The aim of the thesis is to study municipal planning for wind power in two Swedish municipalities, Karlstad and Säffle. The planning process is divided into three phases which are examined. The thesis discusses aspects of power and democracy of the cases as well as citizen participation and local issues concerning wind power at Lake Vänern. These are the research questions: - How is the wind power policy framed in the three phases of the planning process? - Which are the influence factors of the wind power policy in the three phases and what degree of influence have each of the influence factors? - Which values are most influential in the planning process and which groups of actors express them - in the beginning of the planning process? - in the termination of the planning process? - How is the democratic legitimacy of the planning process, in terms of the models ´liberal democracy´ and ´participatory democracy´? - What are the conditions of planning for wind power at Lake Vänern - by the coast? - in the open water area? Influential factors of the first phase of the process are the national wind survey, applications from wind power enterprises as well as a political will and consensus. In the second and third phases factors within the local administration management as well as the regional administrative board and a neighbouring municipality, are of importance in the municipality of Karlstad. In the municipality of Säffle citizen participation from a local opinion is of importance. The thesis discusses also the influence of the national energy authority, which has defined some areas as ´national interests of wind power’. These areas may be influential when supporting the municipal wind power policy. But in the termination of the planning process both municipalities make decisions which are not in favour of wind power in these areas. The planning process is democratic legitimate from a view of the model ´liberal democracy´ in the municipality of Karlstad and the model ´participatory democracy´ in the municipality of Säffle. In the municipality of Säffle values of preserving nature by the coasts are influential in the beginning of the process as well as a political will to promote wind power. The municipality is initially part of the same value group as the regional administrative board. In the termination of the process the municipality and a local opinion group express the same values in favour of social support among citizens and a lesser amount of new wind power areas. In the municipality of Karlstad values in favour of the wind power industry dominate in the beginning of the process. Later values of preserving an area of Lake Vänern from exploitation dominate. Initially the municipality is in the same value group as the wind power enterprises; in the later parts of the process the municipality is in the same value group as a neighbouring municipality with other opinions on wind power as well as the regional administrative board. In the termination of the process a new group of actors appears in Karlstad municipality. This group of actors wants to preserve a national heritage from nearby exploitation but is not successful. Local issues concerning wind power by Lake Vänern are finally also discussed. The coastal area has a strong protection for wind power; a protection that is weaker in the open water area. Remaining issues are about the interaction within the groups of actors.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:oru-23448 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Andersson, Mattias |
| Publisher | Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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