Chiara Farné Fratini Postdoctoral Researcher The consequences of the dismantling of the Danish counties on the governance of ecological concerns Chiara Farné Fratini Postdoctoral Researcher Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transition

Research focus How can ”Environmental Governance” be organized to contribute to sustainable development? Envirinmental governance requires capacity cross-sectorial integrations among e.g. water, energy, landuse etc. Governance issues: Scale sensitivity “Governamentality” of ecological concerns Denmark as a case of fading ecological concerns in a context of large institutional reforms

Research design Grounded theory (postmodern approach) Longitudinal study Observations of cros-sectorial integration activities Text Analysis Interviews Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

Institutional reforms in DK 1970s: Ecological concerns entered Danish politics Environmental Ministry: policy making 14 Counties: monitoring, assessing, policy integration 277 Municipalities: operating and planning infrastructures 2007: Reform of the Planning Act Environmental Ministry: policy making, (monitoring) 98 Municipalities : policy integration, operating and planning infrastructures 2009: Water Sector Reform Utility Secretariat: regulating utilities for efficiency 98 Municipalities : policy integration Corporatized Utilities: planning and operating infrastructures Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

Water- Landuse Nexus (phase 1) Hygene as a discipline in Medicine 1868 First protest against surface water pollution 1930 Association of Public Health 1878 Cholera Epidemic 1853 Hygene as a discipline in Engineering 1865 1930s Mechanical treatment plants were implemented 1856 First water supply 1860 First sewer system 1901 First complete system Establishment of the Ministry of Environment 1970 Water- Landuse Nexus (phase 1) Administrative reform: 277 Municipalities 14 Counties 1968 Dead Norwegian lobsters TV News 1986 Environmental Protection Act 1973 Water Protection Act 1974 Groundwater as sole supply source 1988 Full cost recovery water fees 1995 NPO Report 1985 APAE I 1987 EuWFD 2000 APAE II 1997 1988 Patented Advanced Biological treatment technologies Water- Energy Nexus Water- Urban Planning Nexus (phase 2) Extreme Flooding in Copenhagen 2010 Copenhagen Cloud Burst Plan 2012 Reform of Danish EPA and Publication of AFV Document 2001 Administrative reform: Devolution of Counties 2007 National Action Plan for Green innovation 2010 Extreme Flooding In Gråsten, Odense, Greve 2007 climate factor as de facto standard 2008 Water Sector Law 2009 Modification to Water Sector Law 2013 2002 Harbour Baths Opened 2007 First LAR project 2008 19k project 2010 VIB project

Water-Landuse Nexus 1970s: Establishment of the Environmental Ministry Danish counties responsible for integrating ecological concerns into national and muncipal agendas Publication of NPO Report Publication of a number of Action Plans (I&II) Strong opposition of the farmers – increasing political tensions Pollution control mostly focused on improving environmental performances of infrastructures (e.g. implementing WWTP) 1999: OECD declared that the results are not satisfactory due to pollution from agricultural sources, recommending to further empower counties, enforce catchment based planning and extend water taxes to industries Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

Water - Urban Planning Nexus 2001: Danish EPA was reformed shifting poltical concerns from ecological to human health related 2007: Counties were dimantelled – environmental monitoring/assessments deprioritized and policy integration was transferred to municipalities 2007: OECD assesses little results and points to the existing environmental taxes exceptions for industries and farmers Policy integration of the water-landuse nexus occurs only in urban renewal projects (e.g. and do not apply outside urban contexts) Ecological concerns replaced by liveability and human safety/health concerns 2007: OECD assesses little results and points to the existing exceptions for industries and farmers Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

Ecological concerns mediating urban liveability Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

Water Framework Directive Before 2007 Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

Water Framework Directive After 2007 Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

Local rather than catchment based solutions A more recent example of the new ‘place making’ function attributed to water are experimentations to integrate green urban infrastructures in the management of urban water. An early expression of this idea was a research project named 2BG, which stand for black blue and green and was characterized by an attempt to integrate green infrastructures to the piped below ground water infrastructure to develop more sustainable urban water systems. It was argued that such a water-oriented re-design of the green city could simultaneously relieve the pressure on the traditional piped water networks in case of storm water events and generate urban value by developing new green areas, wetlands and watercourses in the city. Such a vision was further explored and developed in two subsequent projects called ‘19K’ and ‘vand-i-byer’, which aimed at engaging more actively with municipal water managers and the water industry. These projects generated a network of actors who engaged in experimentations with integrated and multi-functional above ground water infrastructures, similar to those shown in the figures.

Water-Energy Nexus 2009: Water Sector Reform – efficiency requirements only based on infrastructural operations Utility secretariat’s benchmarking solely based on the economic performances Green growth policies focusing on low carbon transitions rather than ecological quality of nature Corporatized utilities strategize for decreasing operational costs: increasing focus on energy saving and energy production (e.g. from sludge) Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

Two opposing nexus framings Place-making nexus Efficient nexus Vision: Attractive spaces: the city as “a place for everyone” Dynamism/diversity Informal collaborative routines Heterogeneous professionals Aims: Groundwater quality Social innovation Urban liveability Vision: Sectorialization of utilities: “indipendent from politics” Market opportunities System optimization Specialized professional Aims: Economic efficiency CO2 neutrality Export of professional expertises My analysis shows that Danish water management practices are today characterized by two distinctive and partly conflicting innovation models: On one side there is what I defined the innovation of place. Such a perspective describe the urban space as a space for everyone. Cities are descrined as dynamic entieies able to fit the diversity of expectations characterizing the multiciplicity of actors populating them. Within such immaginary collaborative routines are promoted and through such process the engineer becomes aware of the political effect of management practices. Whereas, on the other side the innovation of function see water as a sector not politically involved with other political areas and see the development of market opportunities within the water sector a priority. Thus promoting system optimazation and specialized technical competences for the water engineer. While both innovation trajectories aim at gaining international visibility, the innovation of place do that by stimulating local identies aiming at improving urban living and supply clean and green environments. The innovation of function, instead, prioritize green growth economic efficiency and the export of Danish expertises. However, despite I present here a clear cut biforcation of innovation trajectories, my claim is that the strategies and intentions that inform these two urban innovation trajectories cannot be grasped from a linearized and objective helicopter point of view. Rather, in this presentation I would like to show how urban contexts are characterised by a multiplicity of actors and actors constellations, who engage in a continuous and diversified ordering activities on the base of their vision and interest on existing sociotechnical system. As a consequence, urban transformations are shaped by the way in which these strategic activities generate the necessary capacity to guide system building efforts and boundary reconfigurations. As a consequence, to understand urban socio-technical systems from a governance perspective more attention needs to be paid to the ongoing strategic work that is continuously invested in guiding system building efforts. To provide the foundation to this claim, in this presentation I will analyse two major boundary work activities, which are characterizing such an apparent cross-cutting bifurcation of innovation trajectories.

As a result…. 2012: European Union declares that the ecological performances of Danish water management practices are quite dissatisfactory (i.e. lack of appropriate and transparent methods for monitoring and assessing ecological qualities of water resources) Water utilities merging: 1) covering larger areas than municipal political boundaries ; 2) lobbing for having ownership of water resources to facilitate integrated management between natural resources and the water infrastructure Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

DANVA - about project ownership “Cost efficient projects are not being implemented because the municipalities do not have the resources […]. By granting the water utilities opportunities for project ownership and management, there is an increased possibility that such projects are initiated, that the competences in the water utilities are fully exploited, and that coordination of below ground solutions (sewers) and other above ground solutions is ensured” Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

To conclude… Ecological concerns fading due to the dismantlement of counties Counties had a key mediating roles between local and national politics Utility merging, as a response to such gap, might have important consequnces on democracy Shift of focus of environmental policies: from ecological to low-carbon transformations Highlight the importance of scale sensitivity when organizing nexus governance Suggest the need for further studies on the governamentality of ecological concerns in nexus governance processes Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

Thank you for your attention! Chiara Farné Fratini chiff@plan.aau.dk