Towards Sustainability Management Systems in three Swedish Local Authorities

Sara Emilsson and Olof Hjelm, Environmental Technology and Management, Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, Sweden To cite this Article Emilsson, Sara and Hjelm, Olof(2009)'Towards sustainability management systems in three Swedish local authorities',Local Environment,14:8,721 — 732

Abstract

This paper explores the development towards sustainability management systems

(SMSs) in three Swedish local authorities. Many local authorities have extensive

experience using standardised Environmental Management Systems (EMSs). Recently

EMSs have extended their reach by widening the scope of the systems including other

dimensions of sustainable development. Case studies have been performed in three of

the most EMS experienced local authorities in Sweden. These authorities have extended

their EMSs into a sustainability management approach in different ways. This paper

discusses the development, possible contributions, and constraints with this

development. Expanding EMSs into SMSs can be seen as a learning process in which a

larger systems perspective leads to increased awareness that the management system

becomes limited by only managing environmental issues. Expanding the EMSs into

SMSs may lead to a more complete view of the organisation’s total impact on nature

and society and issues that need to be managed.

Keywords: Sustainability Management Systems, Environmental Management, local

authorities

Introduction

Standardised Environmental Management Systems (EMSs, according to the principles

in ISO 14001 and EMAS) has become a common way of organising and structuring the

environmental management efforts within organisations. In the end of 2006 there were

at least 129 000 ISO 14001 certificates and 5000 EMAS registrations world wide

(Corporate Risk Management, 2009). In many organisations, the EMSs have shifted

focus and expanded in their scope by also embracing other dimensions of sustainable

development, for example the social and the economic dimensions. To meet and support

this development, for example ISO (International Organization of Standardization) is

developing a guidance standard on social responsibility, ISO 26000 (see ISO, 2008).

There are also a wide range of other sustainability management initiatives such as

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI, see Global Reporting Initiative, 2008) and the UN

initiative Global Compact (see Global Compact, 2008).

This paper focuses local authorities. Although the EMS tool seems to have had a

stronger hold in the private sector, local authorities in many countries use EMSs (e.g.,

UK, Norway, Canada, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, the US, and Japan (Aall, 1995;

Riglar, 1997; Bekkering and McCallum 1999; Honkasalo, 1999; Cockrean, 2001;

Emilsson and Hjelm, 2002a and b; GETF, 2002; Ito, 2003)). Even though local

authorities rarely aim for certification of the EMSs (Emilsson and Hjelm, 2005), they

often use ISO 14001 and/or EMAS as guidance for developing their own locally

adapted standards that suit their organisations’ needs. We have also observed local

authorities that are in the process of expanding their EMSs to a broader sustainability

approach (Emilsson and Hjelm, 2007a).

In this paper, we describe the development in three selected Swedish local authorities

that have extended their EMSs to a broader sustainability management approach. Over

the last ten years or so, the roles of, and perhaps also the expectations on Swedish local

authorities have changed from mainly being an authority controlling the local territory

to taking further social responsibility that also more extensively includes the citizens

and other stakeholders (Emilsson, 2005). The local authorities are now more of a co-

actor and driver in the struggle towards sustainable development. The aim of this paper

is to study different strategies and approaches that can be used for expanding the EMSs

into a broader sustainability management context. The observed approaches are

analysed in relation to Senge’s et al (2005) theories of learning. This originates in

observations from our earlier studies in Swedish local authorities, where development

and use of EMSs were concerned as a maturity process connected to organisational

learning (Emilsson and Hjelm, 2007a).

Methodology

This paper is based on an explorative study where the empirical evidence was gathered

in two phases. The first data collection took place in 2006 using multiple case study

design (inspired by Yin, 1994) where three Swedish local authorities – Botkyrka,

Uddevalla, and Växjö – were analysed. Two years later, in early 2008, a complementary

interview study was performed with the central environmental/sustainability co-

ordinators in each of the three local authorities.

Botkyrka, Uddevalla and Växjö were selected because of our previous knowledge of

their extensive experience using EMSs since they have been parts of our earlier studies

(see e.g. Emilsson and Hjelm 2002a, 2002b, 2004, 2005 and 2007). Another important

selection criterion is that they are in the process of expanding their EMSs with a

sustainability management approach. Moreover, because Botkyrka, Uddevalla and

Växjö have chosen different approaches to EMSs, they provide a diverse perspective

about how to broaden their EMSs. Clearly, these three authorities do not represent the

average local authority in Sweden. By focusing on these diverse authorities, this study is

concerned with specific examples rather than with general claims about the

sustainability management development in Swedish local authorities.

The data for the case study was collected through interviews with key actors and

documentation studies. Since EMS studies have been performed before in these local

authorities, earlier collected empirical data was added to the new empirical evidence to

obtain a wider understanding of the local authorities’ expansion of their EMSs (see

Emilsson and Hjelm 2002a, 2002b, 2004, 2005 and 2007). This multiple source of

information was important to establish different views on the issues and increase the

external and internal validity of the study.

In total, 13 interviews were performed for the case studies. In each of the case studies,

local interviews were held with three actors:

• Central environmental co-ordinator,

• Central activity planner/ head of development

• Politicians responsible for planning and environmental issues.

The interviews were semi-structured. That is, we prepared themes for the interviews;

however, the interviewer were not tied to a strict interview guide. This approach was

chosen since we wanted a broad picture of their efforts. In addition, we believed that

this picture would be more properly described if the interviews were not too structured.

The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed shortly after each interview. The

transcriptions were sent to each of the respondents so they could confirm their accuracy.

The interviews in 2006 concerned the development and scope of the local authorities’

EMSs and how the EMSs were linked to other management systems/approaches. Very

early in the study it became clear that the local authorities’ EMSs had been extended

also to include other perspectives of sustainability.

In 2008, this finding was followed up by an interview study focusing on the

development towards sustainability management. Questions asked were how the local

authorities would like to work with sustainability issues, and what they believe are the

prerequisites for managing sustainability. The data collection included telephone

interviews with the central environmental co-ordinators in Botkyrka, Uddevalla, and

Växjö (these individuals also took part in the 2006 interviews). In all of these local

authorities, the central environmental co-ordinator also has the co-ordination

responsibility for sustainability issues.

The empirical evidence was first compiled to build the picture of each organisation’s

efforts to sustainability management approaches. The data was then cross analysed for

the three cases. When discussing and explaining the results, we use theories developed

by Senge et al. (2005).

Case study results

This chapter compiles the data collected from the case studies. The strategies and

approaches of each local authority are described and the opinions of the respondents are

presented.

Botkyrka, Uddevalla and Växjö are similar in population size, but different in their

character (Table 1). The Swedish Association for local authorities and Regions

(SALAR) has classified the Swedish local authorities in nine different categories based

on the organisations’ structural parameters such as population, commuting patterns, and

economic structure (SALAR, 2004). Botkyrka is a suburban municipality. Uddevalla is

categorised as “other municipality with more than 25 000 inhabitants”. Växjö is

classified as a large city. A brief summary of Botkyrka, Uddevalla, and Växjö and their

EMS history and status are presented in the table below in order to give the reader some

background information on the local authorities.

Table 1. Brief description of the studies local authorities’ characteristics.

Characteristics Botkyrka Uddevalla Växjö

Classification (SALAR, 2004)

Suburban municipality Other municipality, more than 25 000 inhabitants

Large City

Number of inhabitants (as by the end of 2007)

79 031 50 921 79 562

Year of EMS initiation Political decision 1992 Actual initiation 1996/97

1999 Political decision 2000. Actual initiation 2002

Type of EMS Locally developed standard

EMAS ecoBUDGET

Status of EMS All departments certified to locally developed EMS standard

EMAS registered on a local authority basis

All departments have ecological budgets

Other management approaches

Balanced scorecards Long term activity plans

Balanced scorecards Budget system as activity planning tool

Added sustainability components

Locally developed sustainability standard Aalborg charter signatory

Citizen influence- methods (Rural Sustainable Livelihood)

Integrated management system Aalborg charter signatory Social budget added to Eco-budget

Botkyrka

In Botkyrka, EMS implementation started in 1996/97. This management approach had

support in the local Agenda 21 action plan. Botkyrka developed its own standard (with

ISO 14001 as inspiration) according to the local authority’s local conditions and needs.

The systems contain eight criteria that all departments have to fulfil (Botkyrka kommun,

2006):

• designating EMS responsibility to a person in the management,

• developing a policy for EMS,

• forming a group that works actively with the issues within the specific

department,

• performing a review that describes how the department will manage the aspects

that are included in the certificate,

• formulating targets,

• formulating action programmes,

• training programme, and

• developing an internal audit programme.

In Botkyrka, each department has to decide how to meet the criteria and how to design

the EMS. This means that there are several EMSs and their EMS work is decentralised.

Botkyrka’s EMS is part of their quality management systems and is, according to the

respondents, well integrated into their organisation and its activities. All of the

departments are internally authorized according to their local EMS certification. In the

autumn of 2004, they began to work towards the development of a new sustainability

approach that they named a “sustainability management certification”. It contains the

same criteria as the EMS apart from that there is no requirement on formulating a

policy. Another difference is that their sustainability management certification, apart

from the environmental perspective, also includes the economic, social, and employee

perspectives. In 2005, they piloted the sustainability standard in 18 pilot units and

Botkyrka aims at sustainability certification of all their departments and units in 2008.

One of the reasons for the expansion of the EMS is that the departments found it

difficult to identify new improvements to their EMSs, for example in the department of

social services with little direct environmental impact. The sustainability management

certification was launched and thought of as something that strengthened the already

existing EMS and not as some new management system.

“One of the positive experiences from having an integrated approach

to the three dimensions in sustainable development is that we get an

improved comprehensive view of the situation. When you have to

make prioritizations, it is easier to understand why and in what way

they should be made if you are exposed to all aspects and dimensions

at the same time.” (statement from the environmental co-ordinator in

Botkyrka)

The respondents mean that the sustainability management certification has support in

and supports the local authority’s long term activity plans and their overall quality

management system. In Botkyrka the quality management system is inspired by

balanced scorecard methodology. The idea of balanced scorecard was introduced within

quality management terminology by Kaplan and Norton (1992) and is a framework for

strategic management performance improvements that focuses four management

perspectives. Apart from considering the financial perspective of the organisation, this

approach also covers the business processes, customers (or stakeholders) and learning

and growth. The organisation needs to formulate goals, strategies and measures within

each perspective and ensure that these are followed-up. The core idea of balanced

scorecard methodology is to focus on strategy and vision, not control.

Furthermore, the Aalborg charter has been of great importance in Botkyrka, especially

for strengthening the links between the political and employee levels in the

organisation. The Aalborg charter was stipulated by the participants in a conference in

Aalborg, Denmark in 1994 that was organised by the European Cities and Towns

campaign. In 2008, more than 2500 local authorities in Europe had signed the Aalborg

charter (Aalborg commitments, 2008) and there were 23 Aalborg charter signatories in

Sweden (out of 290 local authorities). The commitments encompass ten themes under

which the local authorities formulate their challenges/commitments (Aalborg

commitments, 2008):

1. governance,

2. local management towards sustainability,

3. natural common goods,

4. responsible consumption and lifestyle choices,

5. planning and design,

6. better mobility, less traffic,

7. local action for health,

8. vibrant and sustainable local economy,

9. social equity and justice, and

10. local to global.

Botkyrka signed the Aalborg charter in 2004. They have identified and formulated six

main long term challenges based on the Aalborg charter (Botkyrka kommun, 2007).

These are related to employment, social security, education, climate changes, public

health, and democracy. According to Botkyrka, the challenges permeate and are

integrated in the local authority’s core activities. This means that the Aalborg

commitments have a natural connection to both their local Agenda 21 and the

sustainability management system.

Uddevalla

The environmental management in Uddevalla is based on their balanced scorecard,

where environment is one of 18 strategies. The EMS work was initiated in 1999. Since

2004, Uddevalla local authority is registered according to EMAS. One important factor

of success in Uddevalla mentioned by the respondents is that the EMS was implemented

as an environmental adaption of already existing activities and organisational structures.

They mean that their EMS is well integrated in the organisation and its daily work.

There are 15 general environmental targets that all departments have to work towards.

These are broken down on departmental level and the departments also design

departmental specific targets. Until recently, the EMS work has been limited to the local

authority organisation, but the efforts are now expanded to also include support and

engagement for the local businesses and citizens to increase their environmental

awareness. Uddevalla’s strategy was to first get their own house in order.

“Since we are a public authority and work very closely to the citizens, we

thought that the EMS should influence and reflect the citizens’ and local

businesses’ ideas. Therefore, the next step is to include targets and action

plans based on what they feel is important.” (statement from the environmental

co-ordinator in Uddevalla)

Sustainable Livelihood is one important source of inspiration that Uddevalla has used in

their challenge to develop their environmental management to sustainability

management. There are several definitions and ideas concerning this concept (Ashley

and Carney, 1999). Scoones (1998) describes some key elements that the concept could

encompass:

• Creation of working days,

• Poverty reduction,

• Well-being and capabilities,

• Livelihood adaptation, vulnerability, and resilience, and

• Natural resource base sustainability.

In Uddevalla, the focus has so far been on “sustainable citizen dialogue”, where broad-

based participation has been the main theme (see Uddevalla kommun, 2007). The

purpose of this pilot project is to find tools to measure the local authority’s

achievements and customer satisfaction, which in turn is seen as a way of

complementing the already existing EMS. In the first pilot project, they chose one

neighbourhood (in a rural area) where the citizens had the opportunities to contribute to

changes. Issues such as local environmental objectives, social measures (youth

activities, bus shelters, speed limits through the village, and street lighting) were

considered.

Växjö

The Växjö local authority uses the budget system as their activity planning tool. This is

also one of the reasons why the local authority chose the ecoBUDGET model when

designing their EMS. The ecoBUDGET is a territorial political management instrument

that includes citizens, local businesses, and the local authority (ICLEI, 2004). This

means that it is specifically designed for local authorities. The development of

ecoBUDGET has its origin in the Aalborg Charter 1994. This instrument is developed

by ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability). The concept consists of three main

principles (ICLEI, 2004), where political commitment is of utmost importance:

• Resemblance of procedures and principles of financial budgeting,

• Plan-Do-Check-Act management cycle (the Deming cycle), and

• Sustainable development.

The fact that the EMS in Växjö uses the same organisation and structure as the financial

budget system means that it is well integrated into the organisation and its overall

activities. The ecoBUDGET also uses the same account system for reporting. Växjö

made their first ecological budget in 2003 although there had been several years of

preparation and organisational anchoring before that. The ecoBUDGET in Växjö also

follows their Local Agenda 21 strategy from 1999 and their environmental policy.

There are local guidelines for organisational structure and responsibilities, how to deal

with non conformity and negative results (Växjö local authority, 2004). The city council

decides on the ecological overall budget and each committee makes their budget. This

means that it is the top management that owns the system; however, there are

representatives and coordinators throughout the organisation. The committees must

deliver balance reports for part of the year and also annual reports to the city council.

The ecoBUDGET does not only include the local authority departments, but also

society and the stakeholders. Despite that the ecoBUDGET intends to include the

concept of sustainable development, in the beginning, Växjö worked mainly with the

environmental perspective. In the autumn of 2007, they expanded their ecoBUDGET

with a social budget. By using a social budget, Växjö now intends to work more

systematically with issues such as integration, equality, child convention, health, and

democracy. One important trigger was Växjös participation in Managing urban Urban

Europe 25, MUE25..This was an EU project which concerned the issue of integrating

the EMSs with the local authorities’ work with the Aalborg commitments (Aalborg

commitments, 2008), and local Agenda 21. The project resulted in guidance on how to

develop an integrated management system using previous local work in this field (see

MUE25, 2008).

“Växjö has worked with the social issues before in different ways, but

the difference with the social budget is that these are now managed in a

more systematic way, and the follow up and reporting of social issues

have improved “ (stated by the environmental co-ordinator in Växjö)

Once the new approach has settled, this will become their sustainability management

system. Växjö is also an Aalborg charter signatory. In the case of Växjö, the Aalborg

charter has been important since it is the backbone in the EU project MUE25 (MUE25,

2008).

Common characteristics

Despite the different ways of expanding the EMSs with a sustainability perspective in

Botkyrka, Uddevalla and Växjö, there are some common characteristics observed in the

case studies that are presented here. The new approaches being developed in these

organisations all build on already existing organisational structures and management

systems and the respondents experienced them as integrated in day to day activities. The

local authorities in this study all stress the importance of having a functional overall

organisation in place before these kinds of approaches are implemented. The overall

organisational management system (the balanced scorecards in Botkyrka and Uddevalla

and the budget system in Växjö) is the backbone of their approaches. They all mention

the importance of developing sustainability management from already existing

structures and to do it at their own pace. They also underline the importance of total

support from the top management. It is pointed out as important that the top

management is aware that implementing an EMS or other management approaches is

not a time-limited project, but a long-term commitment. Another issue that was

discussed in many of the interviews was that when developing the EMS to a broader

sustainability management, it might be necessary to ensure that there are enough

competencies in the co-ordination function. In these local authorities, it is the EMS

coordinator that has the operational coordination responsibility also for the new

sustainability management approach.

Analysis of the general development towards

Sustainability Management Systems (SMSs)

The results from this research show that when the studied local authorities have

developed their sustainability management, they have chosen to stay with the already

established EMS structure and work procedures. This can be interpreted as if the EMSs

are underway being transitioned into Sustainability Management Systems (SMSs).

While Växjö and Uddevalla are early in this phase of integrating the social issues with

the EMSs, the SMS thinking in Botkyrka is settled. All three local authorities in this

study have expanded their sustainability approaches by involving external stakeholders

to a higher degree and by expanding the scope of the EMSs by other sustainability

dimensions. This shows that the systems’ perspectives have broadened along with the

maturity of the EMSs in the three local authorities. Based on this study and earlier

research in this field (see Emilsson and Hjelm 2002a and b, 2004, 2005, and 2007), we

have sketched a map of the development from EMSs to SMSs in (Swedish) local

authorities (Table 2). This is a schematic and generalised picture of the development,

which of course is not valid for all local authorities. The development towards SMSs

could be seen as a maturity process where, in most cases, all phases of development are

of importance for the further development.

Table 2. The development towards Sustainability Management Systems in Swedish local authorities.

First generation EMSs

Mature EMSs SMSs

Organisational focus

Mainly technical departments

Internal

All departments

All departments

Society

Scope Direct environmental impact

Direct and indirect environmental impact

Direct and indirect environmental impact

Sustainability

Actors Mainly the environmental experts in the organization

Central environmental co-ordinator

Most employees

External stakeholders

Central environmental/ sustainability co-ordinator

Most employees

External stakeholders

Position in organizations

Separate from other activities

Integrated in the overall management system

Integrated in the overall management system

First generation EMSs have a narrow systems perspective. This is demonstrated by

limitations in organisational focus, scope and actors. The organisational focus is often

on the technical departments, since such departments resemble companies in the private

sector and the fact that technical departments are exposed to competition with private

companies (Emilsson and Hjelm, 2002b). In addition, the first generation EMSs mainly

include issues that are fairly easy to measure and follow up (such as use of resources

and transports) and the EMS are most often mainly the concern of the environmental

experts in the local authorities.

When the EMS methodology and ideas are settled in the organisation, the EMSs can be

expanded to cover the direct environmental impact of such activities as transports and

resource use as well as indirect environmental impact such as environmental impact

from education, advice, and decisions (Emilsson and Hjelm, 2007a). Furthermore, when

the EMS thinking has settled, it opens up for the organisational focus to cover the entire

local authority organisation and to have a more integrated approach to the EMS, where

it is incorporated into the general management system. We call such EMSs mature.

We define a SMS as a management system having the same ground features as a mature

EMS, but covering a broader sustainability perspective. The step from EMS to SMS is

also due to the maturity of thinking. There are several reasons behind this development

observed in the studies local authorities. As mentioned, Botkyrka experienced

difficulties finding new improvements in the EMS work. By expanding the EMS with

the social dimension, it was found easier to find improvements and also to motivate

departments with less obvious direct environmental impact (such as department of

social services) to actively work with the EMS/SMS. Another reason for developing

SMSs is that the studied local authorities find it difficult to single out the environmental

issues in their management system and realise that it is more relevant to integrate other

dimensions as well in order to develop a more effective general management where all

aspects are taken into consideration (Emilsson and Hjelm, 2007b). The environmental

dimension should have the same priority as all other dimensions in order to have a

functional management system.

Discussion

The situation we observe now is similar to the situation in the beginning of the 1990s

when many organisations did serious and good efforts to reduce their negative

environmental impact, but there was little co-ordination between the efforts. Then

support was found in the EMS standards and the EMSs implemented often worked (at

least in local authorities) as a co-ordinator of the existing environmental efforts

(Emilsson and Hjelm, 2002b). In some ways, the history repeats itself. The

sustainability concept in the studied local authorities has gone through a renaissance

from mainly having an environmental focus to also include the other dimensions. This

has generated a demand or need for something that supports and co-ordinates various

efforts that is done to encourage sustainable development. Ideas on how local

authorities EMSs could be transformed into SMS have flourished for more than a

decade. Levett’s thinking, for example, about transforming EMAS into a sustainability

management and audit scheme SMAS (Levett, 1996) is about to materialize (but

perhaps in a different way).

The wider systems perspective (systems thinking) that comes with the SMS approaches

in the studied local authorities is evident. This means that the local authorities realise

that the environmental issues need to be dealt with in the greater context. The wider

systems perspective in the local authorities and their development could be described

using a mental learning model described by Senge et al. (2005), see fig 1.

Figure 1. Theoretical model of deep learning (Senge et al., 2005).

Thinking Doing Increasing awareness of the

whole

Actio

n th

at in

crea

sing

ly

serv

es th

e w

hole

Learning is composed of two components – thinking and doing (Senge et al., 2005). The

way we act and react depends on situations, traditions, and established mental models.

Reactive learning is when we rely on already existing practice and what is known. This

is a rather common way of learning leading to business as usual solutions. Deeper levels

of learning implies, according to Senge et al. (2005), that there is an increasing

awareness of the whole that is converted to actions that increasingly serves the whole

(Figure 1). Senge et al. (2005) illustrates this as a “U” where there are different levels of

learning (i.e., thinking connected to action). Deep down the “U” means a deeper

learning. However, to achieve deep learning it is of utmost importance to work up the

“U” where the increased awareness is converted to action or “doing”. The first phase

when moving down the “U” is called sensing. This is where perceptions are

transformed. This begins with seeing issues from one’s own perspective and gradually

expanding the perspective to encompass the whole. The second phase, which is down at

the bottom of the “U”, is called Presencing and this is where one’s own will and self are

transformed to enable action according to one’s widened awareness. The third and last

phase in the “U” theory is where the awareness is transformed into action. The last

phase begins with crystallising what needs to be done and to test and ensure that this

new approach has support and is accepted. Finally, the new way of acting or the new

attitudes are brought into action and institutionalised. The movement through the “U” is

not a single trip but a repeated movement.

When relating this to the results in this study and the widened systems perspective in the

studied local authorities when it comes to EMSs, we can see that they all realise the

need of expanding the EMSs with the social dimension in order to develop a wider

management system and approach. We interpret this as Botkyrka, Uddevalla and Växjö

are on their way down the “U” where they become increasingly aware of the importance

of looking to the whole and taking actions that serve the whole. They have become

aware of that only managing environmental issues in a systematic way limits their

management system. This has made the local authorities look at the whole of their

organisations and recognise their total responsibility towards the society. By expanding

their EMSs with other sustainability dimensions, they get a more complete view of their

organisation’s total impact and issues that need to be dealt with. This may lead to a

more systematic and comprehensive management where all dimensions and

perspectives related to sustainability have the same importance. This, in turn, could

result in an increased performance of the organisation since it obtains a more holistic

co-ordination of all its efforts. However, there might be a risk that it is only the

terminology that changes (from environmental to sustainability) and that the actual

doing continues as usual. In such a case, the awareness might have increased but this is

not necessarily connected to the “doing”. However, this is nothing that we have

observed among the local authorities in this study.

There is also a risk that this widened systems perspective makes the management

systems too complex to be useful and practical. The social issues may be too difficult to

manage within these formal systems due to their complexity and softer nature. The

strengths from applying a widened systems perspective is that there are possibilities to

encourage a more co-ordinated approach to the local authorities’ activities and

management that could lead to synergy effects and less redundant work in different

departments. Furthermore, the local authority may gain good will from its stakeholders

by showing its efforts to be environmentally and socially responsible.

To conclude, integrating the environmental dimension with the social and economic

dimensions by expanding the EMSs to SMSs could be a powerful approach for local

authorities and most probably also for other organisations. It is, however, important that

this is done in a truly serious way – with a wide systems perspective and keeping the

total organisational performance in mind. As mentioned earlier in the paper, this

development from EMSs to SMSs in local authorities in Sweden is in its initial phases

and it is today too early to tell whether this is an appropriate approach to sustainability

considering the structure of the EMSs and the character of the social aspects. A

management system might be too instrumental for managing, for example, social

security and safety.

Acknowledgements

This study has in part been financially supported by East Sweden Municipality

Research Centre. It is also a part of the MiSt research programme

Tools for Environmental Assessment in Strategic Decision-Making funded

by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

References

Aalborg commitments. 2008. Available from: www.aalborgplus10.dk [Accessed 11

June 2008].

Aall, C., 1995. The manifold history of eco-auditing and the case of municipal eco-

auditing in Norway. Eco-Management and Auditing 2 (1), 151-157.

Ashley, C., Carney, D., 1999. Sustainable livelihoods: Lessons learnt from early

experience. Department for International Development. London: Overseas Development

Institute.

Bekkering, M., McCallum, D., 1999. ISO 14001: A tool for Municipal Government to

Achieve Sustainability. Greener Management International 28, 103-111.

Botkyrka kommun. 2007. Ett hållbart Botkyrka-startdokument för kommunens arbete

med hållbar utveckling kopplat till deklarationen Ålborg +10. Botkyrka kommun:

Sweden (In Swedish)

Cockrean, B., 2001. Success and failures: national guidance on ISO 14001 for New

Zealand local authorities. In Hillary, R., ed. ISO 14001 – case studies and practical

experiences. ISO 14001 –case studies and practical experiences. Sheffield: Greenleaf

publishing, 39-49.

Corporate Risk Management, 2009. Worldwide number of ISO 14001 [online].

Available from: http://www.ecology.or.jp/isoworld/english/analy14k.htm [Accessed 12

January 2009].

Emilsson, S.,2005. Local authorities’ approaches to standardised environmental

management systems. Linköping Studies in Science and Technology. Dissertation No

939. Linköping: Linköping University.

Emilsson, S., Hjelm, O., 2002a. Mapping Environmental Management Systems

Initiative in Swedish Local authorities- a national survey. Corporate Social

Responsibility and Environmental Management, 9 (2), 107-115.

Emilsson, S., Hjelm, O., 2002b. Implementation of Standardised Environmental

Management Systems (EMSs) in Swedish Local Authorities. Environmental Science

and Policy 5(6),443-448.

Emilsson S. Hjelm O. 2004. Different Approaches to Standardized Environmental

Management Systems in Local Authorities-Two Case Studies in Gothenburg and

Newcastle. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 11(1), 48-

60.

Emilsson, S., Hjelm, O., 2005. Development of the Use of Standardized Environmental

Management Systems (EMSs) in Local Authorities. Corporate Social Responsibility

and Environmental Management 12(3), 144-156.

Emilsson, S., Hjelm, O., 2007a. Managing Indirect Environmental Impact within Local

Authorities’ Standardized Environmental Management Systems. Local Environment 12

(1),73-86.

Emilsson, S., Hjelm, O., 2007b. Miljöledningssystem och miljöhänsyn i fysisk planering

– arbetsnotat från fallstudier i sex svenska kommuner. LiTH-IEI-E—07/0012—SE:

Linköping University: Linköping.

GETF. 2002. Final report: The US EPA Environmental Management System Pilot

Program for Local Government Entities. http://www.getf.org/projects/ems1.pdf

[Accessed 30 May 2003].

Global Compact, 2008. http://www.unglobalcompact.org/ [Accessed 14 May 2008]

Global Reporting Initiative, 2008. http://www.globalreporting.org/Home [Accessed 14

May 2008].

Honkasalo, A., 1999. Environmental management systems at the national level. Eco-

Management and Auditing 6(2),170-173.

ICLEI., 2004. The ecoBUDGET guide. Methods and procedures of an environmental

management system for local authorities. Step by step to local environmental budgeting.

ICLEI and Växjö kommun.

ISO (International Organisation of Standardisation)., 2004. Environmental management

systems- Requirements with guidance for use. (ISO 14001:2004). SS-EN ISO

14001:2004. Stockholm: Swedish Standards Institute.

Ito, K., 2002. Evaluating Environmental Management Systems for the Public Sector: A

Case Study of Minamata City. Annals of Japan Association of Economic Geographers.

4, 354-376.

Levett, R., 1996. From Eco-Management to and Audit (EMAS) to Sustainability

Management and Audit (SMAS). Local Environment 1(3), 329-334.

MUE25 (Managing Urban Europe 25)., 2008. Integrated Management –towards local

and regional sustainability. Åbo, Finland: UBC Comission on Environment.

Kaplan, R., S., Norton, D., P., 1992. The Balanced Scorecard – Measures That Drive

Performance. Harvard Business Review 70(1), 71-79.

Riglar, N., 1997. Eco-management and Audit Scheme for UK local authorities. In:

Sheldon, C (ed) ISO 14001 and beyond: Environmental management systems in the real

world. Sheffield; Greenleaf Publishing, 307-332.

SALAR (Swedish Association for Local Authorities and Regions)., 2004. Classification

of Municipalities. PM 2004-11-24.

Scoones, I., 1998. Sustainable rural livelihoods. A framework for analysis. IDS working

paper 72.

Senge, P, Charmer, C.O., Jaworski, J., Flowers, B.S., 2005. Presence. Exploring

profound change in people, organizations and society. London: Nicholas Brealy

Publishing.

Swift, T., Broady, J., 1998. Environmental management systems in the public sector:

the Queensland options. Greener Management International Summer 1998, 73-83

Uddevalla kommun, 2007. Hållbar medborgardialog. Lane-Ryr socken. Uddevalla

kommun. (In Swedish)

Yin, R., K., 1994. Case Study Research. Design and Methods. Second Edition. London:

Sage Publications.