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The sustainable development goals (SDGs) constitute an ambitious comprehensive global framework including monitoring mechanisms and indicators to evaluate progress towards precise targets of sustainable development. Most European countries have adapted their national sustainability indicator systems to conform to the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, introducing new indicators and monitoring frameworks and governance processes in which these are embedded. What do we know about the political processes and struggles of implementing this important global framework? How does the politics of indicators differ in national contexts? We propose a classification of national indicator systems along dimensions of indicator selection, appraisal landscape, participatory nature, and political communication. We empirically explore these dimensions for four European national sustainability indicator systems through a comparative analysis based on national policy documents, indicator databases, and web portals as well as inputs from workshops and expert interviews. Given the considerable variation with respect to the trajectory of national sustainability indicator systems, we posit that these differences correspond to different national interpretations of sustainability., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

This research explores the theory that cultural factors shape how people feel about the environment. Both theoretical and empirical approaches are used in our investigation of this problem. In the theoretical part of the study, we provide a model for transferring cultural practices from one generation to the next. To provide empirical evidence for the existence of this cultural factor in environmental views, we analyze survey data from the European Values Research. Using a comparative method, we use differences caused by migration patterns in Europe and America. According to our research, cultural influences on migrants' ecological beliefs are long-lasting and statistically significant. Variations in migrants' environmental views may be traced back to societal norms that endure in their home countries. We also demonstrate that ecological views are robust in the face of incentives originating from the external environment, demonstrating that migrants' choices in the host nation are not much influenced by the environmental circumstances they were exposed to in their home countries. We uncover fascinating variations in the cultural transfer procedure, and our results hold up under various hypotheses. These findings suggest that, in light of the prevalence of ecological problems requiring community action, it is crucial to formulate policies that consider the factors that led to the development of ecological cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity loss, climate change and natural resource depletion are major concerns at local, state-wide and global scales. In the European context, addressing these challenges depends largely on the implementation of European Union (EU) environmental policy. This Special Issue sheds light on the making of environmental Europe in localized action and practice, from the perspective of non-linearity of policy implementation processes and trajectories. The different articles address three analytical challenges examining policy implementation of (i) highlighting the ties between the macro and the micro scales of implementation; (ii) taking into account the materiality of ecosystems as well as the diversity of forms of knowledge, representations and values associated with nature; (iii) characterizing the new relational configurations emerging between public and private actors involved in hybrid forms of governance. Through examination of the implementation of EU environmental and sustainable development policies primarily in the French context, the Special Issue contributes to a renewed understanding of policy implementation as institutional change. Further, the articles highlight the values underlying the implementation of environmental Europe and the specific role of science in shaping the representations, instruments and strategies at stake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even if in Europe the costs of the transition to a green economy are reflected in the final consumer's bills and in the prices of finished products - an effect already felt in the Community - the necessity to clean up the economy cannot be disputed. However, Europeans need to determine if the priority is to give up conventional energy or to develop the green energy production, because it is becoming increasingly clear that the two objectives cannot be achieved simultaneously without affecting the purchasing power of Europeans. Within this context, the study involves: a) the statistical analysis of the impact of the conventional energy overtaxation and the renewable energy subsidization on the average price charged by suppliers for final consumers on the Romanian market in the first three quarters of 2021 and b) to identify the correlation coefficient between the spot price for energy on the Romanian market and the share of renewable energy in the national mix for the same period. The objective of the research is to assess the costs paid by the final consumers within the context of the energy transition and the production capacity of renewable sources that must be added to the National Energy System for their amortization. The results show the importance of the Black Sea basin in the regional energy equation and its potential to become a point of attraction for European energy investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electromobility is perceived worldwide as an ideal means of coping with the adverse effects of greenhouse gas emissions, which is why several countries are implementing measures to accelerate its development. In this context, Latin American countries are lagging behind other countries, mainly Asian and European, yet they are making great efforts to catch up, some faster than others. In this forum we focus specifically on the progress and next steps of the countries that make up the Pacific Alliance: Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of sustainable position of selected countries is the important challenge in the last years. The sustainable theory has changed from the years of Rio conference and the availability of statistical resources is becoming better. Sustainable development is an important objective for each country. Enlargement of the EU has brought the current priorities and future direction of EU environmental policy sharply into focus. Enlargement process has increased the standards of environmental protection and social development. Significant environmental investments are necessary and the new members need to speed up their preparation for implementing the Goethenburg strategy "sustainable strategy". CEE countries and also SEE countries are implementing sustainable development approach through integration process with European Union. So, the national strategies and development programmes are taking sustainability approach with EU documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is believed to improve a company's reputation. However, CSR may also put reputation at risk by making the company a more attractive target for activists' campaigns. We test this effect on a sample of 1355 European small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). We find that CSR increases the future probability that an SME's CSR is monitored by local non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) and that this moderates criticism of the SME's CSR. The results imply that SMEs that only halfheartedly implement CSR are more vulnerable to public criticism than SMEs that do not engage in CSR at all. It is advisable that SMEs only position themselves as sustainable companies if their environmental policies have proven to contribute to sustainable development. When initiating stakeholder engagement, SMEs should prevent disappointment by tempering stakeholders' expectations, as NGOs participating in a stakeholder dialogue can use inside information to raise public criticism. © 2017 The Authors. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Commission has been currently working towards a form of mobility that is sustainable, energyefficient and respectful of the environment. The scope is to reduce the adverse effects connected to mobility. A special attention must be payed to implementing more sustainable modes of transport, which must become more efficient and attractive. Simultaneously, innovative methods and technologies for energy saving and for the environment protection must be introduced. This paper makes an analysis of the best practices and measures proposed at European level to promote sustainable transport in urban centres, recommendations addressed to citizens and local authorities based on the best practices and successful projects implemented in some European cities. There are emphasized some organizing and planning measures for developing urban transport by adopting green solutions and mobility initiatives, aimed to reduce the air pollution, to use the urban area and the energy resources more efficiently. The paper also presents several case studies of European cities where policies of sustainable transport were implemented successfully. They may be regarded as successful examples for adopting green mobility practices in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While stakeholders have long been at the forefront of sustainable development debates, the emphases have tended to be on different stakeholder pressures, or managing stakeholder expectations about controversial issues. In this paper we bring a fresh direction to these debates and ask in what ways different stakeholders can contribute to sustainable innovation in firms. Based on 80 semi-structured interviews, we conduct a fine-grained qualitative analysis of stakeholder activities in sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI) processes in 13 different companies across Europe. Our analysis identifies eight roles that stakeholders play in SOI processes: stimulator, initiator, broker/mediator, concept refiner, legitimator, educator, context enabler and impact extender. More traditional roles such as legitimator and educator are less common in our cases. However, emerging roles such as stimulator, concept refiner, context enabler and impact extender are clearly identifiable and could be particularly valuable for SOI. We enhance a collaborative perspective of stakeholder theory, finding that stakeholders can play highly collaborative and proactive roles, and argue that secondary stakeholders may actually be more relevant for SOI than primary stakeholders. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical findings on eco-efficiency are still inconsistent. Using survey data based on a sample of 283 European carbon-intensive companies participating in the EU ETS between 2005 and 2012, this article investigates the causal relationships between the corporate environmental strategy focus, proactive GHG reductions and related environmental and economic performance, while taking into account an important contingent factor: the initial state of technology. The study's findings show that eco-efficiency was generally not obvious among the companies during the first two trading periods. It furthermore indicates that GHG emissions were generally not reduced cost-effectively, as companies' intrinsic values were more likely to have influenced carbon reduction related decisions to a greater degree than the economic incentives resulting from the market mechanisms of the ETS. The results not only shed light on firm behavior with regard to technology management but also provide insights for policy makers into how to stimulate more cost-effective environmental investments. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environment and its protection are at present of general concern. In order to support all the action to be taken in this field a deep involvement of the people worldwide is required, especially that of various companies from all the industries. There are lots of means to support this initiative, ranging from the use of own methods implemented by internal procedures to the reward granted to eco conscious organizations, or the introduction of new environmental management systems. The creation of environmental management systems provides recognition among business partners, competitors, communities or employees. At the same time, specific instruments have been created at European and international level to analyze and manage the environmental performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays the European cities usually present important problems at economic, social and environmental levels. The European Union has published policies to ease this issue, and several European cities are creating sustainable mobility urban plans with the measures which can be taken to improve the mobility system. Transport decisions have direct impact on transit times, urban connectivity, and have also effects in the environment, public health and society. Choosing the best enhancement to implement is a complex decision, depending on tangible and intangible criteria, which have to be taken into account together. A compromise solution that weighs travel quality, cost and sustainability inputs has to be achieved. This research work presents a decision support system to select the optimal sustainability enhancement integrating the Delphi technique with the analytic hierarchy process and the VIKOR method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability and accessibility of natural resources are fundamental for human well-being and the functioning of global economies. International policies have been developed with the aim to ensure resource efficiency and to respond to environmental and socio-economic concerns towards the sustainable management of natural resources. In fact, building effective resource policies requires solid methodologies and indicators for monitoring resource extraction and consumption by the economies as well as all its related environmental impacts. The present study focuses on the European context, assessing current methodologies for resources analysis towards identifying their strengths and weaknesses in supporting policies. The study analyses trends in material resource extraction within Europe and imports over the past 10 years. Three approaches are compared: (i) “mass”-based accounting (i.e. material flow analysis); (ii) “impact assessment”-based, founded on the life cycle assessment methodology, and (iii) “resource criticality”-based, building on assessment of critical raw materials for EU economy. The paper shows through some examples that this methodological choice has relevant repercussions in terms of resource prioritization. Hence, the choice of the accounting methodology and the setting of targets should be guided by the policy objective(s) (i.e. dematerialization, environmental impact reduction and security of resource supply), possibly complementing the different insights coming from the three approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine governance is challenged by complex situations at regional seas and coastal areas of European countries where multiple stakeholder interests and numerous management options have to be balanced. In these situations an improved understanding of marine governance is crucial for ensuring sustainable development at sea. The main aim of this synthesis article is to increase present understanding of processes of regionalization in EU marine governance based on the contributions in this special issue. Regionalization is defined as the integration and cooperation of maritime activities, policies and actors at the level of the regional seas. The contributions in this special issue analyse processes of regionalization within different maritime sectors from a diversity of social scientific disciplines to unravel different forms and types of regionalization in marine governance. The main finding is that there is still a relatively large mismatch between the vision on ecosystem-based management expressed in EU marine policies and the implementation of EBM within sectoral maritime activities. A reduction of such a gap between EU marine policies and sectoral management fully depends on efforts at regional level to coordinate and to integrate the different sector policy processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the international agenda of conserving biodiversity and urban green planning, we explored how biodiversity-friendly political orientations in two European metropolises (Paris–France and Berlin–Germany) were translated in public urban park management. To do so, we used a mixed methods research strategy: we analyzed both cities’ strategies for biodiversity and landscape, conducted semi-structured interviews with park managers, surveyed park design and management, and administered questionnaire to specific city dwellers. We showed that the biodiversity strategies in both cities similarly aim at increasing urban biodiversity and city dwellers’ awareness; however, they are highly contrasted in their implementation, with Paris having a high level of control and top-down processes compared to Berlin. Accordingly, nature perceptions of city-dwellers differed between both capitals only in their willingness for nature-control (which was more present in Paris than in Berlin). With this example, we discuss how integrative environmental planning can encourage specific implementations of a global strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, environmental policies and laws in the European Union (EU) refer to 'life cycle thinking' as an important guidance for policy. The concept of life cycle thinking however has no formal definition in EU law, making its application and relevance open to interpretation. This contribution explores the concept of life cycle thinking by looking at various policy documents, and by examining how life cycle thinking has influenced lawmaking in four legal processes at the EU and member state levels. We find that life cycle thinking contributes positively to the development of environmental law, but that it may be applied in ways that limit its potential, or may even lead to undesired outcomes from a sustainability perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development is an important principle for improving human life and ensuring the wellbeing of the planet. It posits a desirable future for human societies in which living conditions and resource-use meet human needs, without undermining the sustainability of natural systems and the environment, so that future generations may also have their needs met.2 It ties together concerns for the capacity of natural systems and challenges faced by humanity which concentrates on a balance between social, economic and environmental variables in relation to current and future existence. To accomplish a successful balance of these variables a transition is required which necessitates a move away from fossil fuel by the mid-twenty-first century.3 Through focusing on the Europeanization of sustainable development in the UK this paper will assess the extent that successful implementation of EU policy requires socio-political acceptance. Europeanization will focus on the adaptive response by actors to changing environmental policies (specifically offshore wind farms) which have a direct impact on renewable resources and planning implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explains Eco-Innovation (EI) activities of clusters deriving from 11 countries of Southeastern European (SEE) region. The study indicates that more than a half of the analyzed clusters in the SEE region have set objectives related to EI in their cluster strategies, while just a few of them primarily focused on EI. Thus, results suggest that being primarily focused on EI is positively correlated with most of the activities related to EI which are being implemented. These activities are mostly oriented towards spreading information and awareness-raising, while not towards investing 'heavily' in the implementation of EI. This study offers an outline of the current situation regarding EI activities in the analyzed clusters of the SEE region. Other findings of this paper are: first, clusters have the influential power/potential to steer companies towards engagement in EI by setting the objectives and focus on EI, and second, clusters' primary focus is related to the extent of EI's activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the trend towards implementation of environmental initiatives in the maritime and port sector. The introduction of environmental thinking and green management has been analysed to better understand the impacts on European ports. Moreover, drivers influencing port's environmental initiatives and their adoption were analysed empirically on the case of port of Koper which is classified as one of the leading environmentally friendly European ports. Based on an in-deep analysis of developed measures a wider used approach has been proposed which might be used as a platform by the ports in the region and also by other fast developing ports. It is obvious that ports will be forced to implement environmental objects in their long-term development plan. Obtained cognitions should help them to develop a scenario for faster introduction of objects and measures to obtain the status of a green port and follow sustainable development in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overall environment has witnessed an intense process of degradation due to both increasing the numbers of population and to resource consumption. The importance of the environment has determined and mobilized the adoption of different sets of measures and means to reduce the negative impact on it, that provide the population awareness and the reducing of pollution. A sustainable development orientation is the best solution that ensures the protection of the environment and the well-being of present and future generations on a global basis, awarding special attention, taking into account that the environment constitutes a vital element of existence and development of any type of activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Contemporary European agriculture has a number of additional aims beside of food production, such as safeguarding environmental services and conservation values. Substantial efforts at official levels are aimed towards sustainable development but also towards maintaining values of what may be termed vanishing landscapes. Selected areas and landscape features are set aside for protection or restoration. Individual efforts of this type have a long history in Sweden, and the issue has recently received increased attention, primarily due to more ambitious government goals concerning biodiversity conservation and Sweden’s ratification of the European Landscape Convention. This has resulted in an increased scientific and official interest in vanishing values in the rural landscape, where parts of Eastern Europe, such as the Maramures district in Romania, have been used as model examples of land use regimes which in the past was common in Sweden. In this context, the dilemma of romanticizing peasants’ use of land is highlighted and discussed more than has hitherto been done. This paper sheds light on some paradoxes inherent in official policies in relation to land use practices concerning the management of rural landscapes in Sweden, and relates the Swedish situation to a contrasting example of landscape practice in Romania. We discuss the concept of landscape care in relation to the construction and perception of landscape values and valuable landscapes through the lenses of rural realities and official policies. When Swedish authorities engage in the promotion of landscape care, they tend to work with slices of land, specific predefined values and individual farmers, and they often disregard the need to treat the landscape as a socio-ecological complex dynamic in space and time. We discuss how environmental policy generally could be improved through the adoption of a more inclusive and flexible approach towards aiding the different aims inherent in multifunctional rural landscapes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Expansion of territories targeted by travellers and growth of attendance rates make tourism sector of significant interest for the implementation of policies on environmental protection at the European Union (EU) level. The need to protect local natural heritage, to integrate tourism industry development policies with the ones pertaining to other sectors that characterize a given territory and to enhance the overall environmental performance are some of the priorities that may appear conflicting at times. This paper discusses a method of analysis and planning aiming to promote potential directives of local governance. This method, representing the outcome of a process coordinated and shared across territories, is oriented towards the sustainable development of the area and refers to the implementation of integrated policies, The Interreg Eco Tourism (INTER.ECO.TUR) project, co-financed by the European Commission under the EU's INTERREG IIIC, provided the research with a useful case study to analyse the dynamics of sustainable tourism development within the European Mediterranean area. The debate of its results offers evidences on the possibility to develop such a governance process effectively, providing insight into an assessment methodology enriched by a clear-cut analysis of its applied experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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Stakeholder participation is advocated widely, but there is little structured, empirical research into its influence on policy development. We aim to further the insight into the characteristics of participatory policy development by comparing it to expert-based policy development for the same case. We describe the process of problem framing and analysis, as well as the knowledge base used. We apply an uncertainty perspective to reveal differences between the approaches and speculate about possible explanations. We view policy development as a continuous handling of substantive uncertainty and process uncertainty, and investigate how the methods of handling uncertainty of actors influence the policy development. Our findings suggest that the wider frame that was adopted in the participatory approach was the result of a more active handling of process uncertainty. The stakeholders handled institutional uncertainty by broadening the problem frame, and they handled strategic uncertainty by negotiating commitment and by including all important stakeholder criteria in the frame. In the expert-based approach, we observed a more passive handling of uncertainty, apparently to avoid complexity. The experts handled institutional uncertainty by reducing the scope and by anticipating windows of opportunity in other policy arenas. Strategic uncertainty was handled by assuming stakeholders' acceptance of noncontroversial measures that balanced benefits and sacrifices. Three other observations are of interest to the scientific debate on participatory policy processes. Firstly, the participatory policy was less adaptive than the expert-based policy. The observed low tolerance for process uncertainty of participants made them opt for a rigorous "once and for all" settling of the conflict. Secondly, in the participatory approach, actors preferred procedures of traceable knowledge acquisition over controversial topics to handle substantive uncertainty. This excluded the use of expert judgment only, whereas the experts relied on their judgment in the absence of a satisfactory model. Thirdly, our study provides empirical evidence for the frequent claim that stakeholder involvement increases the quality of the knowledge base for a policy development process. Because these findings were obtained in a case that featured good process management and a guiding general policy framework from higher authorities, they may not generalize beyond such conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to investigate how green certificates markets have developed in the European Union, with a view to producing consistent recommendations that could be used in future environmental strategies and policies to improve existing schemes for renewable energy promotion and support. Design/methodology/approach - The study was conducted by combining a wide variety of sources, such as regulations, position papers, road-maps, as well as articles and research reports. European experiences in using green certificates to support renewable energies were compared from the point-of-view of the legislative framework and national support systems. Findings -- The findings reveal that improvements in three major areas (legislative framework, national support systems, and cost reduction) are needed in order to achieve a better support for renewable energy generation. Practical implications - The conclusions justify the effort invested in developing green certificates markets and are relevant for policy makers in a very sensitive sector to accomplish sustainability goals - the use of renewable energy. The study may represent a starting-point for further research into renewable energy support systems, environmental issues and economic implications. Originality/value - The paper provides a rational and comparative approach for finding solutions to the problems of green certificates markets in the European Union. The methodology and the results reported in this research could be used for exploring green certificates markets opportunities in other European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With this paper we depict a typology of regions, capturing the diversity of regional innovation systems (RISs) across the EU-25. Following the RIS literature, we select twenty-one variables related to the ability of a region to generate and absorb knowledge, and its capacity to transform research and development into innovation and economic growth. On the basis of the results of principal components and cluster analyses, we identify seven types of RIS where the 186 regions group together according to their sectoral specialisation, technological and economic capacity, and performance. By allowing us to identify similar and more advanced regions, the paper facilitates comparisons and benchmarking between similar regions, thus enabling more accurate policy learning. For each group a number of policy recommendations are suggested, contingent on their local specific characteristics. In short, the contribution of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it provides the first RIS typology for the EU-25 regions completed using a large number of variables. Secondly, the conclusions obtained from the analysis may be used to lead policy makers' actions in the field of regional innovation policy in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the report "Sustaining Europe for a Long Way Ahead: Making Long-Term Sustainable Development Policies Work," by the Network of European Environmental and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils (EEAC) during its annual meeting in October 2008. The statement's aim is to evaluate how well various aspects of societies and economies plan, adapt, think, and assess actions for sustainable projects. Topics include a definition of sustainable development, as defined by the EEAC, the relationship between governance, social justice, and budgets in promoting sustainability in European Union (EU) countries, and the availability of markets that offer long-term sustainability for humanity. Also discussed is the role culture, demography, and localism play in sustainability.

Widely advocated as a means to make policy making more integrated, policy assessment remains weakly integrated in practice. But explanations for this shortfall, such as lack of staff training and resources, ignore more fundamental institutional factors. This paper identifies institutional capacities supporting and constraining attempts to make policy assessment more integrated. A comparative empirical analysis of functionally equivalent assessment systems in four European jurisdictions finds that there are wide-ranging institutional constraints upon integration. These include international policy commitments, the perception that assessment should support rather than determine policy, organisational traditions, and the sectorisation of policy making. This paper concludes by exploring the potential for altering these institutions to make policy assessment more integrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive will significantly affect the way in which water issues in Europe are managed. Here, a set of criteria for processes for sustainable river basin planning is used as a basis for analysing how the responsible planners in one EU member state – Sweden – carry out the work prescribed by the WFD. The paper is based on 13 interviews with water planners and directors. The current processes represent progress in relation to the situation pertaining before implementation; e.g., participation and collaboration are increasingly becoming pivotal, knowledge of the natural water state is increasing and the economy of water is emerging as a new and important issue. The interviews do however show that knowledge of how to work with values and how to create forms and methods of participation and collaboration remain clearly underdeveloped. In consequence, the main objectives behind participation – the provision of knowledge and perspectives for the process and the creation of legitimacy, acceptance or engagement – are actually at risk. Recommendations include complementing the existing knowledge base with insights from the social sciences and the humanities, to create well informed learning systems within the new water administration and to make use of alternative methods for the handling of values. The Swedish case may provide useful insights for other member states. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Forest condition, biodiversity and ecosystems services are strongly interlinked. • A transferable and operational European wide forest condition indicator is presented. • The methodology includes structural, functional, and compositional variables. • This spatially explicit indicator is built on information accessible EU databases. • This supports the monitoring and assessment of efforts towards EU and SDG goals. Forest condition, biodiversity, and ecosystem services are strongly interlinked. The biodiversity levels depend to a large extent on the integrity, health, and vitality of forests at the same time as losses of forest biodiversity lead to decreased forest productivity and sustainability. Under this conceptual framework, this study presents a methodology for mapping forest condition at European scale supporting the attainment of the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Target 5 " the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, is at least halved and where feasible brought close to zero, and degradation and fragmentation is significantly reduced" and the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), as well as the EU forest strategy since the sustainable forest management is oriented to support the provision of forest services and to enhance the condition of biodiversity forests' host. The work presents the developments of an operational indicator at European scale. This spatially explicit information on forest condition can be the baseline map with a 1 km resolution to monitor the state and changes of condition by exposition to pressures and threats. This condition indicator considers structural, functional, and compositional aspects of forest with relevance for health and vitality of species and habitats hosted by forest ecosystems. The methodology implemented used harmonized, published and open datasets. It provided confident results for the assessment of the condition within hemiboreal, temperate and alpine forests, showing the Carpathian, Dinaric Alps and Alps, among others, as hotspots with pre-dominantly good condition. The results were validated with data derived from the reporting for the EU Habitat Directive and explicit dataset on known primary forests in Europe. However, this method underestimated the forest condition in the Mediterranean and Boreal forest types due to data gaps, regional specific characteristics, and design limitations. This study illustrates an operational and transferable approach for addressing the assessment of ecosystem forest condition at European scale being considered as a support tool for European countries when mapping and assessing their national territory, as potential common approach to map forest ecosystems that allows for consistent aggregation and comparisons across scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of the proposed European Marine Strategy Directive is an opportunity for a comprehensive policy for protecting, improving and sustainably using Europe’s environmentally degraded seas. It calls for an ecosystem-based approach to management where humans are regarded as a key system component. Although the proposed wording has been the subject of fierce debate, the central policy goal remains achieving “Good Environmental Status”. The interpretation of “good” is key to implementation and relates to human values and worldviews. We demonstrate how these vary widely across Europe. Solution of fundamental considerations such as the assignation of reference states, the balance between precautionary and evidence-based action, the degree of subsidiarity, and conservation strategies including marine protected areas, will ultimately depend upon public understanding, involvement in and support for the Directive. The social element, critical to effective adaptive management, requires greater attention within the context of a regional seas geographical framework. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper outlines the main findings from case studies analysed within the Practical Evaluation Tools for Urban Sustainability (PETUS) project, about the practical use of tools for sustainable urban development in European cities. The paper looks across 60 case studies and identifies the main drivers for using tools, the benefits gained by using them and discusses why, in general, there is limited use of available tools. The main question raised by the PETUS project was, ‘why are so few tools for urban sustainability being used, when so many are available?’ Recent years have shown a growing number of theoretical tools to assess and evaluate urban sustainability. However, experience also shows that only a few of such tools are being used in practice. The paper outlines the motivations for actors to use tools, the benefits achieved and the barriers for using tools. From this, different possibilities for improvements in the use of tools are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the methodological approach applied within the FP5-funded ‘Practical Evaluation Tools for Urban Sustainability’ (PETUS) project to test the applicability of the developed ‘decision support system’ (DSS) with current working practices and varying local conditions in different European countries. The effectiveness criteria applied, the testing strategy, procedures and instruments are outlined. The author analyses the results of the collaboration with potential end-users of the DSS during the testing and discusses the contributions made by testing to the DSS development, to the debate on sustainability in urban policy and in the broader ‘theory-practice’ dialogue. The work shows a need for further mutual learning of theory and practice about urban change, political processes and partnerships to build on the path to sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of sustainability is becoming familiar and has already led to many initiatives of different types to put the concept into practice. There is a range of approaches, existing tools and methods that focus on the challenge of sustainability of European urban infrastructure. The actual problem is the transfer of knowledge to practice, the suggestion of ways of action and the integration of information. The Practical Evaluation Tool for Urban Sustainability (PETUS) research outcomes are presented here, on one side, as reflections upon these topics, and on the other side, as an operational framework developed with these objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental compensation has been discussed in Europe for a long time and in the Swedish context for almost a decade, but it was not until the latest environmental legislation came into force in 1999 that it became easier to formally require compensation for loss of environmental value. The use of compensation can be one method in trying to reach a more sustainable development. The work with EIA for roads ensures that avoidance of damage to nature is given serious attention. Still, impacts that could require compensation measures will remain. This paper examines 15 planned Swedish state road projects in order to investigate the intended use of environmental compensation. The analysis serves to point out problems and opportunities for improvement to facilitate the use of compensation. The results show that while environmental compensation is proposed in several projects, measures are seldom explicitly documented or interpreted as compensation measures. The planning process also needs to be better coordinated. The most explicitly described environmental compensation in the Swedish projects is connected to water issues, while compensation for impacts in small biotopes is rare. The proposed measures are almost never in sufficient proportion to the damage that is caused. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Article 6(4) of the Habitats Directive requires a weighing up of environmental and economic interests in order to allow for deviation from valid environmental standards. This provision has to be interpreted in the light of the tasks and aims of the European treaties, especially in the light of sustainable development (SD). It is not only a political aim, but was also introduced in the European treaties in 1997 as both legally binding task and goal. This paper develops a comprehensive interpretative understanding of these provisions and their consequences for the application of European environmental law. SD is usually understood as being one aim amongst others and having three dimensions of SD (ecological, social and economic) of equal weight. This concept of equal weight contradicts the idea of a common but differentiated responsibility (CBDR), which is an essential part of SD. The CBDR requires that ‘SD’ has de facto different meanings in different member states according to their economic development. Therefore, Article 6 of the Habitats Directive may only be applied in those areas of the Community having a development lag. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite lengthy debates about planning versus incrementalism, there is still no consensus on what strategy processes should look like in the public sector. In the environmental policy field, the decline of formal policy planning was nonetheless followed by a surge of national strategies for sustainable development (NSSDs). After summarizing this development, we highlight some key characteristics, good practices, and weaknesses of NSSDs with regard to participation, horizontal and vertical policy integration, policy implementation, and monitoring. It is shown that NSSDs go well beyond former environmental policy plans, not just in terms of their thematic scope, but foremost because they resemble evolving rather than static strategy processes. Finally, we explore what model of strategy formation may be adequate for the public sector in general. Based on the empirical evidence presented here and by drawing on strategic management theory, strategic public management is proposed as an ideal pattern for strategy formation, which reconciles planning and incremental learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responsibility for environmental policy making in Europe has shifted to the EU level to a remarkable extent. Considering that many of the EU measures aim at levelling the playing field between member states and even achieving the harmonization of national policies, one might expect far-reaching convergence of environmental policy in Europe, but there are a number of domestic and policy-specific factors diverting the path from reaching convergence. In this contribution we are interested in the specific effects of different patterns of European governance on domestic environmental policies. In this respect, we are particularly interested in the scope of national institutional change and cross-national convergence of regulatory institutions. We distinguish between three ideal–typical governance patterns: (1) prescriptive governance based on the compliance of national implementers with legally binding EU rules, (2) communicative governance based on information exchange between regulatory agents across national levels arranged in a EU legal or institutional framework and (3) competitive governance based on competition between national administrative systems to achieve EU requirements. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the importance of the relationships between natural and social scientists, users, and policy makers in accomplishing the objectives of the economic analysis under the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) that aims to develop a successful integrated basin management model. The economic, social and environmental benefits that may result from the relationships, which are important in the planning for river basins, are also determined. Moreover, the design and implementation of river basin plan are suggested to be based on the continuous cooperation among scientists, the participation of users, the exchange of opinions among stakeholders and the participation of information to policy makers.

Reports on developments relevant to environmental policy and law in Europe as of April 2004. European Landscape Convention entered into force; Right to water as an enforceable right; Polycentric environmental governance towards stability and sustainable development.