Authors

• Joas, Marko (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Public Administration)
• Kettunen, Aija (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Public Administration)
• Grönholm, Björn (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Public Administration)

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 municipal environmental functions. The main themes were the functioning of municipal environmental administration, its efficiency, the state of the environment and environmental problems occurring in municipalities.

First questions dealt with the basic organisation of municipal environmental functions: did the municipality manage them on its own or in cooperation with other municipalities. The municipality's environmental administration structure and overall administration structure were examined. The interaction of environmental administration was studied by asking how often the respondents were in contact with other persons, groups or bodies. The respondents were asked about their relations with the media, cooperation with regional environment centres and whether the foundation of regional environment centres had improved the regional administration cooperation. RThe respondents were asked to evaluate the overall state of their municipality's environment, whether the municipality had problems in certain areas, how serious these problems were and whether they had been monitored (e.g. the state of soil and ground water, waste management, noise level). The respondents were also asked to name five serious environmental conflicts which had occurred in the preceding five years, the parties involved and what the respondent had done to solve them. The survey included some questions pertaining to Local Agenda 21 (LA21), a sustainable development project.

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