Hållbarhetscertifieringssystem och kommunalt hållbarhetsarbete
Hållbar utvecklingCertifieringssystemMiljöklassningSamhällsplaneringHållbar stadsplaneringKommunal planeringIndikatorer för hållbar utveckling
The municipalities of Sweden have a great responsibility when it comes to adapt the physical planning to a more sustainable development. The development of the society depends upon the growth of new communities and other public services, but to build new communities in a long-term sustainable manner you need good methods and guidance. This study presents four sustainability certification scheme intended to improve and adapt the planning, implementation and performance of new communities and infrastructure project to more sustainable methods based on economic, ecological and social sustainability. These systems are the latest versions of environmental classifications and similar rating schemes, but with a broader focus since they also include the social aspect of sustainability.This study aims to investigate what role sustainability certification schemes can play in local planning for sustainable development. The study compares the certification systems criteria to the tools and goals that the Swedish municipalities have been provided with, to lead efforts towards a more sustainable society. These tools include: the Swedish environmental objective ?A good built environment? as well as the Swedish strategy for sustainable development. The study also includes a survey and interviews which have been conducted to examine the local interest and knowledge of those systems as well as to find out what local authorities is in need of regarding its sustainability efforts.The study concludes that certification schemes may contribute to most of the issues that the municipalities requested during the survey and interviews; in particular better structure of their work on sustainability issues and a improved dialogue between different actors. The results demonstrate that the knowledge about the systems is relatively low, since half of the municipalities have not heard of sustainability certification systems. All though, the municipalities are clearly interested in the certification systems and especially to gain more knowledge and information about them. The interviewed municipalities were generally interested in, and saw several benefits with, the systems. Sustainability certification schemes also correspond well with several aspects of the different objectives and tools that have been studied, especially the environmental objective "A Good Built Environment".