Why Organization May Be the Primary Limitation to Implementing Sustainability at the Local Level: Examples from Swedish Case Studies
Keskitalo, Carina; Andersson, EliasAbstract
Much of the effort to address environmental issues at the local level has focused on defining principles and aims rather than addressing the operational difficulties of implementation. Drawing upon insights from sustainability scholarship, this study reviews two cases: the development of a Swedish standard for implementing sustainable development at municipality, county council, and regional levels, and attempts by a small rural municipality to establish a process towards implementing the Aalborg Commitments. The research illustrates the specific organizational and managerial complexity of these case study experiences. It concludes that an organizational focus on integration and mainstreaming deserves particular attention to achieve broader sustainability, or related environmental or adaptation goals. The results, in particular, highlight the role that integrated management systems can play for sustainability work at the local level.
Keywords
sustainability; Sweden; local level; public management; integrated management systems; organizationPublished in
Resources2017, volume: 6, number: 1, article number: 13
Authors' information
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG13 Climate action
UKÄ Subject classification
Public Administration Studies
Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Political Science (excluding Public Administration Studies and Globalization Studies)
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/resources6010013
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/83047