Andersson, Kjell
- School for Forest Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Research article2015Peer reviewed
Elbakidze, Marine; Dawson, Lucas; Andersson, Kjell; Axelsson, Robert; Angelstam, Per; Stjernquist, Ingrid; Teitelbaum, Sara; Schlyter, Peter; Thellbro, Camilla
International and national policies stress the importance of spatial planning for the long-term sustainability of regions. This paper identifies the extent to which the spatial planning in a Swedish region can be characterised as a collaborative learning process. By combining qualitative interviews and systems thinking methods we analysed the main attributes of public-led spatial (i.e. comprehensive) planning in nine municipalities representing a steep urban-rural gradient in the Bergslagen region of Central Sweden. We show that the attributes of strategic spatial planning needed for collaborative learning were absent or undeveloped. All studied municipalities experienced challenges in coordinating complex issues regarding long-term planning to steer territorial development and help to solve conflicts among competing interests. Stakeholder participation was identified as a basic condition for social learning in planning. Together with stakeholders we identified the causal structure behind stakeholder participation in municipal planning processes, including main drivers and feedback loops. We conclude that there is a need for arenas allowing and promoting stakeholder activity, participation and inclusion that combines both bottom-up and top-down approaches, and where evidence-based collaborative learning can occur. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Comprehensive planning; System thinking; Stakeholder participation; Causal loop diagram
Land Use Policy
2015, Volume: 48, pages: 270-285
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Landscape Architecture
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.05.001
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/74278