The approach of Swedish municipalities to the preservation of agricultural land in a planning context

Granvik, Madeleine; Jacobsson, Torun; Germundsson, Lisa Blix; Larsson, Anders

doi:10.1504/ijarge.2015.072903

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Granvik et al 2015;Jordbruksverket 2013). Interviews and discussions with stakeholders involved at different levels of Swedish public institutions revealed uncertainty within the Swedish bureaucratic system about how to handle the issue of soil preservation, and especially who (in terms of actors or institutions) should bear the main responsibility, including at the national level.…”

Section: Results and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, at the 21 regional levels in Sweden (county administration boards, in Swedish Länsstyrelse), there are usually officials working with the environment and agricultural issues, but not all consider the issue of soil preservation to be important. In Sweden, there are 190 municipalities, whereof most do not have officials working with agriculture, and many of these have been reported as lacking analysis of trade-offs and decision support when deciding to change agricultural land to housing or other constructions (Granvik et al 2015;Jordbruksverket 2013).…”

Section: Results and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From a democratic perspective, the right to decide how to use land and resources with considerations to local contexts and knowledges can indeed be regarded as sustainable resource governance. However, on another scale of decision making, and especially considering that previous studies have shown that many Swedish municipalities do not follow the rules prescribed in the soil preservation paragraph of the Environmental Code (Granvik et al 2015;Jordbruksverket 2013), it is important to acknowledge that the sum of local decisions can be degrading for lifesupporting resources (cf. Neumann 2009).…”

Section: Concluding Discussion: Agricultural Land In Need Of Legal Prmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Agricultural land in Sweden today is generally sealed under asphalt or concrete without the basis for the decision and motivations that the law requires (cf. Granvik et al 2015;Jordbruksverket 2013). …”

Section: If Not Agriculture Then What Are 'Significant National Intementioning

confidence: 99%

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Preservation of Agricultural Land as an Issue of Societal Importance

Slätmo

2017

Rural Landscapes: Society, Environment, History

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Based on concerns about food security and food sovereignty, it is appropriate to scrutinise societal measures for protecting agricultural land from conversion to other uses. Changes from agricultural to urban land use are particularly problematic, as they are largely irreversible. By analysing relevant Swedish policy, the present study investigated how the protection of agricultural land is framed as an issue of societal importance. Protection of agricultural land is enshrined in Swedish law, but its use is still continually changing to housing and other constructions. In a structured policy analysis, two questions were examined: (1) what are the societal motives for protecting agricultural land in Sweden, and (2) how do these motives influence the governance of agricultural land? The meaning of 'national importance', 'suitable for cultivation' and 'significant national interests' in Swedish land-use law was also analysed. The results showed that formulations in the law reflect the ambivalent discourses on agricultural land preservation and that the Swedish authorities view other land uses as more important than agriculture.The Swedish governance system is currently built on trust that municipal institutions will make satisfactory decisions concerning land and water use. However, it has been shown that these decisions have not been satisfactory concerning the protection of agricultural land, and it is important to acknowledge that the sum of local decisions can be degrading for these life-supporting resources. The present analysis revealed a looming conflict between the preservation of soils for food production, on one hand, and local participation in decision making, on the other. This raises the question of whether it is more important to defend subsidiarity or to preserve certain resources which are important for food security, such as agricultural land.

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Section: Results and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Results and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Concluding Discussion: Agricultural Land In Need Of Legal Prmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: If Not Agriculture Then What Are 'Significant National Intementioning

confidence: 99%

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Preservation of Agricultural Land as an Issue of Societal Importance

Slätmo

2017

Rural Landscapes: Society, Environment, History

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“…The benefits of implementing local environmental policy will be higher if the population in the municipality is larger, ceteris paribus, because environmental quality is a public good and a greater number of people will derive utility from the environmental improvements achieved. A larger population can also imply greater pressure on water quality and environmental amenities (Granvik et al 2015;COS 2016), implying that the environmental damage is greater, which further strengthens the need for developing local environmental policy. Higher average income is typically associated with a higher willingness-to-pay for environmental improvements (Barbier, Czajkowski, and Hanley 2017).…”

Section: Local Benefits and Costs Of Environmental Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of water quality for local environmental policy implementation

Brockwell

Elofsson

2019

Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

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The objective of this study is to examine the role of surface water quality for the decisions by Swedish municipalities to adopt environmental targets and action plans, as well as allocating these decisions to a responsible authority. To this end, we assess how environmental, socioeconomic, and political factors, as well as the availability of environmental expertise, affect these municipal decisions. Questionnaire data from the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, in combination with environmental monitoring data and official statistics, are used for the econometric analysis. Results show that: (i) municipalities with bad water quality, greater coastal length, and higher income are more inclined to adopt local policies; (ii) collaboration with interest groups increases the likelihood of adopting local policies; and (iii) municipalities with high Center Party representation tend to set responsibility for environmental policy with the municipal council board.

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Urban ecosystem services in strategic planning in Swedish municipalities

et al. 2021

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Research to date on urban ecosystem services has mainly been conducted in large cities, particularly in China, the USA and some European countries. This study examined the provision of urban ecosystem services in a Swedish municipality context, based on interviews with municipal stakeholders in strategic management and planning from six municipalities and a review of existing publications readily available to practitioners. The analysis focused on (1) the ecosystem services explicitly covered, (2) whether multifunctionality was covered and specific synergies and trade-offs identified and, (3) the spatial scale and context used for ecosystem services (valuation/mapping, planning, design or maintenance) in practical application. The results showed that regulatory services are very much the focus in municipal operations as well as in publications available to practitioners. This is reflected in the implementation of the concept through problem solving often related to regulatory services, using multifunctionality and win-win situations in ecosystem service supply. These findings contribute to the growing body of work exploring how the concept of ecosystem services is adapted and utilised in practice.

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The approach of Swedish municipalities to the preservation of agricultural land in a planning context

Cited by 4 publications

References 13 publications

Preservation of Agricultural Land as an Issue of Societal Importance

Preservation of Agricultural Land as an Issue of Societal Importance

The role of water quality for local environmental policy implementation

Urban ecosystem services in strategic planning in Swedish municipalities

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