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Demokratiskolan
The Sustainability card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 32 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaEnvironment & resources
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe general election
Environment & resources

Sustainability

Ecological, economic & social sustainability

Sustainability is the word that is meant to hold everything together: the environment, the economy and people's conditions. Sweden has signed the UN's global goals, the EU turns them into binding rules, and at home the work is shared between the Riksdag, regions and municipalities. It sounds abstract, but the decisions land in your school canteen, your bus pass and your bin.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · plans, procurement & everyday life · approx 25 %
  • Region · regional development · approx 10 %
  • State · environmental targets & legislation · approx 35 %
  • EU · binding rules · approx 30 %

The responsibility is spread out: the central government sets the targets, the EU makes ever more of it binding and the municipalities turn it into everyday life. The general election weighs the most, but all four elections matter.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe everyday workshop
The regionThe development strategist
Central governmentThe targets & the laws · centre of gravity
Who decides?
The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige), the committees and the municipal companies.
The regional council (regionfullmäktige) and the regional development committee.
The Riksdag, the Government, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) and Statistics Sweden (SCB), which follows up on the targets.
What do they decide?
The comprehensive plan (översiktsplan), the procurement of food and construction, the energy companies, the schools and the social services. This is where sustainability becomes concrete.
The regional development strategy, public transport and public health work, three heavy sustainability tools.
The environmental targets system, the legislation and Sweden's work with the UN's global goals, Agenda 2030.
Where are decisions made?
In the municipal council and the committees, often with their own sustainability targets.
In the regional council, after dialogue with municipalities and the County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen).
In the Riksdag and in the agencies' follow-ups, open for everyone to read.
Who pays?
Municipal tax and charges. Procurement is one of the strongest tools.
Regional tax and central government development funds.
The central government budget: policy tools, grants and agencies.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Consultation on the comprehensive plan, citizen's proposals (medborgarförslag), local associations.
Regional election Consultation on the development strategy and the transport programmes.
General election The general election sets the direction. Referrals and follow-ups are open.
EUThe EU turns sustainability into binding rules: climate targets, chemicals laws and reporting requirements for companies. Influenced in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case A global goal becomes school food
  1. EU

    The goals become rules

    The UN's global goals are voluntary, but the EU turns them into binding legislation: climate targets, chemicals rules and requirements on companies' sustainability reporting. That gives the goals teeth.

  2. State

    The Riksdag sets Sweden's targets

    The Riksdag has decided the environmental targets system with the generational goal at the top, and the Government is responsible for Sweden's implementation of Agenda 2030. SCB and the Environmental Protection Agency measure how it is going.

    Point of influence

    The general election steers the level of ambition. The follow-ups are public and can be used in the debate.

  3. Region

    The region draws up the lines

    The regional development strategy sets out how the county is to develop sustainably, and public transport is the region's heaviest tool in practice.

    Point of influence

    The strategy is drawn up in open dialogue. Associations and residents can take part.

  4. Municipality

    The municipality procures

    The municipal council sets local targets, and procurement turns them into reality: requirements on the food for the school, the building materials in the new preschool, the electricity for the swimming hall.

    Point of influence

    Many municipalities accept citizen's proposals, and the consultations on the plans are open.

  5. Your everyday life

    The plate in the canteen

    The school food cooked from procured ingredients, the bus to work, the bin you sort into. The final stop of sustainability policy is completely ordinary everyday objects.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. What does sustainability mean concretely in your everyday life, beyond the word itself?

  2. Ecologically, economically and socially sustainable sometimes pull in different directions. What should weigh the most when they clash?

  3. Which sustainability requirements should your municipality set in its procurements?

  4. Is it fair to demand the same of all municipalities, rich and poor alike?

  5. Which decision would you change first if you got to decide in your municipality?

Glossary

Agenda 2030
The UN's 17 global goals for sustainable development, which Sweden has committed to work toward.
Generationsmålet
The Riksdag's overarching goal: to hand over a society where the major environmental problems are solved.
Regional utvecklingsstrategi
The region's long-term plan for the county's development, drawn up in broad dialogue.
Offentlig upphandling
When the central government, a region or a municipality buys goods and services, a heavy sustainability tool.
Hållbarhetsredovisning
Companies' reporting of environmental impact and social conditions, increasingly steered by EU requirements.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.