Abstract
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is the key document on sustainable use and conservation of biological resources. A measure to conserve the biological diversity (BD) within European Union is the selection of Natura 2000 areas, an ecological network of specially protected areas. The Swedish parliament have also, in Nov 2005, decided up on a 16th environmental quality objective - a rich diversity of plant and animal life. Experience from international and national BD implmentation work shows that consious considerations to BD need to permeate all societal levels of policy and planning (PP). Recent reserch stress the insufficient connection that exist between goals formulated at national level and the day-to-day practice in local authorities and regional governing bodies. Immature intitutional links beween different governmental bodies is one explenation. The post-doc position consists of two phases. The first one aims at scrutinising national discourses and goals on BD and the relation between these goals and regional and local PP-processes. The second phase will investigare actors in regional and local governing bodies and their experience of implementing BD and Natura 2000-areas in PP-processes. The purpose is to develop links and coordination between different insitutional levels of BD implementation in PP-practice and to illuminate potential conflicts.
Sweden