Green Services Development: Aspects of Local Policy and Cross-Sector Interactions

Abstract

This first empirical chapter discusses how green services develop in different local settings with a particular focus on the role of the public sector and how activities of local authorities affect the development of such services. These activities include policy actions and project activities. Green services are present in many different industries and in private and public sectors. Technical services, management and education are important specialisations. Green services need to be defined by their aim of bringing improvements as regards environmental impacts (cf. Vinnova 2013). The framework for discussion is sustainable discourses and how these are translated locally as important factors that influence the development of green services. The focus is on the role of the discourse on green growth and how it influences both sustainable policy and green services. Initiatives, incentives, and resources for the development of green services may derive from policy and from business, and through collaborations across sectors and between organisations.