Governance and Sustainability of Peri-Urban Areas: A Comparative Analysis of the PLUREL Case Studies

This chapter examines the analyses and strategies presented for each of the case studies in Chaps. 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 and presents a comparison in order to draw out the main findings which may provide possible solutions for policy makers working in other regions. As explained in Chap. 1, there are a range of particular policy challenges in the urban fringe. The policies of several adjacent municipalities or local authorities may be combined and managed by an indirectly elected regional authority, while different national and EU-level sectoral and regional policies frequently interfere with each other in such areas. Problems of implementation deficits with sector-based strategies are commonplace following institutional fragmentation, calling for increased co-ordination and better integration mechanisms (Tatenhove et al. 2000)

Fires, forests and conflict in times of rapid environmental change in Sweden and Australia

Environmental problems seem to be increasingly complex, hard to solve by instrumental rationality, and laden with conflict when they demand human interventions in nature. The use of fire is one such contested intervention. This paper examines the role of conflict and deliberation in forest fire management practices in Sweden and Australia whose landscapes have historically been shaped by fire. In Sweden, burning is gradually emerging on foresters’ and nature conservationists’ agendas for nature conservation purposes. In Australia, prescribed burning has been practiced on a relatively broad scale, chiefly to prevent larger fires and also for nature conservation purposes. Touching on a wide range of values, including biological diversity, human safety, traditional heritage and professional identity, fire management is often the topic of fierce debate. Contemporary politics places high expectations on collaborative governance, drawing attention to the twin concepts of conflict management and deliberation. How does collaborative governance manifest itself relating to fire management? And what are its chances considering the Swedish and Australian contexts with their strong reliance on technical scientific expertise? We conclude that forms of local, collaborative governance in which conflicts and difference have a place, rather than generalized knowledge, are promising but rare processes to move forward