In November 2007 the countries around the Baltic Sea signed the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP). The action plan was an initiative from HELCOM due to the environmental status in the Baltic Sea. The action plan implemented a new approach with measures targeting the whole ecosystem. Eutrophication, hazardous substances, biodiversity and maritime activities constituted the main segments. The parties were to establish national implementation plans to fulfil the BSAP goals, which shall lead to good environmental status in the Baltic Sea by 2021.   The aim of this thesis is to investigate the points in common regarding conceptions of eutrophication in the Baltic Sea between the management, the science, the media and the public. There are often complex connections between scientific knowledge and decision-making. With the purpose to elucidate these connections the risk management of eutrophication was compared with the scientific knowledge in the area along with the perceptions of the public and media. The implementation plans of the HELCOM parties differ in both content and ambitions. Overall the implementation plans are technical and many of them give no background descriptions to the causes of eutrophication. The scientific uncertainty that surrounds the calculation models of eutrophication is mentioned in about half of the implementations plans. Some uncertainty is mentioned due to the timescale of the effects of the measures. This can be compared with the fact that some scientists mean that the BSAP goals are unrealistic. Several parties mention the agriculture as an important sector for the reduction of the nutrient supply to the Baltic Sea. The Russian, Lithuanian and Estonian implementation plans also put forward the municipality treatment plants as important actors. There is a big difference between how many times the notion “eutrophication” is mentioned in the implementation plans. In the German implementation plan the notion is mentioned most frequently (29 times), while the Danish implementation plan only mention the notion twice. In the Finnish, Polish and German implementation plans eutrophication is described as a big threat. Only in the Latvian, Polish and German implementation plans eutrophication is described as a risk. The analysis of the implementation plan content shows that the parties has not succeeded to fully use the risk notion in relation to eutrophication. This can affect the risk governance, but also the perception of eutrophication among different stakeholders. Both media and politics affect the complex interactions that constitute the fundament of the relationship between scientific knowledge and public risk awareness. The consequence of eutrophication that is given most of the space in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter is algal growth. 73 % of the Swedes consider the algal growth as a rather big issue or a very big issue. A plausible conclusion is that there is a connection between the descriptions of eutrophication in Swedish media and the perceptions and knowledge of eutrophication by the Swedish respondents. The perceptions and management of eutrophication in the Baltic Sea are surrounded by complex interactions, uncertainty in the scientific basis and ambiguous opinions. Despite this eutrophication is often treated as a simple risk. For the purpose of successful implementation of the action plans is it important that the public participate in the elaboration of the risk measures. To accomplish real change it might be necessary to make the complex interactions more visible and to make the public participate more.

Despite early initiatives during the 1960s and 1970s, and continuing efforts ever since, the Baltic Sea remains in poor condition. The Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) is the governing body tasked with protecting the marine environment from further deterioration through intergovernmental collaboration between the Baltic Sea states and the EU. In 2007, HELCOM launched a new tool – the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP), of which the so-called ecosystem approach is a cornerstone. However, how and why the BSAP reform was launched, and also what consequences such management reforms can have for transboundary resource management, is unknown. By using institutional theory, organizational theory and the advocacy coalition framework, in combination with content analysis of official documents derived from HELCOM, this thesis argues that the BSAP is the end result of a gradual process of change within institutional structures and actor beliefs. This thesis also shows that HELCOM's capacity to detect, process, and react in response to changes in its regulatory objective has not changed as a consequence of the BSAP. In contrast to earlier research, it seems HELCOM responds better to slow and opaque changes than to quick and visible ones. Finally, by comparing HELCOM with two other similar cases, the thesis shows that HELCOM's adaptive capacity could be improved in line with the recommendations of the ecosystem approach. This thesis illustrates the importance of studying the emergence of new tools for governing transboundary resources from several theoretical perspectives. The thesis uses an innovative quantitative content analysis and concludes that new methods might be required to enable such studies. The different perspectives used here give various explanations concerning the causes and consequences of the BSAP. In a future Baltic Sea, where environmental changes are likely to be abrupt, a multitude of understandings regarding the governance of the Baltic Sea will be crucial. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Submitted. Paper 3: Submitted. Paper 4: In press.</p>

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