Previous studies of environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGO) have primarily taken place within a nation-state perspective without considering multiple levels of politics and governance. Because environmental problems are usually cross-border phenomena, environmental movements must develop transnational features to play constructive roles in politics and governance. This study contributes to the theorizing and study of transnationalization of ENGOs by illuminating the different regional conditions for this process. The conditions for ENGOs to develop transnational collaboration are explored by comparing ENGOs from six countries in two macro-regions: Sweden, Germany, and Poland in the Baltic Sea region, and Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia in the Adriatic-Ionian Sea region. Grounded in the literatures on social movement theory and ENGO transnationalization, the study identifies how different national, macro-regional, and European institutional structures shape the conditions under which ENGOs develop cross-border collaborations, and demonstrate the importance of long-term and dynamic interplay between processes that occur at the domestic and transnational levels.

This report presents the results of a web survey distributed to stakeholders in the Baltic Sea marine sector regarding environmental communication on air pollution from shipping. The survey was carried out in the spring and summer of 2012. Drawing on the literature on risk communication and environmental governance, the main focus was placed on so-called communication barriers, that is, possible hindrances to effective communication among stakeholders on how to reduce air pollution without threatening sector competitiveness. The results show that although there is a dense networking among stakeholders in this sector, there is a demand for improvements in communication in (a) exploratory phases among broad groups of stakeholders and (b) operational phases among selected groups of e.g. business and research teams. To facilitate the emergence of such improved communication, regional organizations such as HELCOM and EU could play important roles. Furthermore, it is shown that there is a perceived need among many stakehold­ers to step up the involvement of certain stakeholders, for example fuel companies, in collabora­tion on how to reduce pollution from shipping in cost-efficient ways. Finally, the results show that although continuous improvements of international regulation is a vital part of the governance of the marine sector, compliance will suffer if operators’ incentives are too strong in favor of not con­tributing to reduced pollution levels. Therefore, there is a strong need for innovative thinking on how to design such incentive schemes, not the least in relation to the continued implementation of Baltic Sea SECA and NECA as well as of the Baltic Sea Action Plan.

Världens hav är i kris. Med ett stort internationellt tryck för att skydda dem har den svenska regeringen satt ambitiösa mål för etablering av marina reservat. Beslutsfattare och forskare har höga förväntningar på att lokalt deltagande underlättar etableringen. Men utan verkliga möjligheter för lokalt deltagande att påverka besluten så verkar förväntningarna orealistiska, med allvarliga konsekvenser för legitimitet av miljöskydd.

Avhandlingen undersöker relationen mellan deltagande och legitimitet i svensk östersjöförvaltning genom att studera samrådsprocesserna för Gräsö marina naturreservat och St Anna-Missjö marina skyddsområde. Studien visar på både positiva och negativa samband mellan deltagande och legitimitet, beroende på kvalitén av deltagande.

Olika lokala aktörer är djupt engagerade i resursfrågor och vill ha möjlighet att diskutera dessa med staten. Lokala aktörer uttrycker besvikelse och frustration om samråden har en begränsad inverkan på faktiska beslut. Besvikelsen kan underminera stödet för naturskydd och försämra relationen mellan stat och lokala aktörer i längden.

I ett av de undersökta fallen var de lokala aktörerna engagerade i att formulera en gemensam vision för området tillsammans med myndigheterna, något som annars är ovanligt. Det visade sig ha en mycket positiv effekt på samrådsprocessen och legitimiteten av naturskyddet.

Local participation, especially in natural resource management, has been promoted as a key strategy in the quest for sustainable development. Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) is an approach that has generally been promoted as an institution that genuinely includes and empowers ‘local people' in natural resource use and management. This paper examines how local participation in conservation projects works in practice by drawing on concepts from institutional and actor-oriented theories and applying a case study approach to examine community-based mangrove management at Jozani-Pete, Zanzibar. Here CBNRM became embedded within a conservation agenda that resulted in conflict, resistance, frustration and uncertainty amongst community members. The paper offers insight into how exogenously initiated CBNRM projects have difficulty gaining traction unless they both address existing power relations and deliver on promises of material benefits. If they fail to do so the experience of the Jozani-Pete case study suggests that CBNRM may work to further marginalize already marginalized people.