Giftfri förskola - en studie om tjänstemäns betydelse för det kommunala miljöarbetet

Abstract

Toxic-free preschool is connected to a national environmental goal in Sweden and lately it has received increased attention from different sources. It is a goal that depends on the municipalities and thereby the civil servants to work with. Science in the subject does not agree about the civil servants role and meaning for the work in the municipalities. The purpose of this thesis is to provide more knowledge about the civil servants role and see if the current science can be translated on to practical cases. In our thesis we study three municipalities that have begun the work with toxic-free preschools. The work has been done by specific civil servants and therefore interviews have been held with key civil servants. These interviews have been the empirical material of this study. The result of the study shows that there were mainly two factors that made the work begin in the municipalities: it was both an active environmental organization and dedicated civil servants. The civil servants were the ones who initiated and actively worked with toxic-free preschool with the knowledge provided by environmental organizations. The political dimension was not actively involved in the same way as the civil servants were. All together toxic-free preschool can be associated with dedicated civil servants who became interested and enthusiastic about environmental matters during their work.