The aim of introducing agroforestry and community-based forestry is to secure and improve livelihoods, maintain and restore ecosystem services, and contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation. However, the adoption and scaling up of these systems among food insecure communities have proved to be difficult. To better understand why, I identified barriers and bridges at different adoption stages and levels of governance. These were analysed using policy narratives and the sustainable livelihood approach in the light of sustainable development, sustainability and resilience of landscapes. The first stage was the negotiation process between the Swedish NGO Vi-Skogen and the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) about funding. Three explanatory approaches were used: organizational, power and context. Vi-Skogen and Sida were caught in policy incompatibility dilemmas that slowed down the NGO policy process, and delayed critical changes that could have improved project outcomes. The second was Vi-Skogen's agroforestry project in Tanzania's Mara Region. A random sample of 21 households was drawn from each of 89 project villages. The proportion of households with surviving agroforestry trees varied from 10-90 % among villages. Field training and visits to farmers with good practices were important for households to start planting trees. Local collaboration, perceived ownership of trees and benefits of trees for crop production were additional factors important for households' decision to continue with agroforestry practices. The third was eleven community-based forest producer and user groups (CBFGs) in eastern and southern Africa. Development of many groups had stagnated and few had managed to develop large scale value-added production. I identified eight barriers and four bridges that influenced the scaling up process of agroforestry and community based forestry among food insecure households. All resulted from interactions among social, political, and economic structures and processes at multiple ...
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) has emerged as a promising climate change mitigation mechanism in developing countries. This article examines the national political context in 13 REDD+ countries in order to identify the enabling conditions for achieving progress with the implementation of countries' REDD+ policies and measures. The analysis builds on a qualitative comparative analysis of various countries' progress with REDD+ conducted in 12 REDD+ countries in 2012, which highlighted the importance of factors such as already initiated policy change, and the presence of coalitions calling for broader policy change. A follow-up survey in 2014 was considered timely because the REDD+ policy arena, at the international and country levels, is highly dynamic and undergoes constant evolution, which affects progress with REDD+ policy-making and implementation. Furthermore, we will now examine whether the 'promise' of performance-based funds has played a role in enabling the establishment of REDD+. The results show a set of enabling conditions and characteristics of the policy process under which REDD+ policies can be established. The study finds that the existence of broader policy change, and availability of performance-based funding in combination with strong national ownership of the REDD+ policy process, may help guide other countries seeking to formulate REDD+ policies that are likely to deliver efficient, effective and equitable outcomes.Policy relevance Tropical forest countries struggle with the design and implementation of coherent policies and measures to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Evidence on which factors and configurations are crucial to make progress towards these challenging policy objectives will be helpful for decision makers and practitioners at all levels involved in REDD+. Key findings highlight the importance of already initiated policy change, and the availability of performance-based funding in combination with strong national ownership of the REDD+ process. These findings provide guidance to REDD+ countries as to which enabling conditions need to be strengthened to facilitate effective, efficient and equitable REDD+ policy formulation and implementation.
The thesis has two purposes. The first is to understand the organizational forms of the public administration when it participates in international rule making processes. The second purpose investigates democratic implications of internationalization of the Swedish state administration. A theoretical framework, combining theories of governance with ideas on resource dependence and a neo-institutional approach, is applied to three empirical cases. The cases follow decision making processes within the European Employment Strategy, The Kyoto Protocol for reduction of green house gasses and negotiations on trade facilitation within the WTO. The studied processes can be described as complex and fragmented, containing multiple types of actors and parallel arenas, complex technical material and bureaucratic processes. They were also characterised by the fact that policy was created throughout the course of the processes. They also seemed to lack an ending and were to a high degree bound by their history. The administrations' response resulted in an organisational form that is theoretically developed in the study – enclaves. Enclaves contain members from different organizations, both private and state organizations and the work within them is carried out in an informal and interactive way. They are de-coupled units with stable membership that is related to positions in the hierarchy. As opposed to networks, enclaves are not self-organizing but the membership is mainly controlled by state-actors. The second aim of the study is carried out through a number of indicators derived from the deliberative and the representative models of democracy. The blurring of responsibilities, the lack of transparency and the barriers for entrance into the enclaves made the organisational forms of the administration seem problematic in relation to the representative model. However other features of the enclaves seemed to support a more communicative logic of action, leaving the deliberative model more promising as a way of understanding the administrations' work as democratically legitimate. Still, the analysis showed that the deliberative model also faced some challenges in terms of lack of openness and inclusion of all relevant stake holders.
Environmental assessment (EA) is intended to ensure that environmental issues, in a broad sense, are considered in decision making. EA is globally institutionalised through national and international legislation, policies and guidelines, and a field of practice. However, there is a gap between the expectations on EA presented in these regulatory and guiding documents and how it is addressed in practice. This thesis explores the reasons for this gap, focusing on EA practitioners' daily work. The aims of the research are development of theory and generation of new empirical knowledge about how EA practitioners think and act in their daily practice. At the heart of the research is the development of a conceptual framework, space for action, that centres on practitioners' possibilities for influencing practice. The two-dimensional framework is developed iteratively, through empirical and theoretical investigations. The empirical investigations centre on: challenges for practitioners from the multiple perspectives available to apply when deciding appropriate actions; how practitioners think and act when seeking possibilities to influence practice; and, the consultant's role in determining quality. The theoretical basis for the framework integrates and builds on earlier work by planning theorists and elements from frame theory. The first dimension in the framework concerns how practitioners decide on appropriate actions. This process restricts which perspectives practitioners decide to act on and argue for in practice and, subsequently, which perspectives that have potential to be addressed in EA. The second dimension concerns whether these suggestions for appropriate action are enacted and agreed upon in EA processes. These interactions restrict practitioners' possibilities of exerting influence on practice, in terms of both the actual scope of an EA, and how the issues and impacts included are addressed, hence influencing EA quality. The results reveal that these dimensions are important for understanding the gap between expectations of improvements and actual practice. They also reveal a need to recognise the evolving and multi-perspectival character of EA, together with opportunities for advancing the field of practice through critical reflection, reframing and multi-profession collaboration. Overall, this thesis contributes to understanding the important role of practitioners in shaping the field of practice, and provides a new theorisation that strengthens the practitioner focus in EA research.
Agrarian expertise has been employed in the context of Swedish development aid since the 1950s. Throughout this time, the Swedish institutions of higher agrarian education—the Agricultural College, the College of Forestry, and the Veterinary College, in 1977 merged to form the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences—have played important roles. In this dissertation I consider three problems with respect to these institutions' involvement in development aid: (1) How and why did actors at the three colleges begin framing their expertise in a development context? (2) How did Swedish agrarian experts approach the problem of development in contexts about which they had little prior knowledge? (3) How and why did a long-term institutional collaboration evolve between the agrarian institutions of higher learning and the Swedish development aid authorities, and what were its characteristics? The study follows actors and their standpoints through three different aid projects: international courses in animal reproduction at the Veterinary College first planned and held in the mid-1950s; the planning and implementation of the Chilalo Agricultural Development Unit in the 1960s and 1970s; and SLU's support to higher forestry education in Ethiopia in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. It also examines the growth and subsequent decline of a continuous institutional collaboration between the institutions of higher agrarian education and SIDA, the Swedish government agency responsible for development aid. Based on my findings, I argue that the framing of Swedish agrarian expertise as relevant to the developing countries—particularly at the Agricultural College in the 1960s—was part of a broader attempt to widen the scope of agrarian science in Sweden in response to social change at home. At the same time, the development strategies proposed by the Swedish experts were anchored in the particulars of the Swedish agrarian context. This made them attuned to the local adaptation of technologies and to the value of practical knowledge but less sensitive to the societal contexts and social effects of their interventions. Their attempts to bring their knowledge to bear on the developing world also helped create a long-lasting institutionalized relationship between SLU (and the three colleges before it) and the Swedish development aid authorities, through which SLU exercised influence on much of Sweden's agrarian development aid from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s.
The European Union (EU) is committed to conserving biodiversity, both in terms of natural and cultural legacies, and also to limiting biodiversity loss. Relevant policies have underlined the importance of considering ecological and social issues, as well as the complex relations between the two spheres in conservation of biodiversity. These policies have clear implications for all sectors responsible for planning for biodiversity conservation. In order to be consistent with international legislation, it is necessary to move beyond protected areas and include biodiversity conservation considerations in planning activities of various sectors, and also to involve relevant stakeholders in the planning process. This is in line with the landscape approach to planning that has recently been advocated in research and practical planning. The landscape approach has a holistic perspective that encompasses both ecological and social considerations. This thesis focuses on the implementation of policies regarding biodiversity conservation and public participation; that is, the ecological and social dimensions of spatial planning in landscapes. In particular, I examine the role of people, such as planners implementing policies and other stakeholders who might influence biodiversity conservation. The studies within this thesis concern Poland and Sweden, and three sectors: regional, road and forestry planning. The thesis is comprised of four papers. Paper I deals with planners working to implement biodiversity and public participation policies. Paper II concentrates on the issues of stakeholder involvement in the Environmental Impact Assessment of road planning. Paper III investigates a specific conflict that influenced the conservation of biodiversity in an important biodiversity hotspot. Paper IV is a conceptual paper that discusses the tools used to integrate ecological and social dimensions when implementing the European Landscape Convention. The studies included in this thesis reveal that successfully implementing biodiversity conservation and public participation policies may require more than just ecological knowledge about how biodiversity should be maintained, and more than just formal guidelines regarding how the public should be treated in the planning process. In addition, the role of people who may influence the planning and decision making processes is crucial. Accordingly, there is a need for two key developments. Firstly, planners and the general public should be properly educated about conservation-related issues. Secondly, various incentives should be introduced that influence the behaviour and, in the longer term, the attitudes of the people who may affect biodiversity.
The purpose of this thesis is to map and assess the organisational and ideological development of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform party, the ELDR. More specifically, it seeks to analyse the degree of integration between the members of the ELDR over time, to identify factors that may or may not generate integration, to relate the development of the ELDR to earlier research about European parties, and finally to contribute to the ongoing debate about whether or not the traditional national party families are about to establish parties at the European level. The thesis is based on the assumption that parties adapt to their environment, in this case, the system of multi-level governance that characterises the European Union. As the European parties are composed of national parties, they are also dependent on the member parties' opportunities and motives for cooperation. If there is integration, we can, however, not only expect the European parties to adapt to their environment. As they become independent actors, they may also influence their environment. In other words, we can anticipate interaction between the European and national levels that leads to mutual adaptation, or Europeanisation. To be able to capture the interaction between the two levels, theories from international relations and comparative politics are combined. Based on interviews, participant observation, documentary research and content analysis of European election manifestos, the analyses shows that the members of the ELDR have over time reached a rather advanced level of integration, both organisationally and ideologically. Although it is possible to identify constraining factors to this development, the ELDR has, at least from what is known from literature, reached about the same level of development as the two other European parties, the Christian democratic EPP and the Social democratic PES. The internal integration of the ELDR is the outcome of a successive transfer of power from the member parties to the ELDR. By now, the ELDR can therefore be defined as a rather independent actor and as a type of party at the European level. This type of party is, however, not comparable to national parties. It is instead adapted to the institutional structure of the European Union, with, at least partly, a different organisation and different functions from those of national parties. ; digitalisering@umu
This dissertation concerns Sveriges Kommunistiska Parti (SKP) [the Swedish Communist Party] – in 1967 renamed Vänsterpartiet kommunisterna (VPK) [the Left Party – the Communists] and in 1990 renamed Vänsterpartiet (V) [the Left Party] – and the Party's process of coming to terms with history and its communist legacy. The aim of the study is to describe and analyse the SKP/VPK/V's process of coming to terms with history for the period 1956-2006, and to set out and problematise the driving forces and constraining mechanisms of this process. The theoretical framework of the study consists of Gunnar Sjöblom's theory about party strategies of political parties in multi-party systems and Michael Freeden's conceptual approach to ideology analysis. During the period of study the SKP/VPK/V has, like no other political party in Sweden, been ascribed historical guilt regarding its own party history but also regarding the effects of world communism. The Party has thus found itself in a situation where it has had history as an adversary. The process of coming to terms with history has mainly revolved around three issues: independence (1956-1977), international ties (1977-1989) and a broadening beyond the communist tradition (1986-2006). The internal debate within the Party has linked these issues to calls for change aimed at ridding the party of what is considered undesirable elements of the Communist legacy. By analysing the arguments pursued in favour of these calls, it is possible to pick out a number of the driving forces behind the Party's process of coming to terms with history, namely an ambition to obtain vote maximisation, programme realisation and maximisation of parliamentary influence. The urge to distance the Party from certain aspects of its communist past has thus been related to fundamental goals that political parties in multi-party systems seek to obtain. The results of the dissertation show that it is possible to pick out five main constraining mechanisms in the Party's process of coming to terms with history. 1) The safeguarding of Party cohesion. 2) The safeguarding of the distinctive character of the Party. 3) The need to resist external pressure. 4) The desire to avoid unfair apportioning of blame. 5) The safeguarding of the right to define the substance of one's own ideology. The existence of these constraining mechanisms help to explain why the process of coming to terms with history lingered on for several decades, and also why it seems to have been a process of such complexity for the Swedish Communist and Post-Communist Party.
In the wake of an emerging knowledge society, universities around the world have come under severe institutional pressure from changing national research policies, financing organizations´ new strategies and turbulent research dynamics. This study examines how Lund University in Sweden manages these institutional pressures. The study explores how the university leadership ? rector and the governing board ? have (1) articulated the normative foundations of the university, (2) experimented with and structured the research organization, (3) explored new internal governance structures and steering strategies, and (4) developed institutional structures for closer integration with industry and commercialization of research results. The study develops a conceptual framework focusing on processes of institutional change and on how organizations react on these processes. Especially, I elaborate on the notion of institutional evolution developed within the tradition of historical institutionalism, and the processes and mechanisms behind different evolutionary paths. In the empirical parts of the study, I first analyze processes of institutional change within modern science. The study departures from and criticizes three popular frameworks of contemporary science and research dynamics: the ?Triple Helix? framework, the concept of ?post-academic? science and the transition from a ?Mode-1? to a ?Mode-2? type of knowledge production. The study then continues by analyzing international research policy trends, the developments within Swedish research policy and the governing structures within the field of higher education. The analysis of Lund University over more than two decades reveals an organization using a growing number of different normative foundations and organizational models and structures in its daily operations. The study also demonstrates the gradual transformation of the internal governance structure with recurrent attempts to strengthen the steering core at the central university level. The analysis also points to the successive integration with regional industry, as well as the building up of technology transfer structures and mechanisms within the university during the last 10 to 15 years. The case study demonstrates how the university loyally tries to adapt to a complex and changing environment by elaborating its hybrid character. In conclusion, the analysis in this study shows, on the one hand, the emergence of a ?post-academic? research system containing new institutional logics, governance structures and borders. On the other, hand the case study of Lund University illustrates the evolutionary transformation of a Swedish ?Humboldtian? university. This is a transformation where elements of the ?Entrepreneurial University? are added on to and fused with classical European university norms and structures.
This document summarises the outcome of a regional training workshop, "Interactive and dynamic approaches on forest and land use planning in Southern Africa". It was organised in December 2001 by the government of Botswana in cooperation with organisations in Zimbabwe and South Africa and with Swedish financial and technical support. The workshop aimed at exposing the participants to new cross sector approaches on strategic forest and land use planning, including the Area Production Model (APM) and concept, and to provide a platform for possible future development work in this field. It concerned such issues as the role of planning in relation to policies and local development, information and data needs in planning, the use of scenario modelling in land use planning, how to narrow the gap between "planning from above" and "planning from below", and the roles and interaction of different stakeholders in the planning process. The workshop had been proposed by the participating countries following an international training programme on policy and strategy development in Sweden. The 18 participants from three countries included central and local government staff concerned with forest and land use planning at the national and sub-national level, researchers and NGOs. The workshop consisted of two weeks of lectures, seminars and field based case studies and a concluding seminar, in which the participants presented their experiences and conclusions about the APM concept to a broader group of decision makers. Some of the main conclusions drawn by the participants were that the APM was a useful tool for promoting dynamic and multi-sector planning. At the same time the Model has a number of technical shortcomings that needs to be addressed. Those shortcomings were identified and discussed throughout the workshop. The need to keep the model simple and transparent was acknowledged. It was proposed that "homes" should be identified for the model in each country. Those homes should build up and maintain capacity to develop and adapt the model to the local conditions and priorities. INTRODUCTION. The workshop "Interactive and dynamic approaches on forest and land-use planning in Southern Africa" was arranged in Botswana in December 2001. It aimed at exposing the participants to new cross sector approaches on strategic forest and land use planning, including the Area Production Model (APM), and to provide a platform for possible future development work in this field. The workshop was the concluding step of a process that had been running for several years. It provides important lessons on approaches to cross-sectoral land use planning in Southern Africa. The process started in 1998, when there were several participants from Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe in an annual international course "Development of National Forest Policies and Strategies", organised by the Swedish National Board of Forestry and funded by Sida. Those participants strongly suggested that the Area Production Model, (APM), which had been demonstrated during the course, might be highly relevant in Southern Africa. As a response, the Country Capacity Building (CCB) project (a Sida funded project aiming at forest policy issues), set up a training programme in discussions with the three countries. As a first step, key personnel from the forest authorities in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, underwent a post graduate course at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Umea, Sweden. The course took place in March 2000 and was focused on the ideas and applications of the APM. In a second step, a workshop designated for a wider audience, including governmental as well as non governmental organisations, was planned for mid 2000. The workshop was originally intended to be a two-phase arrangement. The first phase to be arranged in Zimbabwe, focusing on model theory with only limited field work, and a second phase, were the participants would split up and work a realistic case in a designated study area in each of the three countries involved. Unfortunately, the political situation in Zimbabwe during spring 2000 made it necessary to postpone the workshop. About a year later, in spring 2001, it was agreed among the interested countries to move it to another country in the Region, after the Ministry of Agriculture, Botswana, had generously accepted to host the workshop. The two-phase design of the workshop was by now reduced to a single event, with the joint study-area around Serowe in the eastern part of Botswana. The APM is a simulation model developed by Professor Nils-Erik Nilsson in co-operation with FAO. The Model, including an application concept, has been further developed by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Department of Forest Resource Management and Geomatics. The Swedish team of resource persons in the Botswana workshop have all been instrumental in the previous development work of the Model. The APM has been field tested on numerous occasions in South and Southeast Asia. This workshop, however, is the first occasion the model is used in Southern Africa. In spite of the simplicity and flexibility that characterises the model, the new setting was considered a major challenge when planning the workshop. The workshop results have given new and partly unexpected results in terms of both usefulness and applicability of the model. The Country Capacity Building project focuses on forest policy development. In modem terminology, nfp (national forest programmes) is a highly relevant term. Key strategies include support to demand driven processes, investment in human knowledge and, not least, a belief that personal commitment is as important for success as political commitments. On behalf of the organisers, I would like to thank the Ministry of Agriculture, Botswana, and the key persons from Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Without their commitment and enthusiasm, the positive outcome of the workshop would not have been possible.
[Preface]This special issue of the journal Arkiv is the third volume in a series, Det vita fältet ("The white field"), that gathers Swedish and international research on the extreme or far right. Since the last volume (2013) the Swedish government has brought the disputed concept of "extremism" to the fore and turned it into practicable politics, the Swedish anti-immigrant party Sverigedemokraterna (the Sweden Democrats) has made their mark on and partly paralysed the national parliament, and a surge of Internet hate has affected the public sphere. The issue contains a critical examination of the concept of "extremism" by sociologists Adrienne Sörbom and Magnus Wennerhag. Economic historian Markus Lundström and political scientist Tomas Lundström introduces "radical nationalism" as an alternative conceptualization of right-wing extremism in their exposition of the political project's development during the last hundred years in Sweden. Dutch political scientist Cas Mudde then discusses the impact of right-wing populism as it spreads through Europe. American scientist Benjamin Raphael Teitelbaum points out shortcomings in research on Sverigedemokraterna and their ties to other parts of the far right. Finally, Daniel Köhler and Tine Hutzel discuss the causes of political violence from a German perspective in two articles.Publication history: Published original.(Published 18 April 2016)Citation: Deland, Mats, Paul Fuehrer & Fredrik Hertzberg (2016) "Förord", in Det vita fältet III. Samtida forskning om högerextremism, special issue of Arkiv. Tidskrift för samhällsanalys, issue 5, pp. 7–13. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13068/2000-6217.5.F ; Det här specialnumret av tidskriften Arkiv utgör den tredje volymen i en serie, Det vita fältet, som samlar svensk och internationell forskning om högerextremism. Sedan den förra volymen kom ut (2013) har regeringen aktualiserat det omstridda extremismbegreppet och gjort det till praktisk politik, Sverigedemokraterna har präglat och delvis lamslagit det parlamentariska arbetet och en våg av näthat har drabbat offentligheten. Numret innehåller en kritisk granskning av extremismbegreppet, av sociologerna Adrienne Sörbom och Magnus Wennerhag. Markus Lundström och Tomas Lundström introducerar i stället begreppet "radikal nationalism" för att begreppsliggöra det högerextrema politiska projektet i en exposé över dess utveckling under de senaste hundra åren i Sverige. Vidare diskuterar den nederländske forskaren Cas Mudde omfattningen av den våg av högerpopulism som spridits genom Europa. Bristerna inom forskningen om Sverigedemokraterna, och deras kontakter med andra delar av den högerextrema miljön, behandlas av den amerikanske musikvetaren Benjamin Raphael Teitelbaum. Från tyskt perspektiv diskuteras förutsättningarna för ideologiskt betingat våld av Daniel Köhler och Tine Hutzel i två artiklar.Publiceringshistorik: Originalpublicering.(Publicerad 18 april 2016)Förslag på källangivelse: Deland, Mats, Paul Fuehrer, Fredrik Hertzberg & Thomas Hvitfeldt (2016) "Förord", i Det vita fältet III. Samtida forskning om högerextremism, specialnummer av Arkiv. Tidskrift för samhällsanalys, nr 5, s. 7–13. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13068/2000-6217.5.F
[From clash of interests to symbiosis? Environmental policy and welfare in times of economic boom and recession]Global challenges such as climate change, the free flow of international capital, and growing political transnational cooperation, together with two major financial crises, have put pressure on the national welfare state during recent decades. During the same period, the concepts of sustainable development and ecological modernization have contributed with an understanding of economic growth and environmental awareness as complementary. In that context, Karin Edberg's article discusses whether environmental policy can be said to be part of the modern Swedish welfare state. Edberg makes use of the annual inaugural speeches given by the prime minister in connection with the opening of the Swedish parliament. This implies that the article's results rather than reflecting political practice points at issues of political interest and their articulation. Edberg shows how environmental questions have fluctuated between being a de-ideologized and normalized part of the political landscape, and a political watershed. Today, the idea of sustainable development is the glue that connects environmental policies with the welfare state – at least on a rhetorical level – and which makes the environment a consensus issue.Publication history: Published original.(Published 7 October 2016)Citation: Edberg, Karin (2016) "Från motsatsförhållande till symbios? Miljöpolitik och välfärd i ekonomiska upp- och nedgångar", in Arkiv. Tidskrift för samhällsanalys, issue 6, pp. 7–37. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13068/2000-6217.6.1 ; Globala utmaningar som klimatförändringar, transnationella kapitalrörelser och politiskt gränsöverskridande samarbete har satt den nationella välfärdsstaten på prov under de senaste decennierna. Två större finansiella kriser har också de påverkat politikens utformning. Under samma tid har begreppen hållbar utveckling och ekologisk modernisering bidragit med ståndpunkten att tillväxt och miljömedvetenhet kan gå hand i hand. Utifrån den kontexten diskuterar Karin Edberg i sin artikel huruvida miljöpolitiken kan sägas vara en del av den nutida svenska välfärdsstaten. Till grund för sitt resonemang använder sig Edberg av de årliga regeringsförklaringar som ges av statsministern i samband med riksdagens öppnande. Detta innebär att artikelns resultat inte speglar politisk praktik utan snarare vilka frågor som anses vara i den politiska hetluften och hur de artikuleras. Edberg visar hur miljöfrågan pendlat mellan att utgöra en avideologiserad och normaliserad del av det politiska landskapet, och en politisk vattendelare. I dag är idén om hållbar utveckling kittet som binder samman miljöpolitiken med välfärdsstaten – åtminstone på en retorisk nivå – och som gör miljö till en konsensusfråga.Publiceringshistorik: Originalpublicering.(Publicerad 7 oktober 2016)Förslag på källangivelse: Edberg, Karin (2016) "Från motsatsförhållande till symbios? Miljöpolitik och välfärd i ekonomiska upp- och nedgångar", i Arkiv. Tidskrift för samhällsanalys, nr 6, s. 7–37. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13068/2000-6217.6.1
Evaluation has grown in both volume and scope across levels and sectors in recent decades, particularly in the school sector. Despite this growth, there is insufficient knowledge about how and in what ways evaluations are formed, institutionalized and used in education governance and education reforms. This thesis addresses some of these issues by studying evaluation policy. The aim of the thesis is to explore and analyse the design and possible changes in national evaluation policy in compulsory education during two periods of extensive education reforms (1988-1994 and 2008-2014). The theoretical framework builds on evaluation research and policy studies, particularly the literature on policy design. These two strands of literature are supplemented with additional analytical tools from historical institutionalism regarding policy change. Drawing on previous research, a definition of evaluation policy that incorporates the policy context and also enables studying an implicit policy is proposed. On the empirical level, the findings are based on official policy documents, material produced by national government agencies as well as evaluations and evaluation systems. The thesis shows that during the first period (1988-1994), the evaluation policy was characterized as a means of helping to implement the extensive reforms. Evaluations were to be conducted on all levels of the school system to promote development on each executive level. The policy design reflected evaluation as a learning and capacity-building tool. Schools and municipalities were positioned as owners and co-creators of evaluation knowledge. During the second period (2008-2014), the evaluation policy was partially revised in order to come to terms with inadequate evaluations and declining school results. The policy included more sanctions and hortatory tools, and more emphasis was placed on comparisons and rankings. The evaluation policy was based on the assumption that local actors should and will act on evaluative knowledge created by the agencies and international actors, and that they could be motivated to do so by the threat of, for example sanctions or issues of ranking and comparisons. The evaluation policy design was largely stable over time. However, three more incremental but significant changes were identified: i) the policy design element "agents and implementation structures" was altered, ii) the evaluation policy expanded and iii) became more directed towards national and external control. These changes also indicated more negative implications for democracy during the second period. In relation to evaluations' democratic function the analysis showed that the evaluation policy mainly strengthened the legitimizing and controlling function, whereas the enlightenment function was not prominent. This implies a risk that issues that may be relevant from a broader democratic and societal perspective may be overlooked and not subjected to evaluation. The thesis also acknowledges and illustrates the importance of uncovering and reconstructing evaluation policies, policies that are partly veiled, since also implicit policies will have democratic implications.
The purpose of this study was to develop a compilation of knowledge about the risk factors of stress and fatigue, and their importance for injuries in agriculture as a basis for preventive measures. The knowledge compilation was based on an extensive literature review and partly on analysis of previously conducted interviews with farmers who suffered accidents. In the literature review, both national and international studies were investigated with regard to the mentioned risk factors for injuries. Also examples of preventive measures applied to farmers were obtained. Documentation of projects was also sought through various industry magazines and websites. The Department of AEM possesses extensive data on injuries in agriculture and forestry in 2004 and 2013. From this data, 460 short stories were analyzed of what happened at the time of the injury and the cause of the injury in 2004. From the 2013 study, 242 stories were analyzed regarding the injury, but also about the measures taken by the farmer to prevent injuries. In addition, 75 band-recorded interviews were analyzed with the affected farmers with further information. In particular, the stories that indicated stress and fatigue as a cause of the injury were studied. The studies of occupational injuries in the Swedish agriculture show that injuries have decreased in absolute terms over the past 10 years. Taking into account the reduced labor requirements in agriculture or decrease in the number of farms in the same period, the number of injuries has not decreased. Farmers are exposed to various risks of injuries at work, such as handling animals (e.g. crushed or trampled by the animals), large machinery and vehicles (such as stuck in the machine, tractor injury) and in construction and repair work (e.g. fall from ladder). In addition to these hazardous conditions, the farmer is also exposed to a variety of stressors by e.g. heavy workload, time pressure, mechanical and technical failures, disease attacks, financial worries, dependent on the weather, government regulations, bureaucracy, working alone and family problems. The literature review showed that farmers who experienced a lot of stress were more likely to experience an accident in their work. Many farmers suffer from fatigue, sleep disorders and insomnia that is related to the high workload and stress they are exposed to, which can affect the ability to make decisions for dangerous situations and injuries as a result. Many of the farmers who suffered injuries in agriculture in Sweden also indicated stress, fatigue, sleepiness, carelessness or negligence as cause of the injuries. There are a lot of fact sheets and brochures with advice to farmers on how to deal with stress and fatigue by example to take breaks, exercise regularly, eat healthy foods and avoid alcohol. Several interventions and programs have been implemented with regard to the prevention of occupational injuries in agriculture. Some studies showed positive results, while most others gave very limited evidence that interventions were effective in reducing agricultural injuries. There is a need for more accurate evaluations of intervention programs for safety in agriculture.
Is there a common notion amongst the political and military leadership in Sweden on how to defend the country? Several events in the arena of international politics during the 20th century argue for the importance of coherence between political and military thinking. Different focus during peacetime has subsequently caused fatal consequences in times of war. This thesis studies a less obvious case: Sweden, a small-state, during the 1990's in the aftermath of the Cold War. In the effort of identifying inconsistency between the political and military level the study deals with a more comprehensive issue for any democratic society: How shall the elected political leadership exercise control over an authority (subordinated the government and) with deeply rooted professional values and with authority vested in it of crucial importance for national survival? Although several of government authorities play key roles in this respect the Armed Forces stands out to be the single most important entity. The thesis approaches the problem by studying one measure of control: the defence doctrine. The doctrine is analysed by studying various documents provided by the political decisionsprocess and with interviews involving a significant number of actors in the politico-military leaderships. The purpose has been to identify whether there is any inconsistency prevailing in the perception of values to be protected by the Armed Forces in case or war, what poses threat to these values and finally how to counter the threats. Hence, the political and military views on defence doctrine are examined. The last element of the doctrine, how to deal with the perceived threats, is embodied in the strategy for countering threats. Comparative studies involving Norway and Finland have been made to provide relevant references for the findings and provide a framework for elaboration on the differences between political and military priorities encapsulated in the research hypothesis. In addition, the research hypothesis involved the assumption that technical, tactical and operational decisions would serve as explanations for any inconsistency between military and political priorities. Piecemealed low-level decisions were assumed to unintentionally diverge bottom- up perceptions and create tensions if the politico-military interaction is not fully functional or if the politicians do not fully comprehend the implications of their decisions. The empirical findings suggest differences in the consistency of the politico-military leadership when comparing Sweden with Norway and Finland. For Sweden, the findings suggest a relative good politico-military adherence regarding values and threat perceptions. However there is a disparity in the views on what strategy to adopt and the military leadership has a more offensive mindset than the political leadership. The empirical data has primarily been collected from processes. To provide a better explanation for the findings the structure of security policymaking has been adopted in a new conceptual model based on Edward Luttwak's 'vertical dimension'.
