Samverkan för uppfyllandet av miljökvalitetsnormerna för vatten: en fallstudie av projektet Mälaren – en sjö för miljoner

Abstract

In the year 2000, the European Water Framework Directive (WFD; 2000/60/EC) was adopted with the purpose to achieve sustainable water resource management of all waters within the European Union. However, the environmental quality standards for water as defined in this directive have proven difficult to meet. With the ambition of contributing to the generation of knowledge about sustainable water resource management in general, and strategies for realizing these environmental quality standards in particular, this case study investigates how the regional collaborative project Mälaren – en sjö för miljoner (Mälaren – a lake for millions) is perceived to affect the conditions for meeting these international standards at a local level. It does so with a combination of qualitative methods; open answer surveys are complemented by semi-structured interviews, and in relation to theories about political fragmentation and formal and informal institutions. The results from the study indicate that the project, through selective information, supports the emergence of regional complementary informal institutions, as well as local complements in the formal institutional system, both of which can strengthen the compliance to the environmental quality standards. The results also indicate that the project, as a bridging organization, contributes to increased collaboration, coordination and sharing of knowledge, and thereby eases the problems associated with political fragmentation. However, due to the projects general approach with centralized meetings and little regard for specific local conditions, the project misses the opportunity to take advantage of the benefits of political fragmentation. It also risks being of limited help in cases where the obstacles to meet these environmental quality standards do not correspond with the obstacles the project has identified.