DOCSLIB.ORG

Wind Power, Capacity Building and Rural Development – What If No One Turns Up?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Wind Power, Capacity Building and Rural Development – What If No One Turns Up? Wind power, capacity building and rural development – what if no one turns up? Introduction Renewable energy resources are such as sun-, wind-, biomass-, wave-, and geothermal heat energy. The situation in Sweden today is believed to be politically unanimous in terms of using the potential of these resources. The expansion of wind power resource exploitation concerns the inland of 1 Laholm municipality, mainly the areas around Knäred, Hishult, Oxhult, Putsered och Mästocka. The development of large scale wind power projects exemplify the planning dilemma of understanding political visions of global warming, project planning, implementation, social acceptance and sustainable rural development. Human geography is a scientific discipline concerned with the relation between man, nature and society and therefore has a suitable toolbox for understanding of problems in that particular field. The development within wind power energy has developed from a small scale production to a large industry in Sweden. At the moment Laholms municipality is experiencing the focus for a large scale wind power project. Laholm municipality is situated in the southwest of Sweden in between Goteborg and Malmo/Copenhagen. The large wind power project target rural areas east of the coastal zone. Map1. Laholm muncipality in Sweden. 1 See the Swedish governmental support for planning for wind power (http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/9023/a/80457); the Swedish Parliament proposal for wind power (prop. 2005/06:143) (http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/2448/a/47768); the ministry of Environment’s view on sustainable development and energy efficiency (http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/6508/a/60394) ; (Prop. 2005/06:143) (http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/108/a/60661) ; appointment of a renewal of the coordination of the double appealing problem and goal conflicts between planning- and Environment legislation code (http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/2448/a/67186); the expansion of wind mills in Sweden from 900 to 6000 (see www.svd.se 2008-08-16) . Photo 1. The west coast of Sweden in Laholm municipality. The coast area with its long and beautiful beaches with sand dunes is regarded as one among the most attractive recreational areas in Sweden. Further east the landscape changes towards farming. Even further eastwards a highland wild forest area expands into the rural areas of Laholm, highly appreciated by European tourists searching for experiencing rather unexploited forest areas with small lakes and a water system suitable for canoeing. Rural areas east of the coast is characterized by a negative migration trend, not for the reason that there are few jobs offered by small scale industry, but for the fact that it is not regarded as attractive to live in these rural areas. Map 2. Inland recreational areas in Laholm municipality. http://www.laholm.se/upload/mil/SBK/%C3%96versiktsplan/Vind/Vind_plan_20071009.pdf Map 3. Areas defined as suitable for wind power plants. http://www.laholm.se/upload/mil/SBK/%C3%96versiktsplan/Vind/Vind_plan_20071009.pdf The geographies of Knäred The Laholm inland has experienced an earlier process with energy exploitation from Lagan. The project started in the beginning of this century and the aim was to produce electricity to Sweden’s third largest city Malmö. The construction of dams forced farmers from their land and relations between landowners was strained when companies bought up land in order to produce electricity. Memories of the brutal water exploitation are still vivid and people can see the threat from the wind power industry, who acts in similar ways when chasing round in the woods for contracts with individual landowners. The relation between local communities and Laholm municipality is described with the help of a pun. People in Knäred say that it is twice the distance from Laholm to Knäred, compared to the distance between Knäred and Laholm. Aim of the study The focus in this study is directed towards processes of implementation of visions to practice, where environmental goals are to be fulfilled and lead to a sustainable development for a local community, and with that focus follows new questions of how this is done in practice. The aim of this study was to follow the processes involved in the wind power projects in Laholm municipality, by investigating the wind power discourses in the view of landscape theories concerned with the relation between man, nature and society, and to put concepts and arguments into action by dropping them to actors and networks, through action research. Concepts used where: Community benefits Collaborative projects The study tried to answer the following questions: 1. In what ways can we understand the relations between man, nature and society in this case? 2. What does the arguments concerning wind power consist of and how can they be explained related to the use of resources? 3. What social and economical consequences may the wind power projects have for the community? 4. What are of concerns for the researcher who is intervening through action research? 5. How did the collaborative and deliberative processes succeed in the planning implementation process? The study shows that when resources are at stake in a local community, it will activate and accentuate the boundaries between different groups. ACTION RESEARCH Researchers have an important role to play as intervener in the processes between local communities, authorities and companies. Action research Kurt Lewin (1952). The researcher can help as collector analyzing opinions and values regarding natural resource projects. The researcher can also analyze and present experiences from other similar projects to local community as well as to authorities and companies involved in the process. The researcher can also contribute as leader of processes by staging learning processes in groups, handling conflicts and managing creative development processes. The most evident problem in this study was the difficulties in reaching out to the local actors. Efforts were instead made to visit them in other forums where they met of other reasons. An action research strategy was therefore to be where things is happening and to make room for issues of development in these contexts, for instance on Internet, in school, on local meetings, and in interviews (Jackson, 1993:211; Smith, 1993:305; Elwood, 2007:330. See also Cloke 2002, Massey 2004, Valentine 2005, Lawson 2007; Cahill, Sultana and Pain’s, 2007; Elwood, 2007). Although the interest for wind power in Laholm seems to have reached a stage where the loudest land owner voices claim to want more of the benefits from wind power energy, it is important to produce plans for action, knowledge and to lead the processes of local development in Sweden. I worked together with a rural developer from Laholm in this project. She contacted me and asked if I wanted to do the study, and, at the same time, warned me of the political fight that would be caused by this project. There was early an expectation that I should go beyond a mere understanding of the phenomena of wind power, in terms of whether local members of Knäred and its vicinities were for or against the project. We agreed on a research project that would move away from blocking issue of for or against, and try to move issues on local development within the wind power project on the agenda. She was to open doors in the local community and my task was to manage discussions towards what possibilities the wind power project could mean for the community. Since I was interested in the travel of concepts within and between networks and agents, I took the opportunity to plant a particular concept when interviewing actors, and tried to follow them and see how they circulated. The concept in question was a specific legal community benefit rule applied in water electricity production, not yet applicable to wind power, but similar enough to be converted into wind power. The interview was thus used as a way of contributing to a changing the idea of a rewarding system, from benefits to individual landowners to benefits to the community. From the beginning I may have had my thoughts in the direction of pseudo participatory research (see Selener, 1997), but I became more and more involved since I realized that empowerment goes through leaning and PAR is a tool to make participants learn (Balcazar, 2004:20). METODS • Interviews – Planting win-win concepts (a particular community benefit ”Bygdemedel”) and arguments As part of the intervention work I actively planted the idea with community funds (bygdemedel). I asked what actors thought of it and tried to keep track of their opinions and how they started to use these concepts in other contexts. One of the representatives of the energy companies involved in the wind power project in Laholm was very negative in the beginning, but actively used the term after a couple of months when negotiating with a group of local people over land contracts. The active planting of concepts that aims at effecting through information and reflection takes time. Ideas must be internalized and given opportunity to be situatedly used. The difference between informing and actively planting concepts is that the basic idea with information is that actors are to decide if and how they want to use arguments and facts. By actively planting concepts the aim is pushed further ahead towards action and intervention. Seminars and discussions • Web based blog tool • Participant observations In order to increase engagement, most of all from younger citizens in Laholm inland, we created a web based blog site where local members could say their meaning. The hope was also to analyze the ways that they argued about the wind power project, in order to understand human relations to their landscapes. Another thought with the blog site was that people would use it just as much as to say their meaning, as they could increase their knowledge on how other people understand the same issue, and that we maybe could achieve an auto-qualifying knowledge effect.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Regional Implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive in the Baltic Sea Catchment
    "%2.%4#!4#( Network on the implementation of EU Water Framework Directive in the Baltic Sea Catchment BERNET (Baltic Eutrophication Regional Network) is a network cooperation between water managers in seven regions of the Baltic Sea Region. The network was founded in 1999 to help improve the aquatic environment in the BERNET CATCH Executive Summary: Baltic Sea region and of the regional waters in its catchment. Right from the start, BERNET has focused especially on Eutrophication problems. Doing this, the BERNET Partners have wished to contribute to full-fi lling the aim of the Helsinki Declaration in “assuring the ecological restoration of the Baltic Sea”. Regional Implementation of The present BERNET-CATCH project running for the period 2003-2006 focuses primarily on the regional implementation WestWest FinlandFinland of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Through their activities in BERNET CATCH, the partners present and the EU Water Framework evaluate different regional (and national) solutions in order to fulfi ll the objective of achieving at least “good ecological status” of all EU waters before 2015. Viru-PeipsiViru-Peipsi FFynyn LaholmLaholm Directive in the Baltic Sea LaholmLaholm The co-operation involves the actual water managers in the regions, and takes place through face-to-face exchange CCountyounty BayBay of experiences and cross regional comparison of environmental threats to the waters within the Baltic Sea catchment, KaliningradKaliningrad including cause-effect relationships. The main activities of BERNET-CATCH is the provision of Water Management Schleswig-Schleswig- OblastOblastOblast Catchment GdanskGdansk Plans within regional pilot catchments in order to disseminate knowledge and experiences that may serve as good HolsteinHolstein examples to Water Managers and Stakeholders involved in the implementation of the EU-Water Framework Directive.
    [Show full text]
  • Baltic Towns030306
    The State and the Integration of the Towns of the Provinces of the Swedish Baltic Empire The Purpose of the Paper1 between 1561 and 1660, Sweden expanded Dalong the coasts of the Baltic Sea and throughout Scandinavia. Sweden became the dominant power in the Baltics and northern Europe, a position it would maintain until the early eighteenth century. At the same time, Swedish society was experiencing a profound transformation. Sweden developed into a typical European early modern power-state with a bureaucracy, a powerful mili- tary organization, and a peasantry bending under taxes and conscription. The kingdom of Sweden also changed from a self-contained country to an important member of the European economy. During this period the Swedish urban system developed as well. From being one of the least urbanized European countries with hardly more than 40 towns and an urbanization level of three to four per cent, Sweden doubled the number of towns and increased the urbanization level to almost ten per cent. The towns were also forced by the state into a staple-town system with differing roles in fo- reign and domestic trade, and the administrative and governing systems of the towns were reformed according to royal initiatives. In the conquered provinces a number of other towns now came under Swe- dish rule. These towns were treated in different ways by the state, as were the pro- vinces as a whole. While the former Danish and Norwegian towns were complete- ly incorporated into the Swedish nation, the German and most of the east Baltic towns were not.
    [Show full text]
  • Developing Sustainable Cities in Sweden
    DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE CITIES IN SWEDEN ABOUT THE BOOKLET This booklet has been developed within the Sida-funded ITP-programme: »Towards Sustainable Development and Local Democracy through the SymbioCity Approach« through the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR ), SKL International and the Swedish International Centre for Democracy (ICLD ). The purpose of the booklet is to introduce the reader to Sweden and Swedish experiences in the field of sustainable urban development, with special emphasis on regional and local government levels. Starting with a brief historical exposition of the development of the Swedish welfare state and introducing democracy and national government in Sweden of today, the main focus of the booklet is on sustainable planning from a local governance perspective. The booklet also presents practical examples and case studies from different municipalities in Sweden. These examples are often unique, and show the broad spectrum of approaches and innovative solutions being applied across the country. EDITORIAL NOTES MANUSCRIPT Gunnar Andersson, Bengt Carlson, Sixten Larsson, Ordbildarna AB GRAPHIC DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATIONS Viera Larsson, Ordbidarna AB ENGLISH EDITING John Roux, Ordbildarna AB EDITORIAL SUPPORT Anki Dellnäs, ICLD, and Paul Dixelius, Klas Groth, Lena Nilsson, SKL International PHOTOS WHEN NOT STATED Gunnar Andersson, Bengt Carlsson, Sixten Larsson, Viera Larsson COVER PHOTOS Anders Berg, Vattenfall image bank, Sixten Larsson, SKL © Copyright for the final product is shared by ICLD and SKL International, 2011 CONTACT INFORMATION ICLD, Visby, Sweden WEBSITE www.icld.se E-MAIL [email protected] PHONE +46 498 29 91 80 SKL International, Stockholm, Sweden WEBSITE www.sklinternational.se E-MAIL [email protected] PHONE +46 8 452 70 00 ISBN 978-91-633-9773-8 CONTENTS 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Information Sheet on Ramsar Wetlands Categories Approved by Recommendation 4.7 of the Conference of the Contracting Parties
    Information Sheet on Ramsar Wetlands Categories approved by Recommendation 4.7 of the Conference of the Contracting Parties. NOTE: It is important that you read the accompanying Explanatory Note and Guidelines document before completing this form. 1. Date this sheet was completed/updated: FOR OFFICE USE ONLY. April 2002 DD MM YY 2. Country: Sweden Designation date Site Reference Number 3. Name of wetland: Tönnersjöheden - Årshultsmyren 4. Geographical coordinates: 56°46’N, 013°19’E 5. Altitude: (average and/or max. & min.) 152.4 – 230.2 m 6. Area: (in hectares) 12 300 ha 7. Overview: (general summary, in two or three sentences, of the wetland's principal characteristics) Two large areas, highly valued for their representativity and diversity in wetland types, as well as their size. The bird life and flora are rich, and include several rare and threatened species. 8. Wetland Type (please circle the applicable codes for wetland types as listed in Annex I of the Explanatory Note and Guidelines document.) marine-coastal: A • B • C • D • E • F • G • H • I • J • K inland: L • M • N • O • P • Q • R • Sp • Ss • Tp • Ts • U • Va • Vt • W • Xf • Xp • Y • Zg • Zk man-made: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 Please now rank these wetland types by listing them from the most to the least dominant: U, W, Xp, Tp, Ts, O, M 9. Ramsar Criteria: (please circle the applicable criteria; see point 12, next page.) 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 Please specify the most significant criterion applicable to the site: ______1____ 10.
    [Show full text]
  • Vandringsstigar Och Motionsslingor I Laholms Kommun Välkommen
    Vandringsstigar och motionsslingor i Laholms kommun Välkommen... att besöka Laholms kommuns vandringsstigar och motionsslingor. En hel del blir nog förvånade över att det finns så många markerade slingor i Laholms kommun. Några troligtvis helt okända även för dem som bor här. Det var en av anledningarna till att vi ville göra den här broschyren. Dessutom har det funnits en stor efterfrågan på en folder med samlad information om våra slingor. Vandringar i naturen har blivit alltmer populärt. Det är ett billigt fritidsnöje som alla generationer kan samlas kring och ha glädje av. Nuförtiden känner alla också till nyttan av att röra på sig. Dessutom är det ett sätt att uppleva och komma nära naturen, där vardagsstressen försvinner och naturens lugn griper tag i en. Det har varit en glädje att ha fått arbeta med denna broschyr och vandra på de olika slingorna. Jag upp- täckte snart, att trots att de flesta finns i skogsmiljö, är stigarna helt olika med egen atmosfär och själ. Vandringarna gjordes under våren och sommaren 2009. Den färgprakt av blommor och växter som naturen bjöd oss på, var helt hänförande. Varje vår när växtligheten vaknar till liv och bjuder oss på sin rikedom, förundras man av hur vackert det är i vår natur. För att inte tala om hösten med dess färger från mörkaste grönt till djupaste rött. Denna prakt är svår att föreställa sig en mörk och kall vinterdag när all växtlighet har gått till vila. Hallandsleden... är inte med i vår broschyr. Den börjar vid Skånele- den i Koarp på Hallandsås och sträcker sig 57 km genom Laholms kommun till Halmstadsgränsen.
    [Show full text]
  • Skottorp - Gränsen Mellan Skåne Och Halland
    Möjligheternas boende Skottorp - Gränsen mellan Skåne och Halland. Vid Skottorp går gränsen mellan Skåne och Halland. Havet västerut med badorten Skummeslövsstrand och Hallandsåsens strövområden finns på bara några kilometers avstånd. Närheten till havet är en av fördelarna med att bo i Skottorp – exempelvis är det bara tre kilometer till stranden i Skummeslövsstrand. Närheten till motorvägen E6 har också betydelse för Skottorps utveckling och kommunikationerna norr- och söderut. Det som Skottorp troligtvis är mest känt för är Skottorps slott, eller kanske snarare Karl XI:s bröllop på slottet 1680. Kyrkan i Skottorp byggdes ca 1180 och är den äldsta i Laholms kommun. everydaymagic.se Våra lägenheter i Skottorp I Skottorp bor du marknära i mindre, trivsamma lägenheter med egen ingång och uteplats. Nu har vi också nyproducerade lägenheter att erbjuda i Skottorp. Tillgängliga och trevliga lägenheter speciellt lämpliga för äldre. Fakta Skottorp: Antal invånare tätort: 457 st Antal lägenheter: 35 st Avstånd till Laholm: 13 km Avstånd till Halmstad: 29 km Avstånd till strand: 3 km Kommunikationer Med E6 nära inpå är det lätt att med bil ta sig både norr och söder ut – Skottorp ligger nästan mittemel- lan Halmstad och Ängelholm. Bussförbindelser finns till Båstad, Laholm samt badorterna Mellbystrand och Skummeslövsstrand. Det finns en fin cykelväg mellan Laholm och Skottorp på gamla västkustbanan som sedan fortsätter till Båstad via Skummeslövsstrand. Service Skottorp har en pizzeria, frisör, blomsteraffär, herrekiperingsbutik, krukmakeri och en liten servicebutik med postservice. Utöver servicebutiken finns i dagsläget tillgång till en speciell busstur till matbutiken i Skummeslövsstrand. En gång i veckan plockar den upp passagerare, tar dem till affären och kör hem dem igen när de är klara.
    [Show full text]
  • Föroreningsrisk Av Vattentäkter
    Väg E6/E20 Skottorp, Laholms kommun Fördjupad riskbedömning och förslag till åtgärder Ärendenummer: TRV 2018/2379 Dokumenttitel: Väg E6/E20 Skottorp, Laholms kommun. Fördjupad riskanalys och förslag till åtgärder Författare: Lisa Regander, WSP Ansvarig för genomförande: Mattis Johansson, WSP Organisation: WSP Dokumentdatum: 2018-11-23 Ärendenummer: TRV 2018/2379 Publikationsnummer: 2019:165 ISBN: 978-91-7725-515-4 Version: 1.0 November 2018 Trafikverket Postadress: Trafikverket, 405 33 Göteborg E-post: [email protected] Telefon: 0771-921 921 Innehållsförteckning 1. INLEDNING ......................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Bakgrund ..................................................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Målsättning .................................................................................................................................. 6 1.3 Geografisk avgränsning ............................................................................................................... 7 1.4 Metodik ........................................................................................................................................ 8 2. FÖRUTSÄTTNINGAR ......................................................................................... 9 2.1 Områdesbeskrivning .................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Topografi .....................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Vandringsstigar Motionsslingor Laholms Kommun Välkommen
    Vandringsstigar Motionsslingor Laholms kommun Välkommen... att besöka Laholms kommuns vandringsstigar och motionsslingor! En hel del blir nog förvånade över, att det finns så många markerade slingor i kommunen. Några troligtvis helt okända även för dem som bor i kom- munen. Detta var en av anledningarna till att vi för några år sedan gjorde den här broschyren. Den har varit uppskattad och har varit helt slut ett tag. Därför beslutade vi att göra en uppdaterad upplaga. Många har uttryckt sin uppskattning över att det finns en folder där alla slingor i kommunen och information om dessa finns samlad. Vandringar i naturen har blivit alltmer populärt. Det är ett billigt fritidsnöje som alla generationer kan samlas kring och ha glädje av. Nu för tiden känner alla också till nyttan av att röra på sig. Dessutom är det ett sätt att uppleva och komma nära naturen, där vardagsstressen försvinner och naturens lugn griper tag i en. Det har varit en glädje att ha fått arbeta med bro- schyren och vandra på de olika slingorna. Jag upp- täckte snart, att trots att de flesta finns i skogsmiljö, är stigarna helt olika med egen atmosfär och själ. Vandringarna gjordes mestadels under våren och sommaren. Den färgprakt av blommor och växter som naturen bjöd oss på, var helt hänförande. Varje vår när växtligheten vaknar till liv och bjuder oss på sin rikedom, förundras man av hur vackert det är i vår natur. För att inte tala om hösten när alla färger från mörkaste grönt till den rödaste nyansen och alla skiftningar däremellan finns representerade. Denna prakt är svår att föreställa sig en mörk och kall vin- terdag när all växtlighet har gått till vila.
    [Show full text]
  • Health Indicators for Swedish Children
    HEALTH INDICATORS FOR SWEDISH CHILDREN by Lennart Köhler A CONTRIBUTION TO A MUNICIPAL INDEX Save the Children fights for children’s rights. We influence public opinion and support children at risk in Sweden and in the world. Our vision is a world in which all children's rights are fulfilled • a world which respects and values each child • a world where all children participate and have influence • a world where all children have hope and opportunity Save the Children publishes books and reports in order to spread knowledge about the conditions under which children live, to give guidance and to inspire new thought. and discussion. Our publications can be ordered through direct contact with Save the Children or via Internet at www.rb.se/bokhandel © 2006 Save the Children and the author ISBN 10: 91-7321-214-8 ISBN 13: 978-91-7321-214-4 Code no 3332 Author: Lennart Köhler Translation: Janet Vesterlund Technical language edition: Keith Barnard Production Manager, layout: Ulla Ståhl Cover: Annelie Rehnström Printed in Sweden by: Elanders Infologistics Väst AB Save the Children Sweden SE-107 88 Stockholm Visiting address: Landsvägen 39, Sundbyberg Telephone +46 8 698 90 00 Fax +46 8 698 90 10 [email protected] www.rb.se Contents Foreword 5 Background 6 1. Measuring and evaluating the health of a population 6 2. Special conditions in measuring the health of children and adolescents 11 3. Some features of the development of children’s health and wellbeing in Sweden 14 4. Swedish municipalities and their role in children’s health 23 Indicators of children’s health 27 5.
    [Show full text]
  • Fisheries in Sweden
    DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES STRUCTURAL AND COHESION POLICIESB POLICY DEPARTMENT AgricultureAgriculture and Rural and Development Rural Development STRUCTURAL AND COHESION POLICIES B CultureCulture and Education and Education Role The Policy Departments are research units that provide specialised advice Fisheries to committees, inter-parliamentary delegations and other parliamentary bodies. Fisheries RegionalRegional Development Development Policy Areas TransportTransport and andTourism Tourism Agriculture and Rural Development Culture and Education Fisheries Regional Development Transport and Tourism Documents Visit the European Parliament website: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/studies PHOTO CREDIT: iStock International Inc., Photodisk, Phovoir DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT B: STRUCTURAL AND COHESION POLICIES FISHERIES FISHERIES IN SWEDEN NOTE This document was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries. AUTHOR Irina POPESCU Policy Department B: Structural and Cohesion Policies European Parliament B-1047 Brussels E-mail: [email protected] EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE Virginija Kelmelyte LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN Translations: DE, FR, IT, PL, SV. ABOUT THE EDITOR To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe to its monthly newsletter please write to: [email protected] Manuscript completed in April 2010. Brussels, © European Parliament, 2010. This document is available on the Internet at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/studies DISCLAIMER The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorized, provided the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy.
    [Show full text]
  • Local Government Investments 2015 Contents
    Local government investments 2015 Contents Foreword 3 Local government investments 4 Investment account 10 Forecast 12 In-depth analysis Debt, asset values and financial capacity 13 In-depth analysis Market values in public housing 15 Appendix Investment levels in Sweden’s 290 municipalities 16 FOREWORD Local government investment builds value Since the autumn of 2013 Kommuninvest has published reports on the Swdish local government sector’s investments and borrowing. The reports form part of Kommuninvest’s on-going monitoring and fol- low-up of the local government sector’s financial activities. The data on which the reports are based are unique, since both investment and borrowing are analysed from a consolidated perspective, that is, includ- ing local government operations conducted in corporate formats. Accordingly, the relationship between investment and borrowing in the local government sector is elucidated at both the national and local levels. The input data have been gathered directly from the annual reports of the municipalities and county councils/regions, and from those of the relevant local government-owned companies. This allows information to be published faster than if official statistics were to be used. Further- more, the sector’s investments are broken down at the group level, both for the municipalities and the county councils/regions. This year’s report highlights the effect of the investments on the local government authorities’ balance sheets – primarily the asset side. While the sector’s external borrowing certainly increases when investments are financed through external funding, considerable asset values are also amassed. The carrying amount for the local government sector’s tangi- ble fixed assets amounts to more than SEK 1,000 billion, or about twice as much as external borrowing.
    [Show full text]
  • THE HALLAND MODEL Gothenburg Studies in Conservation 24 Gothenburg Studies in Conservation 24
    THE HALLAND MODEL gothenburg studies in conservation 24 gothenburg studies in conservation 24 THE HALLAND MODEL A Trading Zone for Building Conservation in Concert with Labour Market Policy and the Construction Industry, Aiming at Regional Sustainable Development Christer Gustafsson © CHRISTER GUSTAFSSON, 2011 [email protected] isbn 978-91-7346-668-4 issn 0284-6578 Photographs by Christer Gustafsson Map by Monica Bülow Björk Subscriptions to the series and orders for individual copies sent to: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, PO Box 222, SE 405 30 Göteborg, or to [email protected] Printed by Bulls Graphics AB Box 343 SE-301 08 Halmstad, Sweden Tel: +46 (0)35-14 41 50 Halmstad, Sweden, 2011 The publication is also available in full text at: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/28328 http://www.kulturmiljohalland.se/publikationer.jsp#header2 This publication has been produced with generous support from: Heritage Halland (Kulturmiljö Halland) and Region Halland. editor’s preface EDITOR’S PREFACE The present publication (GSC No. 24) is prepared by its author Ph.D. Christer Gustafsson as a volume in the academic series Gothenburg Studies in Conservation (GSC), after having been delivered as his doctoral dis- sertation, defended on October 22nd in 2009 at Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg. Professor Dr. Luigi Fusco Girard, Dipartimento di Conservazione dei Beni Architettonici ed Ambientali at Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, was appointed as Faculty Opponent, involv- ing responsibility for the public examination of this doctoral research specimen. Hereby a thorough and critical scrutiny is included, by a much admired, eminent and internationally renowned expert in the compre- hensive fields of sustainable architectural and planned conservation and management of historic buildings and urban ambiences.
    [Show full text]