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Conference paper, 2008

The Discourse of implementing the Convention on Biodiversity : Planning Implications from a Swedish Perspective

Dovlén, Sylvia

Abstract

This paper presents result from an ongoing study with the purpose of showing how biological diversity, through different concepts or “story-lines”, are interpreted and communicated by governing bodies at different societal levels (United Nation, European Union and Swedish national government). The paper focuses on three major “story-lines”; conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; the ecosystem approach; and the landscape perspective. Showing that there is a transformation and broadening of the used concepts during the process of policy implementation. This policy package is supposed to permeate and influence policy/planning activities and decision making at regional and local level. By using a discursive approach there is possibilities to highlight different perspectives on biodiversity. Story-lines, discourses and perspectives in circulation in the society, have a big impact on the way experience and consciousness is structured, by different actors. This means that the way biodiversity is conceptualised comprehended and discussed at international and national level have implications for the position of biodiversity in regional and local policy and planning-practice. Another important condition for implementation of biodiversity at regional and local levels is possibilities for institutional capacity building where three components of capacity building can be distinguished: knowledge recourses, relational recourses and mobilization capacity. The study is based on document studies and interviews with Swedish key actors in the implementation process of the Convention on biodiversity (CBD). Today there is an insufficient connection between goal formulation at national level in relation to policy and planning practice in local and regional governing bodies. The illumination of discourses and transformation of goals though different levels of governing bodies can stimulate communication between macro and micro policy- and planning implementation. The theoretical approach, taking discourses and institutional capacity building in consideration, is not often used in research on biodiversity

Published in

Conference

ACSP/AESOP Forth Joint Congress

UKĂ„ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use
Social Sciences
Economics and Business

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/23178