Case Studies
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ESPON TANGO – Territorial Approaches for New Governance Annex A: Case Studies Applied Research 2013/1/21 Annex A | Version 29/06/2012 ESPON 2013 The ESPON 2013 Programme ESPON TANGO Territorial Approaches for New Governance Applied Research 2013/1/21 Case Study 1: Territorial Climate Change governance in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) 2012-06-27 Prepared by Lisa Van Well & Stefanie Lange Scherbenske Nordregio Stockholm, Sweden 1 Table of contents 1. Background and context of the case.............................................................................3 2. Dimensions of territorial governance.............................................................................5 2.1 Integrating relevant policy sectors.......................................................................5 2.2 Multi-level interplay .............................................................................................7 2.3 Mobilising stakeholder participation ....................................................................1 2.4 Adapting to changing contexts ............................................................................2 2.5 Territorial specificities/characteristics and territorial governance........................3 3. Features of “good” territorial governance......................................................................4 4. Identification of Stakeholders........................................................................................5 5. References....................................................................................................................5 2 1. Background and context of the case The impacts of climate change are expected to affect the countries bordering the Baltic Sea in a variety of ways. Although the consequences differ between localities and regions, adaptation to a changing climate is set high on the political agenda of the Baltic Sea Region as a “macro-region” of multi-levels of governance. A number of concrete adaptation activities are currently being undertaken at the local and regional level while there is some variation of efforts at the national level among those countries that have already adopted a National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) and those who do not yet have a NAS in place (see Map 1). Still there are strong calls for developing a Baltic Sea-wide climate change adaptation strategy, especially within the European Strategy for the Baltic Sea region (EUSBSR) (see box 1). This case study examines the efforts to develop a climate change adaptation strategy at the level of the Baltic Sea “macro-region”. This is a territorial governance issue that spans several administrative levels – from the local to the macro-regional and implies the coordination of a range of sectoral interests involving, among others, integrated coastal zone management, spatial planning, civil preparedness, tourism and water management. Many of the principles related to climate change adaptation bring up essential aspects of fairness, effectiveness and environmental sustainability. The process of formulation the strategy is only in the initial stages so the issue is both topical and timely. Nonetheless several local, regional and national governance processes leading up to and even forming the development of the strategy have already been implemented. These form the basis for this initial process-tracing study. Thus this study traces territorial governance from the local and regional level adaptation initiatives but firmly nestled within the broader “macro-regional” strategy (EUSBSR) level. Box 1: The strategic action within the EUSBSR. “Establish a regional adaptation strategy at the level of the Baltic Sea Region” which would provide a useful framework for strengthening co-operation and sharing information across the region. The possibility of establishing such a regional adaptation strategy should be considered and the consistency of any such strategy with actions at EU level further to the White paper from the European Commission on adaptation needs to be ensured. This issue could be addressed in the Impacts and Adaptation Steering Group proposed in the White Paper. Ensuring complementarities with EU-wide initiatives, a regional strategy could focus on issues of cross border interest in the region such as: developing a more robust evidence base on the impacts and consequences of climate change, raising awareness of the need for action; ensuring and measuring progress (using indicators as benchmark for measuring progress) and recommending early action to ensure that adaptation is integrated in key policy areas – this means reviewing policies in the light of the risks of climate change and considering options for adaptive action” (COM 2009a:23). 3 Map 1: State of play regarding national climate change adaptation strategies and transnational cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region 4 In this case study the territorial “object” is the governance process to develop a climate change adaptation strategy for the Baltic Sea “macro-region”. To do this we will analyse how transnational, national, regional and local level policies, programmes and projects are working to both constitute and implement such a strategy. We have made a selection of two territories, the region of Mecklenburg Western Pomerania in Germany and the municipality of Kalundborg in Denmark, on which we will focus the majority of our local level analyses. These territories were chosen since they represent non- metropolitan coastal areas where the effects of climate change are already presenting decision-makers with challenges and opportunities to be dealt with. 2. Dimensions of territorial governance 2.1 Integrating relevant policy sectors All Baltic Sea Region countries will be affected to some degree by the impacts of climate change. Localities and regions throughout the BSR may face common challenges that come along with climate change (e.g. flood risk) whereas specific impacts occur locally or regionally and differ depending on local circumstances such as surface structure, land use, and protection measures. Seen from the geographical perspective it may not seem obvious to address climate change adaptation on a macro-regional level. Yet this is exactly what is happening. Exchange and cooperation among the countries is considered beneficial to developing local and regional climate adaptation plans and thus a number of activities are already on-going at transnational level in the BSR for instance under the umbrella of European Regional Development Funds and the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013. With its focus on four thematic pillars: (1) marine environment, (2) prosperity, (3) transport and energy, (4) safety and security, the European Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) implicitly intersects with a range of climate change issues. The policy sectors involved in climate change adaptation measures include land-use planning, policy, environmental policy, sustainable economic growth, tourism, etc. Since the EUSBSR encourages the Member States to use existing instruments, legislation and institutions to address current challenges (COM 2009a), climate change adaptation may well be an issue addressed normatively within the Strategy, but the actual implementation of regulatory adaptation measures should be discussed separately at national, regional and local levels. Thus the macro-regional level appears to be suitable for coordinating such a strategy, including transnational efforts. As this case study spans so many vertical or multi-levels of governance, the way that actors and institutions work at integrating relevant policy sectors and governmental responsibilities in their work, may be tricky to trace analytically. The climate change issue in general exhibits all the typical characteristics constituting the issue of complexity; climate change itself is multidisciplinary, cutting across the social ecological, economic and political spheres. Addressing climate change adaptation has required a multidimensional approach and has ramifications for all sectors of societies. Local climate change adaptation is a highly complex system requiring an array of actions and policy responses by various institutions. Ostrom (1990) has alleged that, “…it is almost 5 impossible to imagine a single institutional arrangement sufficiently complex to obtain scientific and local information and respond adaptably to changing ecological systems over time”. Climate change adaptation responses are characterized by both scientific uncertainty and institutional complexity. Communicating data and scenarios of future climate patterns is challenging and the inherent uncertainty in scenarios of sea level rise or flood risk, for instance, can make political action on climate change adaptation difficult. At regional level, there may be a conflict of interest in implementing climate adaptation strategies between various sectors. In the case of coastal protection in the Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania region, the regional context serves as an obstacle to transferring solutions from one area to another. An interest conflict exists between coastal protection and protected nature areas; designated nature areas are frequently off limits for human intrusion, including for research purposes. This poses a significant challenge for knowledge gathering about the effects of climate change. Nature interest groups have a powerful role in Germany and these groups can prevent single elements of coastal protection measures from taking place in certain areas. On the other hand, the specific