| 1. |
- Mancheva, Irina, 1982-
(författare)
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Forest water governance : challenges in cross-sectoral and multi-level collaboration
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Forests and water are highly interconnected with forestry practices negatively affecting forest water. In the last five decades, the Swedish state has enacted multiple policy changes and allocated significant resources towards the implementation of soft policy instruments to alleviate the effects on forest water. The European Union Water Framework Directive has further raised the legal requirements for water protection, including within the forest sector. However, these efforts have largely failed thus far. Forests and water are governed by two separate sectors, each with its own polycentric governance system and policy goals that are often conflicting. The governance mode of these systems is determined by a unique combination of policy instruments and a varying degree of centralisation depending on state involvement. Since governing forest water requires collaboration between the forest and water sector governance systems, it entails interplay between the two systems on different ecological scales. The aim of this thesis is to explore and explain the challenges related to the governance of a resource that requires cross-sectoral multi-level governance and to examine the role of the state in those interactions. The thesis includes a mix of quantitative (survey and aerial photographs) and qualitative (interviews, analysis of documents and meeting observations) research methods for investigating forest water governance across national, regional and local levels. Empirically, it involves four case studies analysing units embedded in the larger case – namely cross-sectoral governance of forest water.The results show that within the current structure of Swedish forest water governance there is minimal cross-sectoral collaboration, with an exception being at the national level. Regional and local implementation of the outputs produced at national level relies mainly on the forest sector, with little to no coordination with water sector institutions at the regional district or river basin levels. Moreover, power asymmetries between the two sectors are transposed to the collaborative process which affects participants’ capacity to influence the governance of forest water. Since the studied cases show that most of the financial resources for forest water protection are provided top-down, the role of the state in initiating and maintaining collaboration is crucial. The thesis confirms previous research findings that water governance requires a more centralised polycentric governance system. Combining polycentric governance (including at the river basin scale) with centralised state-coordination is a potential solution to problems that require cross-sectoral and multi-level governance interplay. Further inquiry into cross-sectoral governance of natural resources could develop a better understanding of how coordination in polycentric governance systems at different ecological scales could be structured to mitigate policy goal conflicts across sectors and institutional levels, thus fostering more effective governance.
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| 2. |
- Miljand, Matilda, 1986-
(författare)
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The potential of systematic reviews in environmental social science : an analysis of its use to evaluate and inform policy
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There is common agreement that public policy should be formulated based onknowledge of how it works and makes impact. Both scientific knowledge andevaluations can contribute to environmental decision-making and play animportant role to inform policy development. Over the past two decades,systematic review (SR) methods have been proposed to contribute to thispurpose. SRs are literature reviews, using explicit methods for selecting andanalysing empirical data. This dissertation explores the opportunities andchallenges occurring when introducing SR methods into environmental socialscience. Two main research questions are answered: 1) What are theopportunities and challenges of applying SR methods to investigate policy issuesin general, and environmental policy issues in particular?; 2) How have SRs(process and product) been used to inform decision makers, how can they be usedand how can we understand such use?To this end, I examine how other researchers have used the SR methods (articleI); how project managers, researchers and stakeholders view the usefulness of themethods (article II); I apply a specific SR method to a policy issue (article III);and discuss the relevance of the SR methods in general to political science (articleIV). Multiple methods and materials were used, including an overview ofliterature, a realist review and interviews with project managers, researchers, andstakeholders.The findings can be summarised into four main points. Firstly, SR methods canbe used to evaluate environmental policy, but the challenges in applying themethods to social science policy research should be kept in mind. SR methodsprovide guidelines for how to make a literature review that is rigorous andmethodologically robust, with a number of benefits such as contributing with newempirical results and developing theory, methods and research design. At the same time, a number of challenges arise when they are to be applied to complexissues, heterogeneous research methods and data.Secondly, methodological pluralism should be applied in SR. Given how socialscience research is conducted (with many different methods, both qualitative andquantitative) and which issues are examined (often complex), I advocatemethodological pluralism regarding what should be considered an SR method. Itshould include both qualitative and quantitative methods, without any hierarchybetween them.Thirdly, there is need to nuance the theoretical understanding of how SRs areused and how they can be expected to be used. The findings suggest that bothvaggregative and configurative SRs will be used in different ways, including forinstrumental, conceptual and legitimising purposes. A more positive view oflegitimising use than what is often considered was revealed by the interviews,suggesting that legitimising use can also be helpful to inform policy.Fourthly, two additional benefits of SR methods can be added in relation to whatresearchers can derive from these. This includes more systematic identificationof knowledge gaps and showing where the evidence is weak or contradictory. Bysearching for all available research and then applying strict criteria for whichstudies to include, SR can provide a clearer picture of what research is availableand not. Furthermore, the very process of conducting an SR means that theresearcher who performs it must be confronted with a wider range of literatureand be forced to study the quality of the studies in a way that is rarely done. Thiscan provide insights into the consequences of different method choices as well asto literature beyond the researchers’ own disciplinary focus.
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| 3. |
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Bioenergi från skogen - möjligheter och begränsningar : Slutrapport från KSLA:s klimatgrupp för bioenergi
- 2024
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Det pågår en intensiv debatt om samhällets användning av bioenergi. Att bryta beroendet av ändliga, fossila resurser emot ett flöde av av förnybar energi har varit en drivande vision. Osäkerheten om vägen framåt ökar nu till följd av ökad internationell polaridering och konflikt. Därmed har energisäkerhet blivit ett viktigt argument för bioenergi.Förnybara energikällor - där bioenergi är en - erbjuder möjlighet att komma ut ur fossilberoendet som driver klimatförändring och som fortfarande helt dominerar energiförsörjningen både inom EU och globalt. Men det finns också viktiga begränsningar vad gäller den roll bioenergin kan spela. Debatten om bioenergin bidrag till att minska klimatpåverkan och fossilberoende försvåras av att forskningen inte ger något entydigt svar och att man ofta har olika utgångspunkter och fokus både bland forskare och intressenter. Vi har sammanfattat olika perspektiv och avvägningar mellan de aspekter som är viktiga att bekta i belsut på både kort och lång sikt i en svensk kontext.Den absoluta huvuddelen av svensk bioenergi kommer från skogen. Därför ligger vårt fokus på de skogliga bränslesortimenten, även om det finns en betydande potential också inom jordbruket. Vi har koncentrerat oss på de spaketer där gruppens medlemmar har god expertis. Frågor kring energiinfrastruktur, teknikutveckling och samhällsekonomiska överväganden behandlas mer översiktligt. Vi avsluta med en spaning in i framtiden om möjligheter för bioenergin i framtidens energisystem. Vår förhoppning är att KSLA med denna rappirt ska öka kunskapen - och kanske också avliva några myter - om bioenergins framtida roll.
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| 4. |
- Eckerberg, Katarina, Professor emerita, 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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The Nature of Rural Development : The Case of Sweden
- 2001
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This is a scoping study in a project initiated by WWF1 and partners into the nature of rural development in Europe. The project analyses rural development policies and practices in a range of countries with a view to developing a more robust model for sustainable, integrated rural development in the European Union. The scoping study has been supported by WWF and the British countryside agencies and undertaken by IEEP3, CRE4 and a consortium of independent consultants in 10 different European countries, over the period May to December 2000. The countries chosen include 6 EU Member States (Austria, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, UK), 3 accession countries (Hungary, Latvia, Poland) and Switzerland, which has pursuedits own approach outside the EU. The aim of this study has been to investigate actors, institutions and attitudes towards rural development, in order to help clarify key issues in working towards sustainability. It has started with a broad list of potential areas of interest, as follows:The driving forces for rural changeInstitutions and institutional arrangements for rural developmentNational perspectives on rural development principles and policiesThe role of the environment in rural development policies and outcomesThe role of social values (participation, equity, etc) in rural developmentThe resourcing of rural development policyThe role of the urban–rural interfaceAccountability versus flexibility and innovation, in policy delivery
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Jansson, Johan, 1973-, et al.
(författare)
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Perspectives on sustainability in Sweden : stuck between two paradigms?
- 2020
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Ingår i: The future of the North - sustainability in Nordic countries. - Marburg : Metropolis Verlag für Ökonomie, Gesellscahft und Politik GmbH. - 9783731613640 ; , s. 167-216
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this chapter we take a look at some, primarily, environmental sustainability issues in Sweden. Sweden is in many aspects a rich country with high social and economic welfare and it usually comes out as a country that has handled environmental challenges well. However, from a consumption perspective, Swedish consumers are among the world leaders when it comes to metrics such as ecological footprint and carbon dioxide emissions per capita. By using two paradigmatic views, the Dominant Social Paradigm (DSP) and the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) we analyze sustainability in Sweden with a particular focus on energy use. We look at sustainability in the three broad areas of policies, corporate activities and consumption and in these areas we delve deeper into environmental sustainability issues concerning recycling and waste, energy efficiency, circular business models, sustainable consumer behaviors in relation to cars and transport, and responsible investments. We end the chapter by discussing implications for the future and the analytical framework and by developing a middle ground which we call ambiguous wavering.
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| 7. |
- Miljand, Matilda, et al.
(författare)
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Voluntary agreements to protect private forests : a realist review
- 2021
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Ingår i: Forest Policy and Economics. - : Elsevier. - 1389-9341 .- 1872-7050. ; 128
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is increasing political interest in the use of voluntary agreements (VA) as a policy instrument. The attraction has grown also in environmental policy, VAs are expected to be less costly, more effective and more cost-efficient than regulation. Using a realist review methodology, our analysis focuses on the effect of contextual factors and mechanisms on private forest owners' willingness to enter into formal voluntary nature conservation agreements. The framework we use to analyse the effects includes: forest owner characteristics, forest attributes, institutional context and process, advisors and other forest owners, and contract design, for contextual factors – and economic attitudes, environmental attitudes, sense of autonomy, sense of justice and fairness, trust as well as knowledge, for mechanisms. The analysis allowed merging findings from different types of VAs in varying contexts in a systematized way, and consolidating evidence of how the mechanisms influence the programme implementation process, and its outcome. 43 reviewed articles, from an originally retrieved set of 2231 papers, provide evidence for environmental attitudes supporting willingness to enter into an agreement. Environmental attitudes are strengthened by forest owners' wishes to protect a heritage, suggesting considerable influence through personal, emotional attachment to the forest. This finding shows the central role played by sense of autonomy, with economic compensation also importantly affecting the willingness to enter a VA. Along with these results, the developed comprehensive analytical framework shows how VAs can become more effective if tailored for different contexts and types of forest owners.
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