Olof Stjernström

Environmental Protection: An Instrument for Regional Development? National Ambitions versus Local Realities in the Case of Tourism

This paper deals with the relation between protection of land and local and regional development through a power and democracy perspective on planning. A Swedish case is used to illustrate the connection between planning, local power and local development, with reference to tourism in a Nordic context. When areas are protected, planning automatically becomes centralized, taking the planning process out of the hands of the local authorities. Within these state territories of set rules, regulations and institutionalized systems – eco‐protectorates – the local population becomes powerless when it comes to making decisions about land‐use and is unable to engage in economically viable tourism enterprises because of centralized decision‐making. Even in nature‐based tourism where the quality of nature is important, it could therefore be more advantageous to have access to non‐protected land for nature tourism. This is even more so because the idea of regional and local development often appears to have been “attached” as an afterthought or pious wish to the central planning documents. With genuine intention to stimulate local and regional development, protection should itself be based on geographical awareness and sensitivity to the diverse conditions in which such development is visualized. Local initiatives regarding land‐use and protection do not have to be in conflict with national and international ambitions and regulations but they easily can be.

Factors Shaping Workplace Segregation Between Natives and Immigrants

Research on segregation of immigrant groups is increasingly turning its attention from residential areas toward other important places, such as the workplace, where immigrants can meet and interact with members of the native population. This article examines workplace segregation of immigrants. We use longitudinal, georeferenced Swedish population register data, which enables us to observe all immigrants in Sweden for the period 1990–2005 on an annual basis. We compare estimates from ordinary least squares with fixed-effects regressions to quantify the extent of immigrants’ self-selection into specific workplaces, neighborhoods, and partnerships, which may bias more naïve ordinary least squares results. In line with previous research, we find lower levels of workplace segregation than residential segregation. The main finding is that low levels of residential segregation reduce workplace segregation, even after we take into account intermarriage with natives as well as unobserved characteristics of immigrants’ such as willingness and ability to integrate into the host society. Being intermarried with a native reduces workplace segregation for immigrant men but not for immigrant women.

Learning through Contact? The Effects on Earnings of Immigrant Exposure to the Native Population

Factors influencing immigrant labour-market outcomes have received increased scholarly attention lately. A recent research focus has been the effects of residential setting on labour-market outcomes. This study brings a new dimension to this emerging body of research, introducing the role played by workplace composition, in addition to place of residence, in immigrant earnings. Based on Swedish longitudinal register data, ordinary least squares regression is used to examine effects of previous exposure to natives on earnings in three immigrant cohorts (1990, 1995, and 2000) five years after arrival. Besides controlling for individual characteristics and various labour-market attributes, a two-step Heckman correction procedure is applied to take into account the selectivity of entering the Swedish labour market. The main finding of the study is that exposure to the native population at the workplace is more important than residential exposure for predicting immigrant earnings.

Geographical distance between children and absent parents in separated families

Abstract. In recent decades, the share of traditional nuclear‐family households has decreased in most Western countries, resulting in an increase in the proportion of children living in other forms of household constellations. How children with an absent parent or vice versa arrange their life and relations is partly a matter of physical distance between them. The aim of the study is to analyse the geographical distance between children and absent parents, that is, parents living in another household. The study is a cross‐sectional study based on register data comprising all children in Sweden in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005. Using descriptive statistics and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis, we examine the development and determinants of the distance between children and absent parents. OLS regression is employed in order to clarify how the distance relates to the age of the child, as well as demographic and socio‐economic characteristics of the present and absent parents. The results show that while the share of children living with only one parent has increased over time, the average distance between children and absent parents has decreased. The distance between children and absent parents is strongly related to the sex of the absent parent and the age of the child. Absent mothers tend to live closer to their children compared with absent fathers, and the younger the children are, the shorter the distance to the absent parents. Among other factors that influence the distance are remarriage and having a child with another parent, both of which contribute to increasing distances between children and absent parents.

Between protocol and reality : Swedish municipal comprehensive planning

ABSTRACT Spatial planning using a landscape approach has been recognized as being essential for reconciling ecological, cultural and socio-economic dimensions in sustainable development (SuD). Although embraced as a concept, there is a lack of planning tools capable of incorporating multi-level, multifunctional and multi-sectoral perspectives, especially in a rural context. The departure point in this paper is the legal requirements for municipal comprehensive planning (MCP) in Sweden and an e-mail survey about incentives, stakeholder involvement, policy integration and implementation in MCP in all 15 Swedish mountain municipalities. The purpose of this explorative study is to examine whether MCP could be a tool in planning for SuD. Results indicate a general lack of resources and a low status of MCP that affect, and even limit, stakeholder involvement, policy integration and implementation. However, legal requirements for MCP are targeted at SuD, and municipal personnel responsible for planning appreciate the potential of MCP. Therefore, there is potential to develop the MCP into an effective landscape planning tool. To accomplish this, the status of an active planning process has to be raised, the mandate of the local planning agency has to be secured, and residents and land users have to be involved throughout the planning process.

Nature-based tourism, conservation and institutional governance : a case study from the Russian Arctic

Abstract This paper analyses current institutional arrangements connected to the protection of natural resources in developing nature-based tourism in the territories of the north-western part of the Russian Arctic. Examples from two regions, the Arkhangelsk Oblast and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, illustrate how the different methods of nature conservation – national parks and nature reserves – are promoting or constraining the development of nature-based tourism activities. The study is based on 14 semi-structured interviews with representatives from state organisations as well as representatives from non-governmental organisations, and reviews of planning and policy documents. This paper discusses the factors shaping present institutional arrangements connected to environmental protection and the capability to establish planning schemes. The agencies responsible for nature-based tourism development often suffer from rudimentary tourism planning, inadequate tourism infrastructure and a lack of service management skills. In addition, there is evidence that mistrust and a lack of collaboration among governmental agencies and private stakeholders also limit development opportunities. Despite the difficulties experienced by authorities responsible for the measures of conservation and nature protection in the remote Arctic territories (Nenetsky State Nature Reserve), pockets of success are identifiable (e.g. Kenozersky National Park). The reality of the nature conservation efforts and the ability to develop nature-based activities is heavily dependent on individual engagement and interpersonal collaboration, which makes the best practices non-transferable to other contexts. So far, the current system of institutional governance limits the possibilities to increase the economic impact of nature-based tourism in the Russian Arctic.

How Can Sweden Deal with Forest Management and Municipal Planning in the System of Ongoing Land-Use and Multilevel Planning?

Abstract This article studies the relation between territorial and functional planning by investigating the Swedish local comprehensive planning system and the forest management. The former is locally based and the latter is functionally based or sector-orientated. By interviewing planners from the County Administrative Boards responsible for monitoring the national interests in the Swedish municipalities and forest managers from the Regional Forest Agency Administration, we found out that forest- and municipality related issues that coincide or interact with each other is normally considered in the collaborative planning process based on consultations and cooperation between the involved stakeholders. Weaknesses in the collaborative planning system consists of lack of coordination between the involved legal frameworks as well as lack of local planning resources and in some cases competences.

Multi-level Planning and Conflicting Interests in the Forest Landscape

This chapter describes and analyses overlapping planning structures and multi-level planning issues and how they affect current land use and management in the forest landscape. Forest land use in Sweden is based on a large proportion of privately owned forests with the primary purpose of producing timber for the forest industries. Nevertheless, the forests are also characterised by multiple uses and many stakeholders (economic as well as ecological and social) who express themselves and relate to forest management. In this chapter, we present a number of methods, both traditional and more recent, for managing multiple use of the forest landscape. These range from physical planning and the Swedish Right of Public Access to Natura 2000, forest certification, reindeer-husbandry plans, and scenario techniques.

Forests in Common and Their Contribution to Local Development

In this chapter, we look at the role that a forest held in common can play in supporting local development and promoting the livelihood of the local community. Four dissimilar cases in Italy, Slovenia, Sweden and UK are described and analysed by applying the Sustainable Livelihood Framework. Despite very different pre-requisites and local conditions, our results show that all cases contain rules to maintain the extent and function of natural assets, and they contributed to the mobilisation of different types of capital. In each case there is evidence of interaction with higher governance levels, which protects the group’s room for action. The provision of access to natural and physical resources for rural people in a broader sense illustrates the cases’ orientation towards public good.

The role of participation in the planning process : examples from Sweden

ABSTRACT Participation in decision-making has successively developed into a guiding principle at both EU and national level. However, diverse perspectives exist on what the role of different interests in participative processes should be, and the legal rules regarding participation varies between different sectors; from clearly defined to virtually non-existent requirements. This may have adverse effects on the legitimacy of decisions and decision-making. This paper reviews the role of participation in the planning process in relation to natural resource development in Sweden, as guided by EU and international law. Based on the notion of effective participation, the study illustrates the potential clashes that may result from different conceptions of participation, for instance, at various levels of governance, as well as from disparate principles for implementation in different sectors.