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The institutional capacity of local authorities to integrate climate change mitigation aspects into spatial planning is of vital importance. This paper sets out to investigate this capacity in the county of Stockholm, Sweden, by surveying 26 municipalities and analysing two case study municipalities through participation in workshops and interviews. The study shows the need both for a local energy and climate policy domain that can be integrated into spatial planning as well as dedicated personnel to maintain this policy, thereby securing knowledge resources within the organisation. Additionally, the importance of relations to and repertoires for interacting with politicians is highlighted. Lastly, the study demonstrates the complementary added value of a regional-local network administered by the County Administrative Board, spreading learning examples and diffusing theoretical knowledge, as well as sub-regional, inter-municipal networks that enable the transfer of more practical knowledge and provide a platform for concrete action.

Spatial planning conducted by the local authorities has been identified as a key part of shaping carbon-neutral societies. Nevertheless, the question of whether local authorities are building their institutional capacity for integrating climate change mitigation aspects into spatial planning remains under-researched. This paper aims to fill this gap while also analysing the role of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in facilitating organisational learning. The methods employed were a longitudinal document analysis of Comprehensive Plans belonging to eight municipalities in Stockholm County, complemented by a focus group interview. A significant difference was identified, as the recently adopted Comprehensive Plans included more strategies for climate change mitigation and, to a greater extent, linked these strategies to reduced climate impact or energy efficiency than previously adopted Comprehensive Plans. However, numerous additional strategies could have been given further consideration in each studied Comprehensive Plan. Thus, this calls for more continuous and cyclical comprehensive planning processes to facilitate capacity building, primarily by being a vehicle for mobilising political support. Lastly, the findings indicate that SEA can lead to organisational learning of both single-loop and double-loop nature, where the latter can enable SEA to shape the planning process in a more profound and sustainability-oriented manner.

Background Wind power is a critical renewable energy technology in efforts to achieve the global climate targets. However, local impacts do occur, which demands careful consideration in planning and permitting. Sweden has set an ambition to triple land-based wind power by 2040, and municipalities play a key role in both the planning and permitting process, due to a planning monopoly and veto power in the permitting process. This calls for an investigation of Swedish wind power governance, with a particular focus on recent trends in municipal wind power planning, how wind power is balanced in relation to sustainability objectives in planning and permitting, and insights from practitioners regarding their capacities and drivers. Results The results show that about two-thirds of Swedish municipalities have conducted wind power planning in some form, but this basis for decision-making has become outdated due to a lack of institutional capacity at the municipal level. Secondly, the study finds that many municipalities perceive that there are insufficient incentives for a continued wind power expansion. Lastly, the study sheds light on a large heterogeneity within wind power planning practice concerning how trade-offs between wind power deployment and other sustainability aspects are handled, as well as a lack of coherence between planning and permitting. Conclusions It is concluded that the current state of municipal wind power planning raises questions regarding the legitimacy of municipal decision-making in terms of perceived justice among local inhabitants and highlights the need for updated wind power plans. Moreover, to promote local acceptance in the future, formalised financial compensation and strategic initiatives that enable the localisation of electricity-intensive industry within municipalities with large-scale wind power production can be two key components. The results also highlight the need for additional support at the municipal level, including access to critical competence and relevant knowledge to enable trade-offs between the different sustainability considerations in an informed and balanced manner. Finally, regional dialogue with key actors, such as the military, Sami representatives and grid operators, would facilitate the handling of inter-municipal issues, in particular by fostering co-operation regarding inter-municipal wind sites.

In municipal energy planning, climate change is a key concern. Additionally, a multitude of environmental impacts and associated objectives also need to be addressed. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) should increase environmental consideration in planning, including that of national environmental objectives. This paper investigates the SEA screening practice and its effect on the execution of SEA as well as the inclusion of national environmental objectives in Swedish energy and climate planning. The results show that due to low execution and quality of screening, SEA is seldom conducted. However, environmental objectives in which synergies and conflicts can occur in relation to the climate objective were more often included in policy documents when environmental assessment had been conducted, thus indicating that they are incorporated into the basis for planning and decision-making in those processes. If SEA can highlight local co-benefits through this approach, it can facilitate building local support for climate action.