SEA IN THE CONTEXT OF LANDTUSE PLANNING

subsidies and green certificates), as well as legal instruments, is promoted as an effective wayof working towards the goals of sustainable development. The strategy promotes a broadersustainable assessment as an important instrument for the purposes of impact assessment“…at the international, as well as the national, regional and local levels in Sweden” (Comm2001/02:172).4.7.2 Sustainable development at the municipal levelAt the municipal level, extensive work has been carried out within the frame of Local Agenda21 (LA 21). 70% of Swedish municipalities have adopted local action plans(Miljödepartementet, 2002) and Sweden is the European country with the most widespreadengagement in LA 21 (Eckerberg 2001). According to Eckerberg the engagement in LA 21can be explained by support at the national level through campaigns, information andfunding, but in 1997 national support was introduced for local initiatives in the field ofecological sustainable development. In 2000 half of the Swedish municipalities had decided tointegrate the work on LA 21 in municipal comprehensive planning (Schulman and Troedson2001) and a detailed study of 10 municipalities has shown that integration of LA 21 andmunicipal comprehensive planning has led to environmental aspects receiving a larger part ofthe planning process as well as integration of different sectors (Eckerberg and Brundin 2000).Environmental quality norms and objectivesWith the introduction of the Environmental Code in 1999, new demands were made oncoordination between the environmental and the planning legislation. The requirements ofchapter 3 and 4 of the Environmental Code relating to management of water and land shallbe applied in planning and the provisions in chapter 5 on environmental quality norms(miljökvalitetsnormer) shall also be considered in planning. These requirements are a part ofthe cabinet’s and the parliament’s goal to develop the role of physical planning andcomprehensive municipal planning in the work for sustainable development (Riksrevisionen2005). Parallel to the growing interest in SEA, national environmental quality objectives weredeveloped and resulted in the parliament adopting 15 environmental quality objectives in1999 (Regeringskansliet 2001). The objectives are formulated with regard to nature’s capacityto absorb environmental impacts and focused mainly on aspects such as human health,biological diversity, cultural environment and nature. The national environmental qualityobjectives have been adopted at the regional and local levels, with the presentation of regionaland local environmental quality objectives. According to SAMS (Boverket, Naturvårdsverket 2000)the national environmental quality objectives provide an important framework for theimplementation of SEA. The relation between and coexistence of sustainability,environmental quality objectives and SEA was illustrated in the pilot study on SEAimplementation in municipal comprehensive planning, conducted by Bjarnadóttir andÅkerskog in 2003 (see below).However, the national environmental quality objectives (and indicators developed tomeasure them) have been criticized for focusing largely on aspects of the physicalenvironment and, as highlighted by Hedlund (2000), the choice of indicators is not purely ascientific issue, but needs to be identified and understood by several different stakeholders.Furthermore, the question arises as to whether the basis given for future SEA work with theexistence of the environmental indicators will lead the focus away from the over-arching aimsof the SEA process and will be instead preoccupied with developing methods to fulfil theenvironmental quality objectives?60