Water councils’ role in integrated nature conservation of forests, land, and water - A case study of the Lygnern water council

Sammanfattning

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the potential of water councils to function as collaborative platforms for integrated nature conservation of forests, land and water. This is done through a case study of how collaboration is organised and practised in Lygnern Water Council. Although the study covers the period 2009–2026, the main analytical focus is on the council’s contemporary organisation, collaboration and practical work. The study uses Hedelin’s Sustainable Procedure Framework to analyse Lygnern Water Council through the sustainability principles of integration and participation.The study identifies several indications that Lygnern Water Council has potential to function as a collaborative platform for integrated nature conservation and nature restoration. These indications include its river basin scale, established networks, broad participation, local legitimacy and experience of practical water-related action work. The results show that Lygnern Water Council is an established collaborative platform between municipalities, county administrative boards, the Water Authority, landowners, companies and non-profit actors in the Rolfsån River Basin. Through local anchoring, existing networks and experience of water-related measures, the council has favourable conditions for contributing to more integrated nature conservation. The thesis broadens the understanding of water councils from arenas for water management to possible collaborative platforms for integrated nature conservation and landscape-based nature restoration by combining water management, participatory processes and nature restoration within a common analytical perspective.Overall, the study concludes that Lygnern Water Council, and water councils with similar organisational conditions, may function as collaborative platforms for integrated nature conservation and nature restoration. However, this potential is conditional and presupposes sufficient financial resources, additional competence in nature restoration, and that municipalities and county administrative boards use water councils as forums for coordinating planning processes, development projects and environmental measures that affect the river basin. The study also contributes by operationalizing the Sustainable Procedure Framework in the form of a calculation model that measures active members’ perceptions. The model can serve as a basis for structured comparisons of integration and participation in other water councils.