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This explorative study draws on content analysis of the environmental policy documents of voluntary sport organizations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. We develop a typology of ways in which sport organizations frame environmental problems and find four ideal typical frames: (1) a general non-committal frame; (2) a sport-specific technical frame; (3) a growth-oriented opportunity frame; and (4) a crisis frame viewing environmental issues as an existential crisis for sport. We then explain the emergence of these frames. To this task, we discuss how materialities, institutional mechanisms and wider environmental discourses matter for environmental framing in voluntary sport organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respecting connections between the diversity of values and forms of knowledge is essential to support a decision-making that fosters relationships between ecosystems and people. However, little theory has been developed for clarifying interactions between values and knowledge, and their relevance for environmental policy. We surfaced the overlooked relationship between values and knowledge by studying individual cognitive and emotional processes during a guided visioning exercise in the context of the multifunctional landscapes of Östergötland, Sweden. We investigated these cognitive processes using 30 semi-structured interviews and questionnaires organized around three types of relationships: vision ⇔ values, vision ⇔ knowledge, and especially values ⇔ knowledge. The analysis of the relationship between vision and values reveals that all types of values including core human values, relational, and intrinsic values are important in shaping the decision-making context in which landscape management visions arise. The relationship between vision and knowledge uncovers the mix of experiential and theoretical knowledge that informs the decision-making context. Interviews unfold three modalities in terms of how values and knowledge relate: i) linked and not necessarily connected (e.g. when individuals perceive a high conflict between their knowledge and their values leading to one construct silencing the other); ii) mutually reinforcing (e.g. when values and knowledge are seen as feeding into one another); and iii) intertwined (e.g. when individuals perceive that values and knowledge can co-exist). We discuss our findings in the context of their relevance for a collaborative decision-making process for balancing consensus and dissensus in multifunctional landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of electric-powered vehicles (EV) is experiencing a boom in some countries. Much research has been conducted on the technology per se; however, there is a research gap regarding institutional spatial planning practice concerning EVs. Here, an empirical analysis was made of planners’ interpretations of opportunities and obstacles to integration of EVs in southern Sweden. The results revealed a lack of interplay between local and regional administrations and showed that the agenda is run by individual bureaucrats rather than being based on official strategies. Moreover, there appears to be a lack of horizontal interplay within some organisations, while new arenas are being formed by actors within and outside government. The reason for formation of such external EV networks may be a single actor not being able to push the issue forward alone, due to a fragmented organisation, or a lack of clear external task formulation at central government level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study of two Swedish municipalities’ engagement in biogas development. To analyse the drivers of such biogas development, the conceptual framing incorporates two perspectives on local biogas policy: first, policy drivers as connected to environmental goals and, second, policy as a matter of green place branding. The results indicate that biogas engagement serves as a self-governing activity with the fulfilment of environmental goals as a driver; furthermore, it is a way of expressing the mission of municipalities as “engines” of environmental policy. In one studied municipality, biogas engagement has an important symbolic value for green identity, meaning that green place branding is a driver. Still, interviewed actors from both municipalities lack clear long-term visions of biogas. Further studies of biofuel production should critically investigate visions of the future among central and local governments and evaluate the implications of municipalities as biofuel producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article engages with the role of the individual in transforming union organizations by discussing the experiences of Ulf Jarnefjord and his efforts to introduce climate change policies into the Swedish Transport Workers’ Union [Transportarbetareförbundet]. Research investigating the integration of climate change policies into the agenda of Swedish trade unions has identified a disconnect between policy development among leaders on the one hand, and engagement among members on the other. Employing the life-history interview method, and the analytical concept of ‘organic intellectual’, this article focusses on the ways in which Ulf, as a regional health and safety officer, has experienced engaging with climate change issues in relation to both members and the leadership of his union. His experiences point to the importance of learning about how climate change and production impact on the everyday lives of members for developing and mobilizing support for climate change policies in unions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pressing problems of environmental degradation are typically argued to require coordination, primarily through state intervention. Social scientists are struggling to understand how attitudes toward such state interventions are formed, and several drivers have been suggested, including education. People with university degrees are assumed to have certain values as well as the analytical skills to understand complex issues such as climate change. By using a unique panel data-set with students in different university programs (economics, law and political science), this study provides a better understanding of whether and how education affects environmental policy acceptance. One important finding is that university studies generate variation in support and scepticism toward different types of policy measures. For example, economics students tend to develop more positive attitudes toward market-based policy measures. This indicates a potential for education to increase the societal support often hindering the implementation of such policy tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem services (ES) is an important approach to biodiversity protection in political rhetoric and policy practice, but it is also highly contested. This paper analyzes the introduction of ES in Swedish environmental policy and how it is contested by key stakeholders and discusses its implications for biodiversity governance. The results show that although ES is widely accepted on an abstract and conceptual level, critical features and functions are highly contested. These primarily concern the valuation of nature, appropriateness of different policy instruments, and institutional structures. The paper concludes that while the controversy surrounding ES fills an important role by reinvigorating debate and stimulating reflections on biodiversity loss, it also illustrates how ES is used to further particular values and beliefs and to challenge traditional biodiversity-protecting strategies. Understanding these policy controversies is central to addressing the challenges of transforming the promises of ES into practical policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Years of research show that left-leaning individuals are more supportive of environmental policies than right-leaning individuals. The explanation for the lower level of support among right-leaning individuals is their stronger preference for economic growth and lower acceptance of intervention in markets. However, recent cross-national studies have questioned whether the effect of ideology on environmental support is universal. A Swedish survey experiment shows that the effect of ideology varies greatly depending on how individuals think about the environment. Specifically, it demonstrates that if environmental support is contrasted with economic growth, then the effect of ideology is stronger as opposed to when environmental support is not juxtaposed with economic growth. Furthermore, among people who strongly perceive the environment as a left–right issue, there is a larger divide between left and right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a Pathways approach, controversies over environmental and natural resource management are viewed as expressions of alternative, or competing, pathways to sustainability. This supports deeper understanding of the underlying causes of natural resource management controversies. The framework is composed of two elements: the STEPS (Social, Technological, and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) Pathways approach and frame analysis. Many sustainable development dilemmas are played out in specific places and consequently, the Pathways approach is integrated with a place-based frame analysis. The resulting framework guides empirical investigation in place-based contexts. This theorising about sustainability science can be used to cast light on contested natural resource management issues, in this case mining in northern Sweden. By exposing the range of alternative Pathways to critical norms of sustainable development, we ascertain whether action alternatives are compatible with sustainable futures. The framework provides a way in which sustainability science can better understand the origins of natural resource management conflicts, characterise the positions of the actors involved, identify the potential for cooperation between stakeholders leading to policy resolution and judge what Pathways help or hinder the pursuit of sustainable development. In addition, it can enhance sustainability science by guiding integrative sustainability research at the project scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green radicalism among local environmental officials in Sweden is examined with the aims of theoretically elaborating on different dimensions of Green radicalism in the context of public administration, exploring the dimensionality of Green radicalism among officials, and examining the extent to which Green radicalism is associated with policy influence. Three types of Green radicalism are identified: Green ethics, Green institutional change, and Green activism. Survey data (N = 701) show that the three theoretical dimensions are present among officials, and that there is no negative association between radicalism and influence. It is primarily officials with Green activism beliefs who perceive themselves as able to influence policy. These findings suggest a need for more nuanced understanding of and further studies into the role of public administration in the quest for more radical Green reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article analyzes how Swedish authorities handled strong public demands to reduce an insect population that constituted a human nuisance. The empirical data consist of interviews and public records. The analysis finds that the public demands were seen as a particular risk, with public outrage and loss of political legitimacy becoming part of the risk panorama that the responsible agencies had to handle. Four mechanisms in particular were used to regulate public responses: dissemination of uncertainty; development of symbolic action; individualization of responsibility; and naturalization of the problem. Through these mechanisms, governmental agencies succeeded in influencing stakeholders’ understandings and modifying their demands. Thus, what took place was a process of governing not only nature, but also people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In search of an appropriate institutional structure for successful environmental policy, many researchers focus on network governance. And while it provides the flexibility and adaptability needed for climate change initiatives, the paper argues that many networks collaborate too loosely to have the capacity to reach strategic goals or mobilize local players. There is often a disconnect between national policy goals and on-the-ground dynamics. Instead, government should adopt a network perspective which does not eliminate state action, but involves network management institutions at arm’s length of government. As an example for this mode of network governance, the research looks at the Swedish “National Network for Wind Power”, which was initiated by government and is now led by four wind coordinators managing the development of on- and off-shore wind electricity. The paper compares Swedish performance before and after the introduction of the wind network and shows how these government efforts have transformed Sweden from a weak performer to being a frontrunner in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore how the capacity to integrate environmental sustainability in Swedish regional development programming has evolved over time, particularly focusing on what facilitates and restricts change in different stages of implementation. The study builds on focus group and individual interviews in four Swedish regions carried out in 2005 and 2011. The results suggest temporary and partial, rather than enduring and substantial, environmental policy integration (EPI). In 2005 the main challenges were to allocate support, focus and prioritise beyond the national policy rhetoric of regional sustainable development, to identify regional applications beyond singular ‘pockets of good practice’ and to spread ownership and engagement for EPI from specific ambassadors to organisational mainstreaming. In 2011 we found evidence of a more mainstreamed approach of regional sustainable development, but with new challenges of policy diffusion and sectorisation as well as a strong sense of projectification. There is a need to develop arenas and processes for inter-sectoral exchange, interaction and learning to achieve a more systematic change – which is, in essence, what policy integration is all about. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates whether social learning among large-scale farmers in central Sweden leads to better natural resource management in the agricultural landscape. Three different frames of social learning are first identified: social learning as a fundamental social phenomenon, social learning as collaborative learning, and social learning as deeper learning. This article investigates the role of social learning and other factors through semistructured in-depth interviews. Results show that learning among farmers is inherently social, but that this learning does not necessarily improve natural resource management or lead to better environmental governance. The article discusses when social learning can be expected to influence natural resources management, and finds that without the presence of policy, individual leadership, or facilitation, it is not an important factor. Furthermore, the call for social learning based on results from successful instrumental application risks obscuring findings indicating that both social learning and better natural resource management are conditioned on the same external factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how policy-makers are managing scientific uncertainty in policy-making. This is done through a case study of the Swedish climate change policy process from 1975 to 2007, based on interviews and an extensive review of official publications and documents. The study shows that scientific uncertainty played a very marginal role in the development of Swedish climate politics. When faced with scientific uncertainty, policy-makers came to rely more on knowledge of what was politically possible to do, than on what was desirable from a scientific perspective. Thereby, policy-making became incremental in character. The article argues that in order to understand the dynamics involved, we need to pay attention to how scientific knowledge and uncertainty are translated from a scientific context into a political one. These framings, done by knowledge brokers, are crucial for the use of scientific knowledge in politics. Scientific uncertainty negatively impacts scientists' willingness to act as knowledge brokers and thereby the possibility of policy-makers to use knowledge. The article argues that despite the lessons from previous research, there seems to be a need for empirically grounded studies that highlight the limits of the rational paradigm captured in, for example, evidence-based decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reforming democratic political systems to handle environmental problems is one of the key political challenges of our time. Here, I analyse how local environmental officials in Sweden perceive the shortcomings of the current political system and what reforms they deem necessary to handle key environmental problems. While green political theory tends to focus on the need to deepen democracy through increased citizen participation, analysis of survey data shows that environmental officials, even though their perceptions of the current system's shortcomings are similar to those presented in the theoretical literature, are more likely to argue for increased expert influence than for direct citizen participation. This result is not easily explained as officials seeking to expand their power, as environmental officials have more complex perceptions of their roles in democracy. The different visions of green professionals and green theory highlight the importance of deliberation on green democratic reforms, including the potentially undemocratic consequences of empowering experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the legitimacy of the forest policy in Sweden was explored. Based on a value belief approach, the general public's support for forest policy was examined by means of a questionnaire (n = 796). Results demonstrated that the respondents believed ecological principles, such as sustaining natural conditions for native plants and animals, were most important in forest policy, but preservation of social values and using the forest efficiently to maintain high market value were also emphasised. Although socio-demographic variables (i.e. gender and age) had some impact on support for the policy, different values and beliefs reflecting ecological, social and economic interests were more important. By considering different values and beliefs, as well as policy support explicitly, the study provides a multifaceted account of the public's viewpoint regarding forest issues. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is a widespread assumption that most people will not effectively respond to climate risk until they personally experience its negative effects. Yet this assumption raises some interesting questions in the Swedish context. The majority of Swedes say that they have not experienced the negative effects of climate change, but they are among the world's citizens most concerned about and active on the issue. These observations raise the questions – why do many Swedes act progressively if they do not feel environmental risks “closer to home”? Is there something exceptional about Swedish environmental ethics, political culture or governance structures? This paper explores these questions, using the Swedish case to challenge essentialising concepts such as “Giddens’ paradox” which, too often, equate risk perception with self-interest, neglect concern for climate justice and depoliticise climate knowledge. This research suggests that concern for climate justice, rather than self-interest, proves to be a more powerful motivator for climate action in the Swedish context and potentially beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sustainable development has emerged as a distinctive marker of place identity in addition to traditional markers such as buildings and spectacles. Climate change mitigation as a potential place brand, indicating sustainable development, is in focus of this article, comparing such efforts in three Swedish towns. Based on documentary studies and interviews, it demonstrates how one town has been successful in branding itself as “the Greenest City in Europe”, whereas mitigation efforts in two other towns are barely known outside the town halls. In the first case, a combination of material, symbolic, and institutional components has been decisive in establishing a brand with internal and external legitimacy. This case highlights the importance of a dedicated network of influential actors and a potent governance structure visualising the will of a town to make its climate mitigation efforts known. Despite similar material conditions, the two others come short on the symbolic and the institutional dimensions, although they may still have a potential for future success in terms of mitigation both in practice and as a marker of identity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Adaptation to climate change is often perceived as a local concern; yet local stakeholders are influenced by knowledge and politics from international and national contexts. Based on a review of Swedish climate change adaptation policy and interviews and focus groups in the Stockholm region, this paper discusses how knowledge relevant to climate change adaptation has been institutionalised in Sweden and how this may affect the potential for learning. The results indicate that the institutionalising of knowledge and knowledge exchange has been weak, especially compared to the implementation of Local Agenda 21, which also calls for action at the local level. So far, Swedish adaptation policy has relied mainly on soft governance tools. Further, we conclude that there is need for improved mechanisms for feedback from the local to the national level in this rapidly evolving policy field. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Integrating policy on climate change adaptation into civil protection is explored through studies of extreme weather management at the national level in Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands, and through local case studies of the three coastal cities of Bergen, Malmö and Rotterdam. The research issues addressed have been the extent to which, and in what form, climate change adaptation policy has been integrated into civil protection, how the observed policy integration can be explained and how such integration can be improved. Different degrees of policy integration may stem from perceived vulnerabilities and varying needs for renewed legitimacy within the civil protection system following the end of the Cold War. A set of socio-historic characteristics of the “environment” and “civil protection” policy domains illuminate conditions for an improved outcome of the policy integration process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores the use of administrative discretion in the management of Swedish wolf policy. Using an ethnographic method, the study deploys three conceptual categories (legal conditions, moral evaluations and organisational rules) to describe and explain how and why the administrators at the county administrative boards approach their tasks using administrative discretion. Overall results indicate that the main reason why authorities exercise discretion is to increase the effectiveness of what they see as an incomplete law. This conclusion is supported by evidence demonstrating that more positive evaluations of the regulatory framework are associated with less exercise of discretion. Moreover, the officers try to interpret each rule in a way that increases acceptance of the predator policy and decreases the risk of protest. The results indicate that, to better support and guide administrative agencies, the law needs to be reinforced by giving officers more specific and detailed rules and instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Management by objectives is intrinsic to the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and Swedish environmental policy. We describe three approaches to formulating objectives via model-assisted dialogue with local stakeholders concerning eutrophication in a coastal drainage area in south-eastern Sweden: a WFD eco-centred approach based on 'natural state'; Swedish environmental policy reformulated into quantified reduction goals; and a participatory approach based on local stakeholder definitions of desirable environmental status. Despite problems with representation, we conclude that local stakeholder participation in formulating local goals could increase goal functionality and robustness when adapting and implementing national and EU WFD goals at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What institutional conditions seem relevant for multi-sector environmental policy integration (EPI) and its outcomes? Analysing the Swedish bioenergy policy process, which represents a positive case of multi-sector environmental policy integration, it is argued that open actor access, use of environmental knowledge, monitoring mechanisms, and both environment-sectoral and inter-sectoral policy coordination are conducive for multi-sector environmental policy integration, which is also affected by external events. To achieve outcomes from multi-sector environmental policy integration, monitoring mechanisms as well as inter-sectoral policy coordination are important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of an investigation into how sustainable development was introduced as a new objective for regional development policy in Sweden. Specific attention is given to the basic assumptions underlying the shaping of sustainable regional development (SRD) as a new policy goal in the Swedish regional development policy arena, which is a main arena for regional planning in Sweden. The overall aim is to chart and critically assess official Swedish SRD policy discourse using an analytical approach inspired by Foucauldian discourse analysis; that is, targeting both text and practice through examination of policy documents and institutional settings. Of key interest are the norms and power relations produced and reproduced through the discourse. In the study, holism, equilibrium and consensus are identified as key storylines of the Swedish SRD discourse. In essence, our findings indicate a further (re)production and consolidation of a post-political approach that provides no input to developing any alternative trajectory for society. The concluding discussion concerns the need to challenge the post-political condition and reassert the political and ideological content of the aims and visions for SRD, as well as for development in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology for developing state indicators, reflecting the provision of environmental public goods from agricultural landscapes. The methodology involves a structured use of meta-criteria and criteria for developing indicator variables and indicators, along with a coherent set of indicators. These indicators are aimed at providing a basis for determining agri-environmental payments to farmers. They are estimated at the object level, that is, per field or field element, so payments can be set that lead to an efficient resource allocation, structure of incentives and production. We find that, according to the criteria assessments for the Swedish agri-environmental situation, it is best to use a set of seven composite indicators on arable fields, permanent grasslands, linear elements, point elements, forest edges, bio-rich trees and relics. By estimating the indicators in two case study areas, we show that environmental services vary considerably between objects, indicating that value-differentiated payments may work as an efficient instrument in practical policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The willingness to pay (WTP) for different types of elements and other environmental qualities of the agricultural landscape were investigated by a choice experiment study. To get value measures of a set of attributes as policy relevant as possible, the WTP for 28 levels of 12 attributes was estimated. Two survey versions concerned permanent grassland and two concerned field elements of cultivated land. A sample of 8000 randomly selected Swedish inhabitants was used. The estimated values vary significantly between linear field elements and grassland types, where stone walls and oak-wooded pastures, respectively have the highest marginal WTP. Highly valued environmental qualities are biodiversity, visibility and absence of brushwood. Reference points were included to capture preference heterogeneity. The study cannot reject that respondents may value environmental service levels based on their reference points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1993 the Swedish parliament deregulated national forestry policy and established an environmental goal in parallel with the previous, long-standing goal of high wood production. This paper shows how the change occurred in the context of major changes in Swedish environmental policy during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Within a short time, new environmental legislation and the introduction of legal protection for small forest and agricultural habitats of high ecological value reoriented national forestry policy, away from an overriding focus on wood production to an increased awareness of nature conservation and biodiversity preservation. Reflecting a major compromise with the state, forest owners have gained greater freedom to manage their land, but must also improve environmental conditions while achieving high wood production, a policy known as 'freedom under responsibility'. The paper explains how both the parliament and industry supported increased nature conservation and biodiversity to maintain forest health and support the forestry industry, by favouring responsible resource use and not simply protection from human influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether the level of transaction costs of a Swedish agri-environmental policy measure is attributable to technical factors or whether political factors, such as lobby groups and political majorities at the county level, influence the costs. A previous study indicated that political factors may influence the level of transaction costs, but the extreme bounds analysis performed in this paper reveals that those results are fragile. It shows that three of the technical variables are robust with respect to model specifications but that none of the political variables are. Thus, no evidence can be found that political factors influence the level of transaction costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International obligations in nature conservation policy demand for decentralisation and co-management. Co-management arrangements are increasingly seen as forms of governance, which opens up for the critique that accountability becomes blurred when public-private relations are characterised by informality and negotiations. The purpose of this article is to examine the issue of accountability by comparing co-management theory and the decentralisation framework of Agrawal and Ribot, and by empirically analysing the designation of Fulufjallet National Park. This case constitutes a blueprint for Swedish efforts to adhere to the international obligations for decentralisation and is thus an example of their implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article makes a comparative analysis on how the global idea-complex of sustainable development is interpreted and institutionalised on the local level. Local institutionalisation is analysed from the theoretical framework of new institutionalism's theme of policy diffusion and adaptation. From a most different case-study design, the article analyses four Swedish local governments in the region of Orebro: Hallefors, Karlskoga, Lekeberg and Orebro. The results show that the four local governments adapt to sustainable development in quite different ways, from local translation processes (Hallefors and Orebro) to resistance and ignorance (Karlskoga and Lekeberg). This variation is interpreted in relation to the importance of local contexts. There is no intra-regional spreading of ideas leading to convergence among the cases. However, not only the local context matters, but also policy areas and development projects constitute contexts, indicating the importance of intra-local differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) is assessed and elaborated by applying it to the Swedish forestry policy subsystem, a dynamic subsystem in which environmental interests have challenged a dominating production coalition. Forest policy has changed as new ecological values and modes of governing have been introduced through an incremental, pragmatic learning process mediated by a pre-established partnership culture. This policy change is not satisfactorily explained by conventional ACF mechanisms (shocks and brokered learning). Policy change may be better understood if the ACF is nuanced and contextualised by recognising that the learning process has evolved over a long time within the ideological-discursive context of ecological modernisation, and that the forest sector has been under constant pressure due to its strong dependence on world markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overall purpose of this paper is to analyse how power generation technology choices will be affected by climate policy. Special attention is paid to the dissemination of renewable power technologies following climate policy initiatives in Sweden and Eastern Europe. An overall conclusion is that carbon policy will affect new investments in renewable power technologies in both Sweden and Eastern Europe, but it is difficult to provide a comprehensive assessment of the future power generation technology mix. In the Swedish case, it is suggested that in general it is not certain that compliance with the Kyoto commitments implies substantial increases in renewable power sources. If, therefore, renewable power sources are favoured for reasons beyond climate policy, additional policy instruments will be needed. In the Eastern European case it is indicated that although it is clear that the Eastern European countries are not homogeneous in terms of CO2 abatement potential and costs, no single country emerges as particularly low-cost. This may have important implications for future JI/CDM activities. For instance, risk factors such as policy uncertainty and institutional obstacles may become crucial in determining the future allocation of JI/CDM projects across the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this article is the Swedish experience of local governance and climate change, including mitigation and adaptation. The municipal response to these two challenges is set within a broader policy context that acknowledges Sweden as a pioneer in environmental governance, including its comparatively high ambitions with regard to the reduction of greenhouse ga emissions. Central-local relations in climate policy are analysed, and climate change mitigation and adaptation are exemplified by some snapshots of municipal initiatives, including the popular habit of networking between municipalities within as well as across national borders. In conclusion we briefly evaluate the Swedish local governance experience of climate change mitigation and adaptation to date as characterized by radical rhetoric and ambitious goals combined with a lot of promising initiatives, although still with fairly modest results in terms of tangible outcomes. Finally, we reflect upon what we consider to be the most important questions for future research on local governance and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper directs attention to conditions for climate adaptation as an important part of governing climate change in the local arena. Empirical focus is put on attempts to manage flood risks by means of risk management and planning in two Swedish municipalities. Following the need to widen our understanding of how, when and under what conditions climate adaptation occurs, three challenges are particularly emphasized from the case studies: facing the safety vs. scenery conflict where political priorities and reducing societal vulnerabilities prove difficult; the process of deciding what to adapt to, in which the troublesome role of knowledge is striking; and finally, taking responsibility for measures of flood protection. At the end of the paper, analytical generalizations illustrate the need to give increased attention to institutional challenges and challenges emanating from the science-policy interface in order to come to terms with the implementation deficit in governing climate change in the local arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role of central government in enhancing local capacity for promoting sustainable development. Building upon a series of evaluation studies, it examines a major central government funding initiative in Sweden, called the Local Investment Programme for Ecological Sustainability (LIP). The Programme formed part of a new governance approach towards the promotion of sustainable development. It was designed to promote both ecological sustainable development and create new 'green jobs', while at the same time stimulating innovative ways of thinking among local actors about the relationship between economy, ecology and society. Substantial material environmental effects were achieved and 'green jobs' created by LIP. However, allocation was skewed towards environmental leader municipalities and LIP was never fully integrated into other sustainable development initiatives. Further, few public/private partnerships were developed. Hence, despite the magnitude of the Programme, we question whether it produced lasting capacity-building effects at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goals and performance targets are commonly used as tools in the policy-implementation process. In Sweden, environmental policy is operationalized through a system of environmental quality objectives that were adopted by the Swedish Riksdag in the late 1990s. The objectives describe what level of environmental quality Sweden should aim for within a generation, and are designed to guide decision making in all sectors of society. However, to guide decision making toward improved environmental quality, these objectives should satisfy a set of rationality (functionality) criteria; they should be precise, evaluable, approachable, motivating and coherent. In this paper, five Swedish environmental quality objectives are investigated through an application of the suggested criteria: (1) a balanced marine environment, flourishing coastal areas and archipelagos; (2) a magnificent mountain landscape; (3) a non-toxic environment; (4) natural acidification only; and (5) a good built environment. The aim of the paper is to bring the rationality of the objectives up for discussion, and to illustrate the range of issues and difficulties that are involved in choosing and assessing environmental policy goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the dual role – exemplified by the ideal types of the consumer and the citizen – individuals face in the contemporary environmental policy context. As crowding-out theory highlights the implications of using the ‘wrong’ incentives, examining the match between policy and the value systems guiding individuals' decision-making process in practice is a relevant undertaking. Sweden provides the empirical context for the article, in which official environmental policy-discourse in Sweden is compared with the results of a mail-out survey to 4,000 individuals in four different counties. It is suggested that external motivations are perceived as highly relevant for the promotion of ecological sustainability, so the consumer element as a motivating feature of individuals' behaviour in the environmental field is indeed of considerable importance. However, at the same time people tend to ascribe far greater importance to the motivational values included in the self-transcendence cluster (altruism) as guiding principles in life than to the opposing values of self-enhancement (egoism), indicating that the citizen-role is also important to take into account in policy design. It is concluded that there is a mismatch between the content of Sweden's policy documents and the general value orientation held by the Swedish citizenry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a background to the SUFOR program, in this paper a short introduction to Swedish forestry is given, together with an overview of the sustainability debate in Sweden. The research carried through in the SUFOR program is concurrent with some of the main aspects of sustainability as interpreted here. Knowledge obtained through the program is identified to have a role as decision support for decision makers in Swedish forestry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses proposals for new multi-level governance of Swedish water resources to implement the EU Water Framework Directive. The question is, do they satisfy the criteria for ecologically rational and democratically legitimate governance? The core of the analysis concerns an administrative 'trilemma' encountered in designing ecologically effective and democratically acceptable multi-level governance. This trilemma is characterised by tensions between effectiveness, participation and legitimacy, all core values of 'good governance'. The Swedish proposal constitutes an effort to achieve cost-effective implementation of the EU Directive through an ecosystem-based multi-level organisation. It also seeks to bring about democratically legitimate governance through stakeholder networks and negotiations at the sub-catchment level, and governance 'partnerships' among local governments and organised interests. In particular, the assessment addresses issues of integrating such 'super-local' and local alternatives within the larger web of multi-level water resource governance. Although intended to escape the 'trilemma', the proposed combination of formal government and informal governance is found wanting in terms of effectiveness as well as participation and legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses what it takes for a new discourse to acquire formative power all the way from the formulation of ideas to the institutionalisation of new practices. Starting from seemingly contradictory propositions in the literature on housing and environmental policy discourses, and combining these with a contextual rational action approach, the empirical analysis traces the fate of the new sustainable development discourse introduced across many policy sectors in Sweden after 1996, including housing. It is found that who introduces new discursive ideas is important for their formative power; discourse introductions by government induce shifts in thoughts and talk across sectors. How this is done is even more important; metaphors and story lines of already institutionalised discourses strengthen formative power. Furthermore, using distributive measures with some strings attached is found to be an effective use of power resources to gain institutionalisation of the new discourse. However, it is found that institutionalised discourses at the local implementing level provide hindrances to formative power reaching all the way to new practices. This is furthermore accentuated by inherent contradictions in the Swedish discourse, as it built on equalising sustainable development with ecological modernisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four small- to medium-sized municipalities in the south-east of Sweden were chosen for a 5-year study of their Local Agenda 21 (LA21) processes. The study shows that the LA21 processes have instigated many new ideas, brought fields together and introduced new subjects into the municipal world. In the decisions of the local governments environmental considerations are treated seriously. There are signs of an extended dialogue and of public influence, especially within fields where citizens are directly involved. LA21 does not seem to have great influence on which natural resources are dealt with, but does on how they are dealt with. New stakeholders within and outside the municipal organization have been identified through the LA21 processes, and more comprehensive ways of solving problems and a positive climate for testing new ideas have been created. In these respects LA21 has been and will be a significant support to the development of appropriate natural resource management at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the implementation of the UNCED agreement `Agenda 21' sustainable development program at the local level of government in Sweden. Factors attributed to the success of the implementation process in Swede; Role of the Swedish delegation in preparations for the Rio conference; Role of municipal networks and non-governmental organizations.

Presents information on the relationship of integrating environmental issues and business strategies in Sweden. Concept of exocentric management; Development of environmental competencies; Environmental policy in Sweden; Details on examples of how Swedish organizations address issues of exocentric management; Suggestions from the Sweden's experience.

Examines the Swedish and Estonian publics' views on Eastern Europe's environmental problems and on providing and receiving environmental aid. Swedish development aid to its Eastern European neighbors; Increase in environmental assistance to polluted Estonia; Survey of citizens not involved in government and policy-making in Sweden and Estonia.

ABSTRACT The article describes the development of Swedish environmental policy by paying attention to the context of Swedish political culture. It describes the successes and, mainly, the failures of Sweden's environmental policy since the late sixties and traces its less-than-satisfactory state to the political culture of a welfare state which for a long time tended to view environmental concerns as likely to upset the socioeconomic welfare policies based on cost-effectiveness and anti-inflationary policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the Halland Ridge scandal in Sweden. Impact of the drilling conducted by construction company SKANSKA in 1996 on the groundwater table at Bastad; Political implications of the scandal; European dimension of the scandal.