Is it out of our hands? : A case study of sustainability interpretations and implementations regarding Tiveden National Park

Abstract: Sustainable changes become increasingly urgent with the climate crisis, which makes it necessary to study the human-environmental relationship. Tiveden National Park is a shared environment, and this thesis studied how sustainability was interpreted and implemented in the management of the park. The overall aim was to study how different scales of government balance ecological, economic, and social pillars of sustainability within their occupation. To precise the study, the aim specifically was to study how the balancing of ecological, economic, and social aspects is implemented in the park’s management by Region Västra Götaland, Region Örebro, Västra Götaland county administration board, Örebro county administration board, Askersund municipality, Karlsborg municipality, and Laxå municipality. After presenting a theoretical framework and interviewing ten informants at the previously mentioned organizations, the resulting analysis presented that resource scarcity and ecological threats were frequent sustainability problems at all organizations. Dialogue, positive attitudes, and long-term thinking were used by the organizations to balance sustainability conflicts of interest. The larger the spatial responsibility of each organization was, the more interdisciplinary the organization had capacity to work. The organizations interpreted sustainability similarly, but prioritized the aspects differently depending on the person’s affiliation.