Moritz Albrecht

Transboundary governance of the Curonian Spit World Heritage Site

This study describes the governance and management structures of the Curonian Spit World Heritage Site, a transboundary protected area shared by Lithuania and the Russian Federation. Focusing on the national park authorities it presents the site from a local administrative perspective. The paper shows that due to strong state level influence and a lack of full stakeholder inclusion, different philosophies and priorities on both sides of the border challenge common management efforts and co-operation. Presenting the existing problems the paper points out the need for increased efforts at the state level as well as for the full inclusion of local communities to remove obstacles and foster co-operation. Hence, by adapting to certain environmental and transboundary governance principles, conflicts can be avoided and better results achieved.

Enlightenment in Norway's Oil-Shadow? Governance Assemblages of a Wood-based District Heating Network in Norway's Inland Region

Abstract With 95% of Norways electricity production based on hydropower, a renewable source, and most households and institutions based on direct electric heating, the development of biomass-based district heating systems is set within a rather different environment than many other European countries. A case study of a medium-scale district heating network in Norways Inland Region is used here to evaluate a set of relational aspects which influence and shape local bioenergy development in Norway. Interviews with Norwegian bioenergy actors are used to evaluate the enabling and hindering aspects of bioenergy governance. Framed by national and European Union energy policies, the study focuses on the role of socio-cultural and economic issues which are examined with reference to a local case study. Additionally, the role of knowledge production and distribution is highlighted and displays the importance of rationalities and their shifting properties for bioenergy governance. While the initial motivation for bioenergy development in Norway is often understood as residing at the local level with resistance deriving from certain national institutions, this study portrays bioenergy development to be (re-)produced through heterogeneous and shifting sets of relational assemblages. Accordingly, the findings refute such black and white accounts and present the complexity of bioenergy governance spaces.

The role of translation loops in policy mutation processes: State designated Bioenergy Regions in Germany

The study is framed by EU renewable energy policy mobility and evaluates six German state-designated Bioenergy Regions and their role in policy performance processes. Based on in-depth interviews with Bioenergy Region personnel it displays aspects that shape the rationalities of actors and (re)produces policy translation and implementation. The cases are framed by a concept of translation loops and display the regions as relational assemblages that shape processes of policy mutation and influence the performance of policy aims. The paper shows how translation processes based on the socio-spatial relations of the involved entities affect initial policy aims and their implementations, particularly in regard to the prioritisation of economic aspects over sustainability. It further stresses the problem of insular approaches in bioenergy development that hinder joint approaches and problematises the questionable consequences of rationalist-linear based best-practice examples utilised in policy adjustment processes.

Environmental customer demands and (forest) governance: evaluating market relations, knowledge networks and positionalities

ABSTRACT Framed by the debate on the privatization of transnational forest governance and the integration of environmental aspects into economic geography, this study employs a relational conceptualization of governance spaces to evaluate aspects of environmental business customer demands on transnational wood processing corporations. The role of forest certification systems on forest governance is critically discussed, as are inter-firm relations and networks of knowledge production concerning sustainable forest management. A case study of four transnational Finnish corporations is employed to display how environmental aspects of resource exploitation are negotiated by various actors and networks along value chains from producers to European core markets. The role of environmentally focused knowledge networks in environmental governance is stressed. The case study is based on qualitative data (in the form of interviews) gathered from representatives of the respective corporations and other forest governance actors. While forest certification systems are acknowledged as an important driver, this study argues that other real and perceived external relations between actors, institutions and resource areas play a more important role in transnational forest governance than most of the current literature on ‘market-driven forest governance’ suggests.