Summary: | The following study deals with organizational conditions that affect the implementation of municipal environmental strategies. It aims to increase understanding of and contribute with material of empirical studies of implementing the environmental responsibility of municipalities. The aim of the study was to identify how organizational conditions affect the implementation of environmental strategies and to present solutions to how municipalities can handle the challenges that occur when environmental strategy work is to be incorporated and implemented in a municipality. In order to provide answers to whether there were any, and in that case which, organizational conditions that could promote or hinder municipalities' ability to implement environmental strategies, a literature study and a case study of a medium-sized Swedish municipality was conducted with the aim of collecting experience-based knowledge. The result shows that it is difficult to point out the influence of individual organizational conditions on the implementation process, as they interact. However, the implications are that the organization's structure, culture and leadership influence the work process. Limitation of or the uncertainty on access to resources is highlighted as an obstacle in the work with the environmental strategy. It is pointed out that it will most likely not be an increased resource supply, but instead it is necessary to prioritize what the tax money will be used for. Furthermore, the existence of target conflicts has proved to be a challenge that municipalities need to handle. Target conflicts have been spotted between environmental goals and other municipal goals. Because municipalities generally work on the basis of many, and sometimes conflicting, goals, the ability to prioritize is central. To succeed with the environmental work, municipalities are recommended to identify and enable synergies between the environmental goals and other welfare goals.
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