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The paper studies processes of adaptation to a changing climate in the water supply and wastewater sector in five Norwegian municipalities. Our case illustrates that the combination of characteristics of climate adaptation as a policy issue, institutional characteristics related to the vertical organization of the water sector in Norway, and characteristics of the professional network between local and national levels of governance seem to have been conducive to problem awareness and proactive approaches to problem solving. Our findings contradict the general picture drawn in the literature concluding that adaptation efforts are mainly reactive and internally related to the sector. We identify important mechanisms related to the production of policy solutions in governance networks mediating knowledge between different institutional levels. By these observations, the paper should contribute to the debate about the working of governance networks, and in particular to the knowledge about factors that are conducive to effective network governance.

International policy trends are always transformed and translated to fit the political and administrative systems in which they are introduced. An international trend of decentralization has resulted in conservation management systems in Sweden and Norway that differ, both in the choice of institutional solution and in the scope of change. This is surprising, as conservation management in the two countries was originally very similar. Nature conservation was managed through hierarchical systems dominated by bureaucratic experts. While Sweden has introduced co-management in a few protected areas only, Norway has devolved powers in all large conservation areas to intermunicipal management boards. Through document studies, we investigate how decentralization interacts with the broader systems of political actors and institutions of which nature conservation is a part. ; This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Hongslo, E., Hovik, S., Zachrisson, A., & Aasen Lundberg, A. K. (2015). Decentralization of Conservation Management in Norway and Sweden—Different Translations of an International Trend. Society & Natural Resources, 1-17. [copyright Taylor & Francis], available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/08941920.2015.1086456.

This article is an empirical analysis of Norway's implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. Aiming at achieving good environmental status in all of Europe's waters by 2015, the Directive is seen as a case of 'environmental policy integration' because it requires all relevant branches of government to comply with the provisions of the directive. Norway is currently in the process of finalizing the first comprehensive round of planning. Results from a survey in two rounds to key actors indicate that some branches of government seem to have made less progress than others in terms of achieving environmental policy integration. These differences are analyzed by reference to variations in the institutional set-ups and regulatory mechanisms available in each sector. The structural preconditions for effective environmental regulation appear to be highly varied, and this may affect the potential for achieving the aims of the directive related to all stressors to the aquatic environment. ; Norges forskningsråd 196407/S30 ; publishedVersion

Chapter 1: Introduction -- Part 1: Digital Participation, Public Administration, and Community Engagement -- Chapter 2: Digital Participation and Influence -- Chapter 3: Exploring the Nexus of Non-Partisanship in Public Administration and Community Engagement in Oslo, Melbourne and Madrid -- Chapter 4: Going Digital or Staying Analogue? -- Chapter 5: E-Gentrification and the Right to the City -- Part 2: Case Studies of E-Governance and E-Participation in Urban Development -- Chapter 6: Social Media: A Driver for Democratization of Urban Planning and Policy Making? -- Chapter 7: E-Governance, Universal Design and the Political Participation of Disadvantaged Groups -- Chapter 8: Barriers, Disability and Online Public Engagement Platforms in Ukraine -- Chapter 9: Impact of Participatory Innovations.