Authors

• Joas, Marko (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Public Administration)
• Kettunen, Aija (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Public Administration)
• Hermanson, Ann-Sofie (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Political Science)

Keywords

conflict, environment, environment policy, environmental conservation, environmental degradation, environmental management, local government, local government officers, public administration

Abstract

The survey studied municipal (local) environmental administration, the role played by the elected officials and cooperation between different bodies in the management of environmental functions in municipalities. The main themes were the functioning of municipal environmental administration, its efficiency, state of the environment and environmental problems occurring in municipalities.

First questions dealt with the basic organisation of the municipal environmental functions: did the municipality manage them on its own or in cooperation with other municipalities. The respondents were asked to which extent their job included environmental functions and how the municipality's environmental administration and the overall administration was organised. The role of the elected officials was surveyed by asking which committee or other elected body managed the environmental issues and whether the respondent acted as a presenter of environmental issues in any committee. The interaction of environmental administration was examined by asking how often respondents were in contact with other persons, groups or bodies, which factors hindered communication and who normally initiates the contact. Environmental conservation's efficiency and functioning was studied by asking whether certain aspects of the municipal environment (e.g. hazardous waste disposal systems) had improved in the last five years, what the role of the environmental administration had been, and how big an effort the municipality had made to improve the environment. The respondents were asked to evaluate the overall state of their municipality's environment, whether certain environmental problems occurred in their municipality, how serious they were and whether they had been monitored (e.g. state of the soil and ground water, air pollution and noise level). The respondents were also asked to name five serious environmental conflicts which had occurred in the last five years in their municipality and which parties had been involved. The respondents' environmental attitudes and behaviour and the characteristics of their job were also surveyed.

Background variables included the name of the municipality, the respondent's age, sex and education, length of working experience in environmental management, length of other working experience, political inclinations and membership in organisations.