persist despite political intentions to strengthen local powers. We seek to explain this by analysing changes in policies, institutional frameworks, and regional contexts, and the local perceptions of these changes. Paradoxically, the national government's power has apparently been strengthened by new sectoral regulations and more stringent enforcement of the existing ones, increases in the number and extent of protected areas, and failures to act on intentions to devolve power. An additional factor spurring conflicts is the increased importance of tourism to mountain communities. To become more relevant to policies and development in mountain areas, future studies on multilevel governance must address multilevel politics, entire mountain areas, and the context of their development, rather than focusing on minor projects and protected areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined community perceptions of preferred objectives for wild reindeer management in Southern Norway as the former population-based model is being replaced with an area-based, multi-level regional management model spanning large mountain regions. Communally oriented objectives are favoured over economic benefits to landowners. Environmental attitudes discriminate on many of the issues and can be useful factors in sorting out levels of support for proposed management actions and compromises in land use decisions. The regional reindeer plans create a new political context for land use management across large mountain areas which will require better cooperation among municipalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]