Abstract
Spatial planning conducted by the local authorities has been identified as a key part of shaping carbon-neutral societies. Nevertheless, the question of whether local authorities are building their institutional capacity for integrating climate change mitigation aspects into spatial planning remains under-researched. This paper aims to fill this gap while also analysing the role of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in facilitating organisational learning. The methods employed were a longitudinal document analysis of Comprehensive Plans belonging to eight municipalities in Stockholm County, complemented by a focus group interview. A significant difference was identified, as the recently adopted Comprehensive Plans included more strategies for climate change mitigation and, to a greater extent, linked these strategies to reduced climate impact or energy efficiency than previously adopted Comprehensive Plans. However, numerous additional strategies could have been given further consideration in each studied Comprehensive Plan. Thus, this calls for more continuous and cyclical comprehensive planning processes to facilitate capacity building, primarily by being a vehicle for mobilising political support. Lastly, the findings indicate that SEA can lead to organisational learning of both single-loop and double-loop nature, where the latter can enable SEA to shape the planning process in a more profound and sustainability-oriented manner.
Highlights
The ongoing climate crisis has been argued to be the greatest imminent threat to humanity and ecosystems [1]
The focus group interviewees recognise that there has been an increase concerning the integration of climate change mitigation strategies into comprehensive planning during the last decade
This paper set out to investigate whether local authorities have been building their institutional capacity for integrating climate change mitigation aspects into spatial planning over time
Summary
The ongoing climate crisis has been argued to be the greatest imminent threat to humanity and ecosystems [1]. The consideration of climate change mitigation in spatial planning could be realised in a variety of ways. It could include aspects concerning energy efficiency, often in relation to reducing transport demand by promoting more compact urban density with mixed land use [5]. An aspect to consider is the distribution of renewable energy sources so that they can be consumed in favour of fossil fuels This could be undertaken through the planning of district heating [8] as well as facilitating the electrification of the transport fleet by ensuring accessibility to charging stations for electric vehicles [9]. The ability of authorities to respond to such a challenge will, be highly dependent on their institutional capacity, that is, their ability to respond and manage pressing social and environmental issues in planning, decision making, and implementation [10,11]
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