Connecting Municipal and Regional Level Planning: Analysis and Visualization of Sustainability Indicators in Bergslagen, Sweden

Sustainable development as a process towards sustainability requires collaboration among societal actors and stakeholders at multiple levels. A key issue is to provide them with that they have comprehensive and transparent knowledge base representing the state and trends of different dimensions of sustainability. This study addresses the need to analyse and present data of sustainability as a foundation for the sustainable development process within municipalities, and among them. As a case study, we focus on 18 municipalities in the crisis-struck Bergslagen region in Sweden and compare them with 101 surrounding municipalities. Data from 2001 and 2006 on 15 indicators representing ecological, economic and social sustainability criteria were transformed to a common scale through normalization around the median, and summarized. Bergslagen region municipalities performed poorer than the surrounding ones for all dimensions in 2006. The change from 2001 to 2006 was positive for economic and social criteria, while the ecological dimension developed negatively in all municipalities. We stress the need for municipalities to collaborate with each other and other actors both at municipal and regional levels, and to use sustainability indicators as a base for informed planning processes. We propose visualization of indicators using maps to support decision-making and social learning.

[1]  P. Holmgren,et al.  Sustainable forest management and the ecosystem approach: two concepts, one goal , 2003 .

[2]  H. Bossel.  Indicators for sustainable Development : theory, method, applications : a report to the Balaton Group , 1999 .

[3]  K. Johansson,et al.  Sustainable Development and Sustainability: Landscape Approach as a Practical Interpretation of Principles and Implementation Concepts , 2011 .

[4]  Eli F. Heckscher,et al.  Sveriges Ekonomiska Historia fran Gustav Vasa. , 1938 .

[5]  P. Angelstam,et al.  Habitat thresholds for focal species at multiple scales and forest biodiversity conservation - dead wood as an example , 2003 .

[6]  C. Folke,et al.  Linking Social and Ecological Systems: Management Practices and Social Mechanisms for Building Resilience , 1998 .

[7]  Ganesh S. Oak.  Information Visualization Introduction , 2022 .

[8]  C. Persson,et al.  Managing rurban landscapes in the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden: Comparing planning systems and instruments in three different contexts , 2008 .

[9]  E. M. Blom,et al.  Hierarchical framework for the formulation of sustainable forest management standards. , 1997 .

[10]  Stefano Tarantola,et al.  Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators: Methodology and User Guide , 2005 .

[11]  P. Angelstam,et al.  Targets and tools for the maintenance of forest biodiversity , 2004 .

[12]  Thomas Elmqvist,et al.  Scale Mismatches in Management of Urban Landscapes , 2006 .

[13]  Giacomo Rambaldi,et al.  Participatory Spatial Information Management and Communication in Developing Countries , 2006, Electron. J. Inf. Syst. Dev. Ctries..

[14]  Abdul Khakee,et al.  Urban comprehensive planning – identifying barriers for the maintenance of functional habitat networks , 2006 .

[15]  J. Niemelä,et al.  Meeting the ecological, social and economic needs of sustainable forest management at a regional scale , 2008 .

[16]  Chris North,et al.  Information Visualization , 2008, Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

[17]  P. Berke,et al.  Are We Planning for Sustainable Development? , 2000 .

[18]  Edoardo Greppi.  FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) , 1981 .

[19]  Vic Barnett,et al.  Measuring sustainability , 2004, Environmental and Ecological Statistics.

[20]  Carmen Mathijssen,et al.  Cees Leeuwis & Rhiannon Pyburn (eds.), Wheelbarrows full of Frogs. Social Learning in Rural Resource Management. , 2005 .

[21]  D. Bloom,et al.  Educating All Children: A Global Agenda , 2007 .

[22]  William R. Freudenburg,et al.  From LTER to LTSER: Conceptualizing the Socioeconomic Dimension of Long-term Socioecological Research , 2006 .

[23]  William M. Lafferty,et al.  Towards Sustainable Development , 1999 .

[24]  P. Grahn,et al.  Meaningful activities in the forest, a way back from exhaustion and long-term sick leave , 2009 .

[25]  Ulrich Beyerlin.  Strengthening International Governance for Sustainable Development: Expectations for the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit , 2009 .

[26]  Larry Lankton.  Iron-Making Societies: Early Industrial Development in Sweden and Russia, 1600-1900 (review) , 2000 .

[27]  Eva-Maria Nordström,et al.  Integrating multiple criteria decision analysis into participatory forest planning , 2010 .

[28]  S. Daniels,et al.  Working Through Environmental Conflict: The Collaborative Learning Approach , 2001 .

[29]  G. Tress,et al.  From landscape research to landscape planning : aspects of integration, education and application , 2006 .

[30]  C. Folke,et al.  Navigating social–ecological systems: building resilience for complexity and change: Fikret Berkes, Johan Colding and Carl Folke (Eds.). Cambridge University Press, 2003. xxi + 393 pages. ISBN 0-521-81592-4 (hardback), £65 , 2004 .

[31]  F. Berkes,et al.  Adaptive co-management for social–ecological complexity , 2009 .

[32]  J. Törnblom.  A landscape approach towards ecological integrity of catchments and streams , 2008 .

[33]  Kai N. Lee.  Compass and Gyroscope: Integrating Science and Politics for the Environment, Kai N. Lee. 1993. Island Press, Washington, DC. 290 pages. ISBN: 1-59963-197-X. $25.00 , 1993 .

[34]  M. Ågren.  Iron-making societies : early industrial development in Sweden and Russia, 1600-1900 , 1998 .

[35]  J. Jäger.  The International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) , 2003 .

[36]  E. Neumayer.  Weak Versus Strong Sustainability: Exploring The Limits Of Two Opposing Paradigms , 2010 .

[37]  R. Axelsson.  Landscape approach for sustainable development : From applied research to transdisciplinary knowledge production , 2009 .

[38]  Robert Dyball,et al.  Social Learning in Environmental Management: Towards a Sustainable Future , 2005 .

[39]  A. Skidmore,et al.  Use of remote sensing and GIS for sustainable land management , 1997 .

[40]  Gary Fry,et al.  Defining concepts and the process of knowledge production in integrative research , 2005 .

[41]  E. Hamilton-Smith,et al.  Sharing Power: Learning By Doing In Co-management Of Natural Resources Throughout The World , 2005 .

[42]  P. Angelstam,et al.  Protecting Forest Areas for Biodiversity in Sweden 1991-2010 : the Policy Implementation Process and Outcomes on the Ground , 2011 .

[43]  Union européenne,et al.  Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators: Methodology and User Guide , 2008 .

[44]  Ø. Hammer.  PAST - PAlaeontological STatistics , 2001 .

[45]  Glenda Verrinder,et al.  Review of: Keen, M., Brown, VA, and Dyball, B. (Eds.), (2005), Social learning in environmental management: Towards a sustainable future. London, UK: Earthscan , 2006 .

[46]  G. R. Brundtland.  Our Common Future World Commission on Environment and Development , 1987 .

[47]  C. Folke,et al.  The problem of fit between ecosystems and institutions , 2007 .

[48]  Gintautas Mozgeris,et al.  The continuous field view of representing forest geographically: from cartographic representation towards improved management planning , 2009 .

[49]  R. Putnam.  Making Democracy Work , 1993 .

[50]  Goran Brulin,et al.  Gemensam kunskapsbildning för regional tillväxt , 2009 .

[51]  A. Cropper.  Convention on Biological Diversity , 1993, Environmental Conservation.

[52]  Stephen Kaplan,et al.  The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework , 1995 .

[53]  R. Axelsson.  Landscape approach for sustainable development , 2009 .

[54]  R. Hannum.  Swimming Upstream: Collaborative Approaches to Watershed Management Edited by Paul Sabatier, Will Focht, Mark Lubell, Zev Trachtenberg, Arnold Vedlitz and Marty Matlock , 2006 .

[55]  Gene Bazan.  Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth , 1997 .

[56]  Thomas Kalbro,et al.  Plan- och bygglagen , 2008 .

[57]  J. Birkmann.  INTEGRATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INTO REGIONAL PLANNING DOCUMENTS , 2002 .

[58]  R. Putnam,et al.  Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. , 1994 .

[59]  J. Norberg,et al.  ADAPTIVE GOVERNANCE OF SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS , 2005 .

[60]  Antonia Besculides,et al.  Residents' perceptions of the cultural benefits of tourism , 2002 .

[61]  Greg Williams,et al.  Ecological Integrity: Integrating Environment, Conservation and Health , 2002 .

[62]  P. Grahn,et al.  Landscape planning and stress , 2003 .

[63]  Ulrika K. Stigsdotter,et al.  The relation between perceived sensory dimensions of urban green space and stress restoration , 2010 .

[64]  K. Bruckmeier,et al.  Rural Sustainable Development in the Knowledge Society , 2009 .