The forestry and reindeer herding sectors utilize the same land in northern Sweden, and adversely affect each other's productivity. The common pool resource character of this situation has made it difficult to find ways to resolve conflicts that could threaten the two sectors' continued co-existence. A consultation procedure that was introduced to reduce conflicts does not appear to be effective, since conflicts between the two actors still occur. One reason for this failure might be found in the power distribution between forestry and reindeer herding. Earlier research has shown that a co-management system in which the allocation of power between the stakeholders is uneven is difficult to maintain in the long term. However, it is unclear just how uneven the power distribution is between the two actors in this case, and the consequences the disparity might have for the viability and stability of the management system. Focusing on the power relations within the consultation procedures, this paper explores the potential of the present institutional system to take the different interests of the stakeholders into account and to use the consultation procedures as tools for co-managing the forest resources in northern Sweden.

With complex common pool resources, it is important to balance the multitude of interests in order to generate a sustainable management regime. This is not the case in the northern parts of Sweden, where forest resources are used for different extractive purposes by forest companies and the reindeer herding industry. In many respects, the present situation represents a classic collective-action problem with a number of reasons why no cooperative behaviour might be expected. This article illuminates the relationship between the two industries in an historical, ecological and institutional perspective in order to explain the limited scope of coordinated action between the two actors. It also, through the use of collaborative learning techniques and scenario methods, explores the possibilities for the two industries to consider each other's needs and to identify strategies for co-existence and co-management. The testing of a broad range of scenarios among a selected group of stakeholders leads to the identification of possibilities for improving the management of the forest and lichen resource by changing institutional arrangements and improving coordination between the stakeholders.

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Both the forestry sector and reindeer herders in northern Sweden use the forest resources in northern Sweden, albeit for different purposes, and have adverse effects on each other. To reduce conflicts between them negotiations take place in so-called “consultations”, but the institutional arrangement does not seem to be working well; the conflicts have not been resolved, and the reindeer herders are generally more dissatisfied with the outcome than the forest companies. This paper provides an overview of the parallel development of forestry and reindeer herding in the region. In addition several issues that complicate the consultations and need to be resolved in order to secure the continued co-existence of the two activities are identified, based on an analysis of physical, societal and judicial aspects of the relationship between them.Abstract in Swedish / Sammandrag:Skogsbruk och rennäringen i norra Sverige – utveckling av en markanvändningskonflikt Skogsresursen i norra Sverige nyttjas för bland annat timmerproduktion och renbete och skogsbruket respektive rennäring påverkar varandra negativt. För att minska konflikterna har samråd instiftats men processen fungerar inte tillfredsställande eftersom det finns ett missnöje bland renskötarna. Denna studie ger en översikt av den parallella utvecklingen av de två näringarna och deras inbördes relationer och därmed identifieras flera nyckelområden som komplicerar relationen mellan de båda näringarna och därmed även samråden. Genom att analysera de fysiska, sociala och juridiska aspekterna av relationen mellan rennäring och skogsbruk pekar studien på ett antal problem som måste lösas för att kunna säkerställa en fortsatt parallell existens.

Multi-story wooden buildings are hailed as a favorable means towards reducing the embodied energy of the construction sector, however, the construction sector’s path-dependent nature hinders acceptance towards using wood in multi-story construction. As a result, research predominantly focuses on examining the perceptions of construction professionals to identify means of breaking the path-dependency. We propose using citizens’ perceptions towards the use of wood to inform professional decision makers, thus, this research aims to answer two questions: What are citizens’ perceptions about using wood as a construction material, and are there country-based cultural differences between perceptions? To elicit this spectrum of citizen views, an online survey was deployed in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze 6 633 open-ended responses from the survey. Respondents held multifaceted opinions about the physical properties, environmental, social, and economic aspects of using wood as a construction material. Citizens from Finland, Norway, and Sweden placed acceptability for using wood in discernably different aspects than citizens from Austrian, Denmark, Norway, and the UK. Overall, respondents from all countries held high approval for using wood in construction.