Considerable pressure is placed on wind power in Sweden due to the country’s goal of generating 100 % of its electricity from fossil free resources. The aim was to develop the REWIND methodological framework to support wind power planning, built on spatial multi-criteria analysis (SMCA). In addition, the purpose was to develop a conflict score as a novel component of this framework, for handling goal conflicts. This framework includes the scoping, design and evaluation stages. It was applied in a case study of Västernorrland County with extensive involvement of stakeholders throughout the process. 

The conflict score allows a separate analysis of trade-offs between factors, highlighting potential conflicts across the landscape to increase transparency. Thus, users are allowed to decide on a threshold on how much conflict among factors should be allowed for areas to qualify as planning alternatives. Critical issues that will need further attention concern quality and availability of data, creation of representative spatial indicators for the factors, weighting methods, and uncertainty analysis. The REWIND framework is open-ended and allows for further development to provide planning support that gives more control of factors and conflicts to be acceptable in real-world planning. Capacity building involving stakeholders in the design of planning alternatives are crucial. In Sweden, it can promote a more proactive planning process in the municipalities, supported by the regional actors, leading to a more predictable permitting process for developers. This will be useful for inclusive wind power planning in any country, since it is applicable on different scales.

A transition to a sustainable energy system is urgent due to climate change, on global level and in Sweden. For this transition, wind power plays an important role. According to Swedens national strategy for wind power, the County Administrative Boards were suggested to, in close collaboration with the municipalities, derive expected shares of wind power in order to reach the goal of 100 TWh wind power to year 2040. Simultaneously, wind power can entail social and ecological impacts, among these landscape impacts, noise and flickering shadows, which can affect

residential areas, cultural values and recreation. Also reindeer husbandry can be affected. Ecological impacts can be habitat loss and fragmentation as well as collisions with birds and bats, impacting on biological diversity. Wind power development can also create jobs and thus contribute to local and regional economy. In order to develop useful planning support for wind power planning, the current planning practice and permitting process needs to be investigated concerning which aspects of sustainability that are taken into account, factors that are used, and trade-offs that are made between sustainability goals. In addition, planning support tools need to be developed, that can integrate different sustainability goals and work as a dialogue tool in the planning process. A methodology that can be useful in this context is Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis (SMCA). There are though several challenges associated with using SMCA in real-world planning contexts, where further method development and adaption is needed to increase its applicability. The overall aim of the project “Regional planning support for wind power” (REWIND) was to investigate wind power planning and methods for planning support, to find opportunities for development, where the regional level plays an greater role, providing competence, data, knowledge and coordination. In this way, suggestions can be made on how regional support for wind power planning can be developed to efficiently strengthen municipal planning, acceptance and sustainable regional growth. The project consisted of two interacting parts with a common  final discussion.

The goal for Part 1 in the project was to investigate the current planning practice and legislation through analysis of municipal policy documents and guiding judgements. Thus, we investigated which sustainability aspects and factors that were considered, with a special focus on the spatial dimension. As well, we investigated trade-offs between sustainability goals in planning and court cases. The goal for Part 2 in the project was to develop a methodological   framework for SMCA, as planning support for terrestrial wind power on regional and municipal level in Sweden. The project used a selection of existing methods from SMCA that were adapted and combined with new methods. These were integrated as parts of the REWIND tool, for increased applicability in the planning process. The method development concerned a) a GIS-based tool for more flexible creation and aggregation of the spatial indicators for the factors, b) a new method for weighing of factors, and c) a new method for conflict mapping. The REWIND tool was applied in two case studies in the counties Västernorrland and Västra Götaland, where the methods were tested in collaboration with selected actors.

Finally, Part 1 and 2 were integrated in a common discussion, together with a focus group interview with municipal officials. The interview concerned wind power planning and related sustainability perspectives as well as the possibilities of SMCA to strengthen regional and municipal planning and collaboration. The methodology included both qualitative and quantitative methods, in the form of literature reviews, interviews, focus group discussions, as well as case studies with application and method development of SMCA in dialogue with stakeholders. Scientific literature was reviewed targeting planning of wind power, its preconditions and effects on different sustainability targets, as well as methods and applications of SMCA in planning contexts. Swedish wind power plans and judgements were analysed, to understand which factors were involved and how they were treated, trade-offs between sustainability goals, and problems and opportunities for sustainable wind power planning. From the results, together with interviews for understanding significance and treatment of selected factors, such as the electricity grid, the REWIND framework was developed. It consists of a selection of existing SMCA methods together with new methods developed within the project; for deriving spatial indicators, weighing and conflict mapping. Method development and application was carried out with the help of the case studies in Västernorrland and Västra Götaland counties, including involvement of stakeholders through focus group discussions.

About two-thirds of the Swedish municipalities have  carried out some form of wind power planning, even if these to varying degrees have become outdated. We found that the main themes that are balanced against wind power in wind power plans and judgements are noise, landscapes, cultural environment, outdoor recreation, nature conservation, reindeer husbandry, and defence. Themes that appear to be especially difficult to handle are those that concern reindeer husbandry and defence, but also possibilities to connect to the electricity grid. There is a great variation within wind power planning concerning how the spatial analysis is organised, themes that are included and how they are treated, as well as trade-offs between wind power and other sustainability aspects. The analysis of judgements indicate that the comprehensive plan is often considered in the assessment of permit applications. Thus, more updated and well informed municipal plans would be a help as decision support also in the permitting process. Concerning SMCA, there are several challenges related to its integration in realworld planning contexts. Challenges that emerged through the focus group discussions were, among other, knowledge and data gaps, difficulties in identifying factors and their spatial indicators on different scales, standardisation of spatial indicators, weighing of factors and aggregation of their spatial indicators that to some extent can hide conflicts, and control of the weighing.

The REWIND framework consists of three steps, 1) scoping, 2) design of planning alternatives, and 3) evaluation. The GIS-based REWIND tool was developed to enable creation and change of spatial indicators for the factors. A relatively simple but systematic weighing method was developed, the Ranking-Rating (RR) method, which allows a transparent integration of the stakeholders input with the target to get weights that represent their view on the factors’ importance. In addition, the understanding of the meaning of the weights can increase through comparisons with the planning tree, which gives an instant overview of different dimensions of sustainability. A method for conflict mapping was also developed, in order to enable elimination of areas with high conflict between factors. These new methods were integrated in the REWIND framework.

The general overview of wind power planning that emerged in the study is, that  it can be difficult to handle the complex technical-economic, social and environmental challenges in municipal planning and decision making. Simultaneously, there is a need for a more continuous and proactive wind power planning. Possibilities to strengthen this could be financial support and through regional collaboration processes together with the municipalities, in order to strengthen their capacity for wind power planning. This could include a collaboration platform where municipal

initiatives and planning processes can interact with counties and regions, for knowledge building and exchange of experience. SMCA can be part of such a platform, as a useful tool for integration and trade-off of relevant knowledge and interests, in a systematic and transparent way. This could increase the possibilities to interact with the planning processes for the electricity grid, as well as facilitate knowledge and capacity building including dialogue with key actors of the defence interests, reindeer husbandry, and other. Such a collaboration platform could also strengthen the inter-municipal cooperation as well as the handling of areas of national interest and trade-offs between these. This can contribute to development of a more coordinated and sustainable wind power planning, with potential to, in the long run, form part of a more cohesive landscape planning and sustainable development of the energy system in Sweden.

Background: Wind power is a critical renewable energy technology in efforts to achieve the global climate targets. However, local impacts do occur, which demands careful consideration in planning and permitting. Sweden has setan ambition to triple land-based wind power by 2040, and municipalities play a key role in both the planning and permitting process, due to a planning monopoly and veto power in the permitting process. This calls for an investigationof Swedish wind power governance, with a particular focus on recent trends in municipal wind power planning, how wind power is balanced in relation to sustainability objectives in planning and permitting, and insights frompractitioners regarding their capacities and drivers.

Results: The results show that about two-thirds of Swedish municipalities have conducted wind power planning in some form, but this basis for decision-making has become outdated due to a lack of institutional capacity at the municipal level. Secondly, the study finds that many municipalities perceive that there are insufficient incentives for a continued wind power expansion. Lastly, the study sheds light on a large heterogeneity within wind power planning practice concerning how trade-offs between wind power deployment and other sustainability aspects are handled, as well as a lack of coherence between planning and permitting.

Conclusions: It is concluded that the current state of municipal wind power planning raises questions regarding the legitimacy of municipal decision-making in terms of perceived justice among local inhabitants and highlights the need for updated wind power plans. Moreover, to promote local acceptance in the future, formalised financial compensation and strategic initiatives that enable the localisation of electricity-intensive industry within municipalities with large-scale wind power production can be two key components. The results also highlight the need for additional support at the municipal level, including access to critical competence and relevant knowledge to enable trade-offs between the different sustainability considerations in an informed and balanced manner. Finally, regional dialogue with key actors, such as the military, Sami representatives and grid operators, would facilitate the handling of inter-municipal issues, in particular by fostering co-operation regarding inter-municipal wind sites.

The global climate is changing rapidly, which pronounces the need for imminently bending the curve of greenhouse gases emissions. The local authorities have been recognised as key actors in this decarbonisation, due to their wide-ranging responsibilities, including different mandates for local planning. The Swedish municipalities are no exception in this regard. In contrast, they stand out as being especially critical for Sweden’s efforts to reach climate neutrality in 2045 and multiple other sustainability objectives, since they are instructed to conduct municipal energy planning regarding supply and distribution of energy, have a monopoly on spatial planning and have been given a veto right for larger wind power establishments. There is, however, limited knowledge regarding the municipalities’ planning processes and institutional capacity building for handling climate change mitigation in their municipal planning. The overall aim of this compilation thesis, comprising five scientific papers, is to contribute with new knowledge regarding the role, process and interplay of municipal energy and climate planning, municipal spatial planning and municipal wind power planning for responding to the need for rapid decarbonisation, in order to identify pathways forward for building the municipalities’ institutional capacity. The thesis has a mixed methods approach comprising of semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, participant observation, a survey, statistical analyses, and multiple document analyses of either cross-sectional or longitudinal character that involves elements of both quantitative content analyses and thematic analyses. 

When synthesising the findings from Paper I-V, it is evident that the municipalities are responding to the climate crisis in multiple different ways. This includes that a proactive strategic energy and climate planning practice with the aim of reducing climate impact has emerged from the sectoral energy planning tradition. However, the impact assessment practice is deficient within municipal energy and climate planning, especially if the planning is conducted in a non-statutory form, in spite of it being indicated that impact assessment can facilitate the consideration of synergies and conflicts between different sustainability objectives as well as enabling to illuminate local benefits of climate action. Moreover, the municipalities have been integrating numerous different strategies for reduced climate impact into their Comprehensive Plans, relating to energy production, distribution and use, transport, and land use, and the findings suggest that such consideration of energy and climate aspects in the Comprehensive Plans have increased in the recent decades. This integration of climate change considerations into Comprehensive Plans has largely been spurred by the existence of a municipal energy and climate strategy or similar, which has enabled a two-way policy integration between these two policy spheres. The presence of energy and climate strategic competence within the municipal concern is an associated vital feature, since this facilitates the influx of knowledge through the participation in different regional-local and inter-municipal networks, which can then be disseminated internally and utilised in the comprehensive planning process. There is also a need for municipal officials to be given time and resources to interact with politicians in order to mobilise support and create a mandate for action.

Simultaneously, the results illuminate that many municipalities are struggling with building sufficient institutional capacity for addressing climate change mitigation in their energy and climate strategic planning and their strategic spatial planning. This was manifested for example in the form that the adoption of both energy and climate-focused policy documents and wind power plans followed the temporal patterns of the presence of state-funded financial incentives and that more than one-fourth of the municipalities not having adopted an energy and climate-focused policy document during the studied twelve-year time span. This has also rendered in a more reactive municipal decision-making in relation to the municipal veto for wind power deployment, with implications for its legitimacy and public participation. Given the centrality of the municipalities, it is deemed vital to further promote the process of building institutional capacity for responding to the climate crisis in their municipal planning and decision-making. Increased continuity in the energy and climate strategic planning process, comprehensive planning process and wind power planning process could facilitate building support for integrating different strategies related to climate change mitigation in their planning and contribute to organisational learning. Moreover, the three modes of planning could be further interlinked, for example, by establishing objectives regarding greenhouse gases emissions and renewable electricity production in the energy and climate domain, which brings implications for the strategic spatial planning, and by initiating processes simultaneously and in an integrated fashion. If municipalities come to recognise the potential of a more proactive strategic-thinking SEA process, this could be another vehicle for increased sustainability consideration early in the process, when there is a window of opportunity for influencing the plan’s content to the greatest extent. Overall, this can lead to a more sustainability-led municipal planning, which can contribute to bending the curve of greenhouse gases emissions, while simultaneously providing synergies across other sustainability objectives. 

Det globala klimatet förändras snabbt, vilket accentuerar behovet av att omedelbart böja utsläppskurvan av växthusgaser nedåt. De lokala myndigheterna har identifierats som nyckelaktörer i klimatomställningen på grund av deras omfattande ansvarsområden, vilket innefattar olika mandat för lokal planering. De svenska kommunerna är inget undantag i detta avseende, utan framstår som särskilt kritiska för Sveriges ambitioner att nå klimatneutralitet år 2045 och flera andra hållbarhetsmål, eftersom de har i uppdrag att bedriva kommunal energiplanering avseende tillförsel och distribution av energi, besitter ett monopol på fysisk planering och har vetorätt för större vindkraftsetableringar. Det finns dock begränsad kunskap om kommunernas planeringsprocesser och institutionella kapacitetsutveckling när det gäller att bemöta klimatförändringarna i sin kommunala planering. Det övergripande syftet med denna sammanläggningsavhandling, som omfattar fem vetenskapliga artiklar, är att bidra med ny kunskap om rollerna och processerna inom kommunal energi- och klimatplanering, kommunal fysisk planering och kommunal vindkraftsplanering, samt samspelet däremellan, för att möta behovet av en skyndsam klimatomställning samt identifiera vägar framåt för att bygga kommunernas institutionella kapacitet. Avhandlingen bygger på ett tillvägagångssätt med mixade metoder, som omfattar semistrukturerade intervjuer, fokusgruppsintervjuer, deltagande observation, enkätundersökning, statistiska analyser, samt multipla dokumentanalyser av både tvärsnitts- och longitudinell karaktär som inkluderar inslag av kvantitativa innehållsanalyser och tematiska analyser.

När man sammanfattar resultaten från artikel I-V är det tydligt att kommunerna bemöter klimatkrisen på flera olika sätt. Detta inbegriper att en proaktiv strategisk energi- och klimatplaneringspraxis med syfte att minska klimatpåverkan har vuxit fram ur den sektoriella energiplaneringstraditionen. Miljöbedömningspraxisen är bristfällig inom kommunal energi- och klimatplanering, särskilt när planeringen bedrivs i en icke lagstadgad form. Resultaten tyder på att miljöbedömning kan underlätta beaktandet av synergier och konflikter mellan olika hållbarhetsmål, vilket därmed även kan bidra till att påvisa den möjliga lokala nyttan med klimatåtgärder. Dessutom har kommunerna integrerat ett flertal olika strategier för minskad klimatpåverkan i sina översiktsplaner, relaterade till energiproduktion, -distribution och -användning, transporter och markanvändning, och resultaten påvisar att sådan hänsyn till energi- och klimataspekter i översiktsplanerna har ökat under de senaste decennierna. Integreringen av klimataspekter i översiktsplaner har till stor del stimulerats av förekomsten av en kommunal energi- och klimatstrategi eller motsvarande policydokument, vilket har möjliggjort en tvåvägs policyintegrering mellan dessa två planeringsdomäner. Förekomsten av energi- och klimatstrategisk kompetens inom den kommunala verksamheten är en annan avgörande faktor, eftersom detta underlättar kunskapsinflödet genom deltagande i olika regional-lokala och mellankommunala nätverk, som sedan kan spridas internt och nyttjas i översiktsplaneprocesserna. Kommunala tjänstepersoner måste också ges tid och resurser att interagera med politikerna för att mobilisera stöd och skapa handlingsmandat.

Samtidigt visar resultaten att många kommuner kämpar med att utveckla tillräcklig institutionell kapacitet för att hantera aspekter relaterat till minskad klimatpåverkan i sin energi- och klimatstrategiska planering samt i sin strategiska fysiska planering. Detta har till exempel visat sig genom att antagandet av både energi- och klimatfokuserade policydokument och vindbruksplaner följde de tidsmässiga mönstren av förekomsten av statligt finansierade ekonomiska incitament, och att mer än en fjärdedel av kommunerna inte har antagit ett energi- och klimatfokuserat policydokument under den studerade tolvårsperioden. Detta har också lett till ett mer reaktivt kommunalt beslutsfattande i förhållande till det kommunala vetot för vindkraftsutbyggnad, med konsekvenser för dess legitimitet och allmänhetens deltagande. Givet kommunernas centrala roll bedöms det vara av vikt att ytterligare främja processen att utveckla den institutionella kapaciteten för att bemöta klimatkrisen i deras kommunala planering och beslutsfattande. En mer kontinuerlig planering inom energi- och klimatstrategisk planering, översiktsplanering respektive vindbruksplanering, med tätare intervall mellan varje planeringsprocess, skulle kunna möjliggöra ett ökat politiskt stöd för att integrera och beakta nya aspekter och strategier relaterat till minskad klimatpåverkan i planeringen samt bidra till organisatoriskt lärande. Dessutom skulle de tre planeringsformerna kunna kopplas samman ytterligare, till exempel genom att fastställa mål för utsläpp av växthusgaser och förnybar elproduktion inom energi- och klimatdomänen, vilket medför konsekvenser för den strategiska fysiska planeringen, och genom att initiera processer samtidigt och på ett integrerat sätt. Om kommuner skulle ta tillvara på potentialen i en mer proaktiv strategisk miljöbedömningsprocess kan detta vara ytterligare ett verktyg för ökad hållbarhetshänsyn tidigt i processen, där det finns stora möjligheter att påverka planens innehåll. Sammantaget kan detta leda till en mer hållbarhetinriktad kommunal planering, som kan bidra till att minska utsläppen av växthusgaser, samtidigt som det ger synergier mellan andra hållbarhetsmål. 

Sweden aims to achieve 100% renewable electricity by year 2040 with a major share expectation from wind. In this context, the national strategy developed for wind power development estimates expected shares from each County. With this increased expectations from each county, Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis (SMCA) is used as a tool to integrate contributing and conflicting criteria that influence wind energy planning to find sustainable solutions. A majority of studies accommodating larger number of criteria uses Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) or OWA to solve wind farm siting problems. By this, weights obtained from the stake-holders indicating importance of the criteria are used to allow trade-off between criteria to reach a negotiated decision when there are areas not available as in an ideal scenario. Through this opinions of stakeholders from diverse expertise are thus meant to be incorporated in a transparent and democratic way. However, these trade-off may disguise conflicts which need to be handled in a controlled way. 

The REWIND project aims to develop a framework and GIS tools to conduct SMCA for sustainable wind power planning. The study also addresses planning issues that arises when following the standard approach and ways to handle it. 

Two case studies are included in this project with the collaboration of Västernorrland and Västra Götaland Counties. The methodology includes selection of criteria and transformation into a uniform suitability scale. These factors are aggregated through a conflict score, to prevent high trade-offs in later stages.  Secondly, the importance of one factor over the other is obtained from stake-holders through some weighting method. In general, when the number of factors are more than 9, clustering into groups in hierarchical structure (planning tree) is carried out to calculate weights. The basis for the groups varies and the most common way of clustering is based on the three pillars of sustainability. This not only restricts comparison of factors belonging to different clusters, but it also controls the weight distribution indirectly. The symmetricity of the tree and how it impacts final weights are often overlooked by the participants who carry out weighting and their involvement become more or less pointless. To tackle this, the Ranking-Rating (RR) method is developed and used in the framework, where factors are grouped into different level of importance first, then ranked and rated within each group. Finally, the suitability scores of different scenarios are used to identify suitable sites for wind energy planning.

Through this systematic and transparent approach planners are given various options to choose from the decision space with more clear understanding about the trade-offs in a quantified manner.  Moreover rectifying the standard approach where stake-holders can get integrated in the process more effectively can strengthen the strategic planning process and reduce the delays and difficulties during the permitting process. The REWIND methodological framework, also bridges knowledge gaps through integrating and treating diverse factors with stakeholder involvement in useful ways through development the GIS-based tool. The REWIND tool is transferable and can be used for wind power planning on regional and municipal scales. 

Wind energy plays a vital role to meet growing energy needs and to replace non-renewable energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sweden has set the goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2040 with a major share coming from wind energy. In this context, Sweden has a national strategy for sustainable wind power development, with suggested development shares for each region. However, wind energy development also faces a multitude of ecological and societal impacts that needs consideration. Therefore, wind power planning face major challenges and there is a need for systematic planning support, integrating scientific knowledge and stakeholder valuation. The REWIND project aims to develop GIS-based methods based on multi-criteria analysis (MCA) for sustainable wind power planning.

In the case study of the County of Västernorrland, stakeholders are engaged in the main MCA steps, the design step with factor selection, treatment and aggregation, as well as weighting, and the evaluation step. Preparing this, to gain credibility, we analyse not only scientific literature but also existing planning documents and legal judgments in order to find relevant factors and their treatment and valuation. For the MCA process, we built the REWIND–GIS toolbox in Python for ArcGIS where factor parameters can be easily altered and conflicts in terms of different criteria can be aggregated and scrutinized. Through this a wide array of uncertainties can be tested, such as graded safety distances or conflict areas in varying degrees. Weights of factors from stakeholders are integrated into the model to arrive at different scenarios for suitable sites which are evaluated.

The evaluation and ranking of alternatives can then use the original factors, weights and conflicts while adding also new emerging factors, spatial or non-spatial. In this stage different methods of evaluation are also compared and tested. Through the systematic and transparent approach, planners have various options to choose from the decision space with improved understanding about the trade-offs in a quantified manner. REWIND bridges the knowledge gap in treatment of diverse factors and their performances spatially, through development of the transferable REWIND-GIS tool. This planning support tool will enable sustainable wind power planning on regional level, considering main sustainability aspects and diversified perspectives.

Spatial planning conducted by the local authorities has been identified as a key part of shaping carbon-neutral societies. Nevertheless, the question of whether local authorities are building their institutional capacity for integrating climate change mitigation aspects into spatial planning remains under-researched. This paper aims to fill this gap while also analysing the role of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in facilitating organisational learning. The methods employed were a longitudinal document analysis of Comprehensive Plans belonging to eight municipalities in Stockholm County, complemented by a focus group interview. A significant difference was identified, as the recently adopted Comprehensive Plans included more strategies for climate change mitigation and, to a greater extent, linked these strategies to reduced climate impact or energy efficiency than previously adopted Comprehensive Plans. However, numerous additional strategies could have been given further consideration in each studied Comprehensive Plan. Thus, this calls for more continuous and cyclical comprehensive planning processes to facilitate capacity building, primarily by being a vehicle for mobilising political support. Lastly, the findings indicate that SEA can lead to organisational learning of both single-loop and double-loop nature, where the latter can enable SEA to shape the planning process in a more profound and sustainability-oriented manner.

The institutional capacity of local authorities to integrate climate change mitigation aspects into spatial planning is of vital importance. This paper sets out to investigate this capacity in the county of Stockholm, Sweden, by surveying 26 municipalities and analysing two case study municipalities through participation in workshops and interviews. The study shows the need both for a local energy and climate policy domain that can be integrated into spatial planning as well as dedicated personnel to maintain this policy, thereby securing knowledge resources within the organisation. Additionally, the importance of relations to and repertoires for interacting with politicians is highlighted. Lastly, the study demonstrates the complementary added value of a regional-local network administered by the County Administrative Board, spreading learning examples and diffusing theoretical knowledge, as well as sub-regional, inter-municipal networks that enable the transfer of more practical knowledge and provide a platform for concrete action.

Wind power is one of the renewable energy solutions to meet the challenges of climate change. However, it comes with potential conflicts with other sustainability goals, such as biodiversity. These need to be addressed in regional wind power planning, taking multiple sustainability aspects into account. This project aims to develop methods and the related Rewind-GIS tool for integrating biodiversity in wind power planning on regional level, targeting to meet multiple sustainability goals and to support municipal planning. The REWIND-GIS tool is based on spatial multi-criteria analysis methods to find and evaluate suitable areas for wind farm development. In cooperation with stakeholders, we integrate factors representing wind resources with biodiversity, with subfactors representing sensitive birds, forest and wetland ecosystems, as well as social and other main planning factors. After aggregating and weighing the factors in cooperation with stakeholders, we designed scenarios using opportunistic and defensive approaches. Finally a set of sites were selected for evaluation regarding potential energy output and suitability from wind power developer, social and biodiversity perspectives. In this way, synergies and trade-offs could be quantified and visualised, and main conflicting factors could be localised and discussed during the process. The methodology and the Rewind-GIS tool has potential to be useful for transparent and strategic landscape planning on regional and municipal scales.

In municipal energy planning, climate change is a key concern. Additionally, a multitude of environmental impacts and associated objectives also need to be addressed. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) should increase environmental consideration in planning, including that of national environmental objectives. This paper investigates the SEA screening practice and its effect on the execution of SEA as well as the inclusion of national environmental objectives in Swedish energy and climate planning. The results show that due to low execution and quality of screening, SEA is seldom conducted. However, environmental objectives in which synergies and conflicts can occur in relation to the climate objective were more often included in policy documents when environmental assessment had been conducted, thus indicating that they are incorporated into the basis for planning and decision-making in those processes. If SEA can highlight local co-benefits through this approach, it can facilitate building local support for climate action.