1. 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

2. 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

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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

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

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

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

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. Thank you for your attention!
Chiara Farné Fratini