Guardians of the Ecology : Navigating Challenges in Municipal Urban Planning in Stockholm County – Insights and Strategies from Ecologists

Abstract: Urban planning plays an essential role in preparing cities to handle and counteract the climate changes – and connected consequences – of today and the future. Municipal ecologists are specialists in environmental protection and therefore carry a crucial role when developing contemporary and future cities. However, the literature on municipal ecologists’ partaking in contemporary urban planning in a Swedish local planning process has not been extensive. This study explores how municipal ecologists experience and view the main challenges when seeking to contribute with their expertise in local planning processes in Stockholm County, Sweden. The study also explores what kind of strategies municipal ecologists implement to handle these challenges. This study uses an explorative qualitative methodology and a thematic analysis applied to empirical data from semi-structured interviews. To revisit the research field, a focus group discussion of the result was conducted. Key findings from this study are that the main challenges municipal ecologists face are i) the organisational difficulties and capacity for prioritising ecological issues in municipal planning, ii) lack of regulatory framework and political support, and iii) stress due to tensions in local planning processes. The ecologists handle this challenging context by implementing strategies such as speaking through others’ legitimacy, creating authority, and articulating the values of ecology. This study contributes to the understanding of how ecologists struggle to contribute with their expertise in local planning practice. This implies the challenge of including environmental perspectives in local planning practices. Therefore, this study points to important aspects of where it is necessary to focus future efforts to better integrate an ecological perspective in urban planning.