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In this paper, we develop a framework for understanding the different spheres of authority of chiefs aiming to widen the perspectives on how government-chief interactions affect the governance process. The framework is applied in our analysis of interviews with government actors involved in area protection in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA). Our results illustrate the variety of approaches and perceptions towards governance with chiefs that exist amongst government actors within the same governance system. Although government actors perceive chiefs in the GLTFCA as a parallel system, chiefs can act as a rival, mediator, adviser, or partner to the government; thus, both enable or hamper government governance. The informal governance arrangements found in the data between government actors and chiefs moreover underscores the importance of qualitative case studies of hybrid governance systems. Licens fulltext: CC BY-NC-ND License

This paper addresses how the design of collaborative regimes influences markers of legitimacy in Swedish water- and large carnivore governance. Based on institutional analysis and statistical analy ...

Has the Swedish Climate Policy Framework – including the new Swedish Climate Act – adopted in June 2017, been conducive to advancing climate mitigation, and if so, to what extent and in which aspec...

This paper compares how forest ecosystem service–related policies are integrated in different national European forest governance contexts. Efforts to achieve policy integration at the EU and national levels are often described in terms of limited success. Our analysis of forest, energy/bioeconomy, climate, and conservation policies suggests that notions of progress or failure merit careful assessment. Combining theories of policy integration (PI), environmental policy integration (EPI), and policy coherence, we argue that integration outcomes depend on the combined effects of the degree and nature of PI, EPI, and multilevel coherence in the context of the prevailing forest governance system. The nature of the interdependencies, specifically anticipated synergies, and the scope of FES-related climate objectives, are crucial. Realizing the range of FES-related objectives entails safeguarding objectives not synergistically aligned with economic aims. Failures to safeguard biodiversity and regulating and cultural ecosystem services in the process of integration may have far-reaching consequences. Funding: This work was conducted as part of the ERA-Net Sumforest Project “POLYFORES” (Grant Agreement 606803). The related research was funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism (BMNT) [grant 101201/1], the Ministry of Economy and Business of the Spanish Government (project code PCIN- 2017-050), German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) via the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) [grant number 2816ERA03S], the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (FORMAS, Dnr. 2016-02111). The Russian study was carried out within the framework of CEPF RAS’ state assignment (No. 121121600118-8).

The chemical stabilization, or immobilization, of trace elements (metals and metalloids; TE) in contaminated soil has been studied for decades. A vast number of scientific publications are available on the method performance in laboratory settings, reporting that the application of various soil amendments to contaminated soil reduces TE mobility, bioavailability and toxicity. The most commonly used soil amendments include organic matter, iron oxides, phosphates, ashes, and lately biochar, alone or in combination with each other and/or lime. Most of the implemented field studies show a certain degree of improvement in soil and/or vegetation status following amendment. Regardless the positive performance of the technique in the laboratory, field validations and demonstrations remain scarce. The establishment of a field experiment often involves permits from authorities and agreements with site owners, both of which are considerably more time-consuming than laboratory tests. Due to conservative institutional structures, public authorities have been slow to adopt alternative remediation technologies, especially when the total TE concentration in soil remains the same and all of the associated risks are not yet convincingly described. For this reason, researchers should also focus on enhancing public knowledge of alternative remediation techniques so that future projects which aim to demonstrate the effectiveness of in situ immobilization techniques under natural conditions will be supported.

How do different multi-level governance models influence the adaptive capacity of environmental management? This paper examines the connection between different types of governance models, distinguished by diverse institutional features, and elements of adaptive capacity. The task is undertaken through a comparative study of two differently organized management systems within the same national context: Swedish water and large carnivore management. The systems' governance models are defined through an institutional analysis of polycentric features, logics of design and knowledge arrangements. Assessments of adaptive capacity are based on survey data describing the involved actors' perceptions of the knowledge base, use of an experimental approach and the presence of learning. The empirical results suggest that institutional features influence some, but not all, elements of adaptive capacity. The results lend support to the idea that polycentric governance models, based on an ecological rationale, sustain participation in knowledge mobilization, support the use of an experimental approach and promote learning to a larger extent than more centralized and hierarchical governance models do; while there is no connection between governance model and the perceived reliability of knowledge base. The study contributes to environmental governance research, policy and practice by evaluating the adaptive capacity of current water and wildlife management systems in Sweden and by increasing our knowledge about how different governance models influence the adaptive capacity in environmental management.

Contemporary processes of environmental policymaking in general span over several territorial tiers. This also holds for the EU Water Framework Directive system of environmental quality standards (EQS), which are part of a complex multi-level institutional landscape, embracing both EU, national and sub-national level. Recent evaluations show that many EU member states, including Sweden, have not reached the ecological goals for water in 2015. Departing from theories on policy coherence and multi-level governance, this paper therefore analyses Swedish water governance as a case to further our understanding of policy implementation in complex governance structures: how does policy coherence (or the lack thereof) affect policy implementation in complex governance structures? To answer this question, the paper maps out the formal structure of the water governance system, focusing on power directions within the system, analyses policy coherence in Swedish water governance through mapping out policy conflicts between the EQS for water and other goals/regulations and explore how they are handled by national and sub-national water bureaucrats. The study concludes that without clear central guidance, 'good ecological status' for Swedish water will be difficult to achieve since incoherent policies makes policy implementation inefficient due to constant power struggles between different authorities, and since environmental goals are often overridden by economic and other societal goals. Further research is needed in order to explore if similar policy conflicts between water quality and other objectives occur in other EU member states and how bureaucrats handle such conflicts in different institutional settings. This study of the Swedish case indicates that the role of the state as a navigator and rudder-holder is important in order to improve policy implementation in complex governance structures - otherwise; bureaucrats risk being lost in an incoherent archipelago of ecological, social and economic goals.

This report describes the status and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Nordic region, the drivers and pressures affecting them, interactions and effects on people and society, and options for governance. The main report consists of two volumes. Volume 1 The general overview (this report) and Volume 2 The geographical case studies. This study has been inspired by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services (IPBES). It departs from case studies (Volume 2, the geographical case studies) from ten geographical areas in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden) and the autonomous areas of Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland. The aim was to describe status and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Nordic region, including the drivers and pressures affecting these ecosystems, the effects on people and society and options for governance. The Nordic study is structured as closely as possible to the framework for the regional assessments currently being finalized within IPBES. The report highlights environmental differences and similarities in the Nordic coastal areas, like the inhabitants´ relation to nature and the environment as well as similarities in social and policy instruments between the Nordic countries. This study provides background material for decision-making and it is shown that Nordic cooperation is of great importance for sustainable coastal management and should be strengthened in future work.

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.

The integration of environmental issues into sectoral policies is also known asenvironmental policy integration (EPI), a concept that can be described as a process oflearning across frames. The art ...

Environmental integration: our common challenge, by Ton Buhrs, Albany, NY, State University of New York Press, 2009, xiv + 270 pp., index, $26.95 (paperback), ISBN 9781438426082, $85.00 (hardback),...