extract from five examples in Switzerland

Based on the suggestion in the literature that conservation objectives should be linked with local development objectives to successfully realise community- based conservation, and little available knowledge about corresponding projects, we set off to deepen our comprehension about how these projects work in the field. We investigate cases that were from the outset framed as having two objectives; these cases are combined projects of flood prevention and river restoration in Switzerland. Our aim was to better understand the role of the multi-level governance setting for the success of these projects The corresponding objective was to identify, what role legal regulations, administrative conditions, available financial resources and other factors from different levels (confederation, canton and municipalities) play for the realisation of these projects. We investigated these projects by conducting personal interviews with project leaders and stakeholders that participated in five collaborative planning processes; for each case we interviewed at least five participants. We find that the difficulty to ‘gain space for the river’ was the main stumbling block for the planning and implementation of these multipurpose projects. Federal and cantonal regulations and requirements clearly shaped these projects and the corresponding institutions exercised the possible control based upon financial resources. Existing regulations turned out to be flexible instruments and adaptable, when they had been hindering emerging and desirable practices in river engineering. These regulations also permitted considerable autonomy to the local actors to arrange and negotiate their concerns in the projects. This autonomy made it possible to harness the ‘local social ingredients’ we identified as crucial to make these projects work, which are convincing actors that make a case for conservation issues, existing trust within the community –more specifically— to have good reasons to trust that nobody would be disadvantaged clearly more than other, and the willingness of local actors to invest patience and time to avoid conflict and to work on agreeable solutions.Draf

Akteure und ihre Beiträge zur großen Transformation in ausgewählten Handlungsfeldern: Nicht-nachhaltige Flächennutzung im Schweizer Wohnsektor und das Transformationspotenzial von Nischenprojekten

Die Flächennutzung in der Schweiz ist nicht nachhaltig. Im Beitrag wird argumentiert, dass dies weniger an unzureichender Planung als an finanziellen Interessen und Dynamiken liegt, wobei diese Interessen auch machtpolitisch vertreten werden. Demgegenüber sind die Interessen für Flächenschutz wenig artikuliert. Der Druck auf die Fläche geht von der Angebots- wie Nachfrageseite aus, wobei je mehrere Faktoren wirken. Dem stehen drei Kategorien von Ansätzen gegenüber, um die Wohnflächennutzung zu reduzieren (raumplanerische Vorgaben für eine Siedlungsentwicklung nach innen, reduzierter Flächenverbrauch pro Kopf, flächensparende Wohnkonzepte). Akteure mit solcher Zielsetzung kommen aus Verwaltung, Zivilgesellschaft und Forschung, punktuell gehen Ideen und Konzepte in den allgemeinen Wohnbau über. Das Wohnflächenwachstum verdeutlicht, dass ökonomische und politische Akteure, Interessen und Strukturen, die das Wachstum vorantreiben, wirkmächtiger sind als Nischenansätze für einen reduzierten Wohnflächenverbrauch, wobei letztere für begrenzte Bevölkerungsgruppen vorteilhafte Alternativen darstellen können.Land use in Switzerland is not sustainable. This article argues that this has less to do with insufficient planning than with financial interests and developments that also give these interests powerful political representation. In contrast, interests urging land protection are much less articulate. Pressure on land comes from both the supply and the demand sides with numerous factors being of influence on both. Approaches to counter this pressure and reduce the land used for housing can be divided into three categories (spatial planning stipulations for inner urban development, reduced land take per capita, compact housing concepts). Stakeholders with such goals come from the administration, civil society and research; ideas and concepts are also transferred piecemeal to the field of general housing. The increase in land take for housing demonstrates that economic and political stakeholders, interests and structures that promote growth are more potent than the niche approaches encouraging reduced land take for housing, although the latter offer advantageous alternatives for specific population groups

Environmental Regulations of Land-use and Public Compensation: Principles with Swiss and Australian Examples

This paper discusses regulation of rural land-use and compensation, both of which appear to have become more common but also more disputed. The implications of contemporary theories in relation to this matter are examined. Coverage includes the applicability of new welfare economics, the relevance of the neoclassical theory of politics, and the implications of contemporary theories of social conflict resolution and communication. Examining case studies of Swiss and Australian regulation of the use of rural properties and the ensuing conflicts, it is found that many decisions reflect a mixture of these elements. Rarely, if ever, are social decisions in this area made solely on the basis of welfare economics, for instance social cost-benefit analysis. Only some aspects of such decisions can be explained by the neoclassical theory of politics, and only ex post. Theories of social conflict resolution suggest why approaches of discourse and participation may resolve conflicts on regulation and compensation and in which way. These theories and their practical application seem to gain in importance as contest against decisions in a sovereign capacity increases. The high complexity of most conflicts on regulation and compensation cannot be tackled with narrow economic theories. Moreover, the Swiss and Australian examples show that such approaches of conflict resolution may rather favour environmental standards

Transformative enterprises: Characteristics and a definition

This paper contributes to an emerging discussion about transformative enterprises, which are increasingly seen as change agents in sustainability transformations. Some schol-ars have hitherto described them as pioneering enterprises that strive for fundamental changes towards sustainability at different scales. Economic geography has, however, so far glossed over a micro-perspective on such enterprises. In this paper, we define transformative enterprises in detail by systematically identifying and elaborating their characteris-tics and actions. We ask: What operationalizable character-istics that refer to transformative enterprises are discussed in the literature? How can we define transformative enterprises?Starting from a comprehensive literature review, we iden-tify nine key dimensions of transformative enterprises that we specify with a set of indicators, and we then synthesize our finding with a definition. With this contribution, we further develop the concept of transformative enterprise in economic geography and show how it complements current conceptualizations of firm-level agency and system-level agency

Neugewichtung von Erwerbsarbeit und Tätigsein für eine Postwachstumsgesellschaft

Wachstumspolitik wird allzu oft mit dem Erhalten und Schaffen von Arbeitsplätzen begründet.  Tatsächlich beeinflussen verschiedene Faktoren, ob, wie viele und welche Arbeitsplätze es gibt. Notwendig für eine Postwachstumsgesellschaft ist es, neben Erwerbsarbeit die Vielfalt möglicher und nötiger Tätigkeiten stärker zu gewichten

Die Postwachstumsgesellschaft

Seit den frühen 1970er Jahren gibt es eine umfangreiche Kritik an der einseitigen Ausrichtung westlicher Länder auf das Wirtschaftswachstum. Zwischenzeitlich werden die nachteiligen ökologischen und sozialen Kosten des Wirtschaftswachstums immer offensichtlicher. Wie kann eine Gesellschaft aussehen, die ohne den Zwang zum Wirtschaftswachstum funktioniert

Strukturwandel fordert Neuausrichtung von Geschäftsmodellen

Erst wenn das Funktionieren vieler Institutionen, Strukturen und Subsysteme vomWachstumsparadigma abgekoppelt wird und Alternativen erkennbar sind, wird die Politik von ihrer Wachstumsfixierung abrücken