Mikael Granberg

Karlstads Universitet

Cities are increasingly impacted by climate change, driving the need for adaptation and sustainable development. Local and global economic and socio-cultural influence are also driving city redevelopment. This, fundamentally political, development highlights issues of who pays and who gains, who decides and how, and who/what is to be valued. Climat...

The article describes and reflects upon how multi-level governance and planning in Sweden have been affected by and reacted upon three pending major challenges confronting humanity, namely climate change, migration and the Covid-19 pandemic. These ‘crises’ are broadly considered ‘existential threats’ in need of ‘securitisation’. Causes and adequate...

The Swedish response to the pandemic at the national level has attracted considerable international attention, but little focus has been placed on the way municipalities dealt with the crisis. Using Hay's dimensions of politicization, namely the capacity for human agency, deliberation in the public domain, and social context, we analyze the politic...

This paper examines the emerging phenomenon of climate emergency declarations. We focus on the case of Victoria Australia and the 30 councils who have declared a climate emergency with a particular focus on three councils. We explore the drivers, meanings, and implications and to what extent the subsequent plans reflect a reframing of local governm...

This book analyzes climate change from a societal risk perspective, considering IPCC data, harm reduction, and global impact. Climate change is a globalised agent of social disruption whose impacts will worsen societal inequities and inequalities around the world. For some unfortunate societies already precariously exposed, climate change will tip...

Societal risk is advanced as a concept that is differentiated from the generic social risks of climate change. Societal risk is formally defined and its four constituent elements are expounded: (1) Ecosystem services cover provisioning, regulating and supporting services and are essential for human life; all are vulnerable to climate change and hav...

In concluding the volume, the chapter reconnects to the book’s aims, draws together the work’s major themes and offers some overarching conclusions. After overviewing salient features of climate change as societal risk, the case for being concerned over societal risk is presented, drawing a distinction between general social risks and the special c...

Opening with a brief history of risk theory, the chapter then examines scientific-technical risk theories. Three key theories are covered: Normal accident theory, Positivist risk theory and Rational choice risk theory. These reviews encompass how risk is defined and understood as a scientific phenomenon, the view that catastrophic failures in compl...

Societal and civilisational collapse in the past due to climatic events, climate change and related phenomena has captured the attention of the public and policymakers alike, albeit with some controversy. Despite justified scepticism over some historical and pre-historical cases, climate change clearly constitutes a risk to existing and future soci...

Politics is a key factor in determining the societal construction of risk, its use and the consequences of that use. Societal transformation is central in responding to the political challenges of societal risk but requires understanding these political factors. Three forms of political inquiry are used to explore these risks: Political ecology, so...

This chapter introduces the era of climate change in which we are living and connects this to the concept of the Anthropocene. A primer to the concept of risk precedes a discussion of climate change risks and the challenges these entail for society. Central concepts of climate change risks are defined and explained. Societal risk is introduced and...

This chapter delves into the identity and character of climate and climate change risks. These risks are socially constructed and, as such, respond to dynamic changes in society. By examining climate and climate change risks from three contrasting temporal perspectives, the shifts in these risks can be brought to light. Historical, contemporary and...

This chapter addresses the counterforces of cultural and social risk theories to the technocratic and apolitical perspectives characterising earlier conventional risk theory. Risk has, over the post-WW2 years, become commonplace in everyday language and media reports. At the same time, new theories of risk focusing on risks as socially constructed...

Sustainability and sustainable development are political and essentially contested social phenomena. Despite this ambiguity, they continue to hold a central position as apolitical concepts in much of social science and policy making. In Europe, public procurement is increasingly used as a tool to reach sustainability, a fact that actualizes an inhe...

An emerging component of the adaptation discourse, embracing theory, practice and review, is that of the negative assessment of adaptation, namely, maladaptation. Political theories and concepts have been applied as one of these assessment tools, giving rise to a political critique of maladaptation. Such a critique contrasts with the more conventio...

Local strategies and policies are key in climate adaptation, although research shows significant barriers to progress. Sweden, often seen as progressive in climate change issues, has struggled in adopting a sufficient local climate adaptation organization. This article aimed to describe and analyze the climate adaptation organization in 13 Swedish...

Governance research has become strikingly multifaceted in terms of theory, methods and empirical focus. More attention has been given to the spatial and scalar dimensions, and research are becoming more context-sensitive and process-oriented. Drawing upon on results from several research projects and programmes conducted by the authors and some oth...

This article builds on the field of collaborative crisis management, a mix of collaborative public management (CPM) and crisis management (CM). A field that often focuses on large-scale threats, sometimes labelled societal challenges, whose impacts are broad and cross-cutting and impacts many actors in society and drives demand for collaboration. I...

In this chapter, we provide a general description of climate change adaptation as an idea and a set of practices. It begins with an account of the changing perspectives of adaptation and an overview of key aspects, including sectors of most activity, goals, measures and barriers. The relationship to two related discourses, namely disaster risk redu...

This chapter examines two underlying contextual issues of adaptation politics: Governance and sustainability. Here, the focus is on governance, not just governments. A significant change in context is the change in perception that adaptation is not only a local issue, but now is multi-scalar. Public policy is a central aspect of governance, but the...

This chapter introduces and lays out the central argument of the book. Adaptation and politics are discussed, and we argue for the need to understand climate change adaptation as a political phenomenon. We examine how adaptation has been defined and understood, explaining how this has changed and evolved. Key concepts and major themes in the policy...

Many political analyses of adaptation politics have been undertaken, ranging across an array of issues, locations and subjects and using a variety of political approaches, frameworks and concepts. In this chapter, four prominent and contrasting approaches are examined as these encompass much of this political scholarship: Institutional reform of de...

This chapter describes and discusses the key themes in adaptation politics: Equity, decision-making, power, Nature, gender and commons management. A further section covers what are described as ‘implicit’ (or embodied) politics in two forms of adaptation, resilience (and its association with neoliberalism) and the politics in socio-ecological trans...

This chapter provides an overview of key influences on the development of adaptation (both conceptually and as a practice) that entail the political. It begins with an account of the interplay of different political and associated elements that are shaping the development of adaptation in what is described as a ‘complex arena’. Adaptation politics...

This book is a must-read for researchers and students interested in gaining a comprehensive overview of the political dimensions of climate change adaptation. The authors remind us that political analysis of adaptation processes is a productive and much needed scholarly endeavour that can shed light on the social complexities and pitfalls of the gr...

In closing the volume, this chapter considers the question of the factors that have shaped and directed the evolution of adaptation politics and the studies examining these changes. Three factors are offered. Firstly, the consequences of the growth and expansion of adaptation interests, themes and activity. Secondly, the effect of external developm...

It is widely accepted that cross-disciplinarity influences education in issues of sustainability and sustainable development. However, despite a large body of research on cross-disciplinarity, less attention has been given to how it shapes research education. Research education is a formative phase in a researcher’s intellectual development and thi...

Swedish local government plays a central role in welfare production, providing some of the most crucial services to citizens. However, over the last decades there have been significant changes in how local governments are governed and how services are implemented. In many cases, these changes entail the promotion of rationalities and technologies a...

The idea that climate change adaptation is best leveraged at the local scale is a well-institutionalized script in both research and formal governance. This idea is based on the argument that the local scale is where climate change impacts are “felt” and experienced. However, sustainable and just climate futures require transformations in systems,...

Abstract Climate change, globalization, urbanization, social isolation, and increased interconnectedness between physical, human, and technological systems pose major challenges to disaster risk reduction (DRR). Subsequently, economic losses caused by natural hazards are increasing in many regions of the world, despite scientific progress, persiste...

Climate change, globalization, urbanization, social isolation, and increased interconnectedness between physical, human, and technological systems pose major challenges to disaster risk reduction (DRR). Subsequently, economic losses caused by natural hazards are increasing in many regions of the world, despite scientific progress, persistent policy...

There is growing interest in analysing the role and effectiveness of the local scale in responding to the global challenge of climate change. However, while accounts of urban climate change governance are growing, there is now a real need for further conceptual and empirical work to better understand processes of change and uptake across a range of...

Climate change, globalization, urbanization, social isolation, and increased interconnectedness between physical, human, and technological systems pose major challenges to disaster risk reduction (DRR). Subsequently, economic losses caused by natural hazards are increasing in many regions of the world, despite scientific progress, persistent policy...

Words into Action Guidelines: National Focal Points for Disaster Risk Reduction National Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction - Local Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction This guideline is the product of literature reviews, discussions and contributions from diverse stakeholders, as well as UNISDR-nominated experts appointed specifically for the...

To understand the situation of climate risk management we need to understand the priorities and politics of the wider policy context. The framing of potentially incompatible policy issues is important to take into account when analysing policy processes. In this article, we focus on two policy issues aiming at local adaptation to global forces: fac...

The urban environment is a complex structure with interlinked social, ecological and technical structures. Global warming is expected to have a broad variety of impacts, which will add to the complexity. Climate changes will force adaptation, to reduce climate-related risks. Adaptation measures can address one aspect at the time, or aim for a holis...

With regard to responding to global climate change, urban policy and practice is central in relating global standards and knowledge, national and regional climate change scenarios into context-specific and effective action towards sustainable development at the local scale. In this paper we will look at how local government in Sweden and Australia...

Climate change always manifests itself on the local arena and localities have to handle impacts of climate change. The policy and practice in the urban arena is central in relating global standards and knowledge, national and regional climate change scenarios/policies into particular action in specific contexts but also as a setting were new practi...

In this paper we describe the development of Swedish municipalities as we trace the origin of the modern municipality to the late 19th century to today with a special focus on the last 40-50 years of development. With this as a background, and related to the research literature, we develop four different theoretical perspectives (ideal types): (1),...

In this paper we describe the development of Swedish municipalities – we trace the origin of the modern municipality to the late 19th century to today with a special focus on the last 40-50 years of development – through four different theoretical lenses (ideal types): (1), The municipality as a common (communitarian) that focuses on common interes...

This paper examines Australia's national policies for adapting to climate change impacts. Recent developments in research funding, institutional capacities and extreme events have resulted in a greater interest and level of activity in adaptation policy. Based on a historical review of national policy, adaptation policy is considered within a polit...

In the first major review of the social dimensions of climate change adaptation, “Adaptation to Climate Change” Pelling (2011) distinguishes between measures that are: a) resilient, b) transitional, and c) transformational. He makes the point that adaptation has been largely concerned identifying “what is to be preserved and what is expendable, rat...

In this paper we propose that public adaptation policy arises from politics and, accordingly, understanding and analysing such policy has to engage scholars with a keen interest in politics. In line with this proposition a distinguishing feature in this paper is that it seeks to consider adaptation policy for cities in a political context. This pap...

Despite claims that planners’ attitude towards public participation has not always been enthusiastic, there have been genuine attempts to devolve powers through participation—although seldom with success. In this paper we discuss several major attempts to improve participation in Sweden including case studies of e-participation. Despite great expec...

national levels and have been subject to extensive description, research, and analysis. Within this broad swath of government, corporate, and community activity, there has been a significant differentiation between the three major streams of proposed and actual activity; firstly, those of mitigating of greenhouse gas emissions, secondly, identifyin...

The chapter questions what planners really mean when they display positive attitudes toward increased citizen participation via ICTs? Are they aiming for change or the reinforcement of existing values and practices? What are the assumptions that underlie and condition the explicit support for e-participation? In addressing these questions, this cha...

Experiments undertaken to develop political participation do not take place in a political and administrative vacuum. We closely examine the issue of continuity and change based on an experiment to increase citizen participation in city redevelopment in Sweden. The case is an illuminating example of the trend towards developing citizens' political...

This paper analyses the political process for handling an outbreak of an insect causing human allergic reactions. In the southern part of the Swedish island Gotland in the Baltic Sea, an outbreak of the northern pine processionary moth, Thaumetopoea pinivora, has occurred. With regard to the human nuisance and long-term effects on the tourist indus...

In this article local governance in the Swedish context is discussed. A case study of a Swedish city is framed in its historical, national and international context. By locating the redevelopment of an old harbour within a historical context, new insights are brought into the understanding of local governance. Cities are indeed nested. Deterioratin...

The focus of this article is the Swedish experience of local governance and climate change, including mitigation and adaptation. The municipal response to these two challenges is set within a broader policy context that acknowledges Sweden as a pioneer in environmental governance, including its comparatively high ambitions with regard to the reduct...

What do elites really mean when they display positive attitudes toward increased citizen participation via ICTs? Are they aiming for institutional change or the reinforcement of existing institutions? What are the assumptions that underlie and condition support for e-participa-tion? In addressing these questions, this article draws upon a survey qu...

Sweden, like many other European countries, is seeing a range of initiatives aimed at encouraging greater civic participation in political decision-making processes. This article is based on a study of the process that preceeded the transformation of the Södra Älvstranden area in Gothenburg. The process was characterized bu an evident ambition to u...

Climate change is one of the most challenging global issues today. Acknowledging no political or administrative borders it has to be tackled at all levels of society. This article focuses on how and to what degree Swedish municipalities cooperate with actors on different societal levels. How does politics, the levels of CO2 emissions and municipal...

The study presented in this paper is an in-depth study of a Swedish city. The phenomena discussed in the paper include political processes, history, different aspects of globalisation such as economy and structural change, city identity, competition between cities, urban governance and power. In conclusion this study shows how a specific urban proc...

During the last decade, numerous local government reforms influenced by New Public Management (NPM) ideology have taken place throughout Scandinavia. Based on case studies in three Scandinavian municipalities, the article discusses the effects of introducing strategic political management on the role of councillors. We observe a conflict between NP...