Suchergebnisse

Katarina Eckerberg, Chairperson of the Society of Political Sciences, informs members of the new Borad of Directors, & exhorts all members & students to actively participate in the coming activities of the Society. Promises to organize the website, to publish more regularly, to improve the political science debate in general. A. Barral

According to the Swedish Forestry Act, environmental protection is required within forest operations regardless of forest ownership. This thesis examines the extent to which regulations issued by the National Board of Forestry are implemented in clearcuttings. Different factors contributing to the outcome of environmental protection are analyzed both from a top-down and a bottom-up perspec­tive. Empirically, the study combines field investigation of clearcuts, interviews with implementing actors, and evaluation of written prescriptions and advice on environ­mental protection. The Swedish forest-environmental legislation and implementation process is also compared to that of the U.S. and, especially, to the state of Cali­fornia . Conflicting goals within the Forestry Act and vague environmental guidelines leave the implementing agency officers with great discretion. Steering attempts by the Forestry Agency are in terms of friendly advice and information. No breaches of the regulations were taken to court during 1980-1986 although this is formally possible. There is an average compliance of approximately fifty per cent of the required environmental measures. Aesthetic values are taken into account to a greater extent than pure floristic and faunistic ones. Economic considerations and harvest technology contribute to a low degree of environmental protection. Forest machines are inadequately suited for protecting single, environmentally valuable trees and they frequently cause deep tracks. Inadequate environmental knowledge and insufficient pre-harvest environmental planning also affect environ­mental performance negatively. Generally, economic considerations contribute to the low priority to environ­mental protection given by the implementing actors compared to timber production. Economic inducements counteract environmental protection. It is generally rare that environmentalists and other public interests affected by forest operations are consulted. Environmentalists however influence indirectly through political pressure to legislate, participation in the consultation process before legislation is enacted, and mass-media attention. ; digitalisering@umu

Explores the promotion of sustainable development as an organizing principle for the emergence of new forms of governance practices in European Union member states and Norway.

There is a demand for scientific knowledge to make informed decisions in environmental policy. This study examines expectations of knowledge use, and how knowledge stemming from systematic reviews (SR) is being used through an analytical framework that distinguishes between instrumental, conceptual and legitimising evaluation use, as well as between process and product use. Empirically, we investigate knowledge generated from six SRs conducted through the Mistra Council for Evidence-based Environmental Management from the perspectives of those carrying out the SR and their targeted stakeholders. Our study reveals ways in which SRs are used and some characteristics that improve and some that hamper their usefulness. While the systematic method and the comprehensiveness of the SRs contribute positively to the usefulness, we found that the SRs produced were simultaneously too focused (lacking multiple perspectives), and too general (providing evidence on the effects of an intervention only at the general level) thereby restricting their usefulness. The time and resources it takes to produce an SR can also affect its usefulness compared to a traditional review.

Este trabajo discutirá, a partir de la experiencia sueca, el potencial de desarrollo de la Agenda 21 Local (A21L, en adelante) como un proceso de larga duración. Suecia fue uno de los primeros países en implantar la A21L, lo que explicaría que con el paso del tiempo se registrase en Suecia una elevada proporción de actividad de la A21L europea. Hasta el momento, la A21L lleva implantada ininterrumpidamente en Suecia quince años. Durante este periodo, el gobierno central ha aumentado el apoyo financiero a la A21L, pero, a pesar del éxito general de las cada vez más numerosas iniciativas locales a favor del desarrollo sostenible, lo cierto es que aparecen signos de cierta fatiga y de una menor actividad en los últimos años, lo que da lugar al interrogante acerca de la sostenibilidad de la misma Agenda 21 Local. ¿Es ésta un proceso duradero o más bien un proyecto de corta duración? ¿Qué pueden aprender de la experiencia sueca aquellos países que no han llegado tan lejos? ; This article will discuss the potential of Local Agenda 21 as a lasting process, drawing from the Swedish experience. LA 21 in Sweden had both an early start and a high proportion of LA 21 activity. To date, Sweden has implemented LA 21 for almost fifteen years, have been tested. Over time, central government has increased its financial support to LA 21, but despite a general success in increased local initiatives towards sustainable development, there are also signs of a certain fatigue and less activity in recent years. The question thus arises: How sustainable might Local Agenda 21 become? Is it a lasting process, or is it rather a short-lived project? What might countries that have come less far learn from the Swedish experience?