Decision making processes of natural resources for sustainable development are very complex processes that contain large amounts of contradicting criteria and alternatives and/or objectives. Hence efficiency of planning and decision making is highly dependent on the structure of the decision problems. In this re-spect Multi Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA) is the most widely used method. Particularly GIS-based MCDA using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a well-known method in this respect. However, there are interrelationships and interdependences among problems of the real world. As a result, many spatial problems cannot be structured hierarchally because the importance of the criteria determines the importance of the alternatives, and the importance of the alternatives also determines the importance of the criteria. Analytical Network Process (ANP) based MCDA is a new planning and decision making ap-proach that allows the decision problem to be modeled considering feedbacks and interdependence among criteria. This study critically reviews GIS-based MCDA using the AHP method and the ANP based MCDA method and forwarded recommendations for future works. To attain this, practical decision making processes were used of urban form selection for a sustainable development of the Stockholm region. For this purpose literature was reviewed, separate methodologies were developed, criteria were formulated to be analyzed using GIS and SuperDecision software‟s, and finally reasonable results were achieved and separately presented to critically evaluate both the methods and the outcome. This study showed that GIS has the potential to be an important decision aid tool, that the ANP seems to give more realistic results than the GIS-based MCDA method, and that a compact scenario that over time follows already established polycentric pattern would be the best alternative urban form for a sustainable develop-ment of Greater Stockholm.

A multi-criteria decision support tool was developed to optimise stump harvesting for energy in Sweden. The decision tool takes account of multiple, sometimes conflicting, criteria relating to stump harvest; energy and climate, economics, biodiversity, and soil and water. Data on harvested stems are used as primary input data in the tool. Such data are routinely collected in harvester computers. The tool effectively deals with mixed sets of data; quantitative harvest data are re-calculated to metric (e.g. stump biomass), and qualitative data (e.g. biodiversity implications) are incorporated. A digital terrain map derived from air-borne laser scanning provides basic data for estimating soil wetness, while digital maps of water courses, key habitats and protected areas, or other sensitive habitats, are used to identify potentially and practically harvestable stumps.

In four sub-models, an index from 0 to 10 is calculated for each stump, with 0 representing ‘Not at all suitable’ and 10 ‘Highly suitable for extraction’. Through this, a stump of high value for wood-living species is assigned a low index in the biodiversity sub-model and a large, easily accessible stump is assigned a high index in the economic sub-model. When calculating the net index, the sub-indices can be weighted according to the preferences of the end-user.

An energy and climate sub-model incorporates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from forest operations and the effect of advancing GHG emissions when stump biomass is incinerated instead of being left to decompose. In the economic sub-model the potential monetary return from each stump is calculated based on estimated revenue from harvested stump biomass and the costs of stump harvesting and forwarding operations (based on cost functions and GI

S calculations of transport distances).

The biodiversity sub-model considers four types of wood-dependent organisms (lichens, mosses, insects and fungi) in terms of their habitat requirements, vulnerability, sun exposure preferences, locality, etc. A panel of external experts has drawn up a grading scale of stump values for the different taxonomic groups. The proximity to key habitats and exposure to sunlight are derived from a spatial model.

Soil and water issues are handled within a sub-model estimating the consequences for long-term soil fertility (nutrient cycling and soil compaction) and water (leaching of plant nutrients and mercury, and particle transport due to soil damage by heavy machinery).

The tool offers the end-user possibilities to prioritise and plan for cost-effective stump harvesting, while minimising negative environmental impacts.

Various international conventions and several theories and approaches from the planning and environment fields of study have focused on enhancing the public’s access to information and its participation in strategic decision making. However, it seems that it is challenging to encourage a meaningful public participation in decision making processes, since it is difficult to engage civil society in strategic discussions, it is complex to institutionalise participative processes, and it is demanding to include traditionally marginalised groups in current debates on development. Despite this, it appears that deciding how participative approaches should be designed and when these approaches should be applied is of crucial importance to secure appropriate forums for dialogue. To study these claims and foster participation and dialogue, a study was carried out to examine the development of flexible, adaptable and participative strategic environmental assessment processes. Even though designing the processes demanded time and constant adaptation, it is argued that adequately conceptualising and implementing flexible, adaptable and participative approaches to strategic environmental assessment can lead to inclusive, legitimate and anchored outputs that can significantly influence decision making processes.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, a discussion has been going on in most western countries about the introduction of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in planning systems. As a result, SEA has been incorporated in national legislation for the assessment of government plans and programs. Additionally, developing nations have started to consider strategic environmental issues and SEA due to the stimulus that has been given by international environmental conventions like the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. However, until now few investigations have been carried out to assess how the current SEA framework suits developing nations. That is why an SEA pre-study that applies the current SEA process together with Ramsar specifications was developed in a case study for the Sonso Lagoon in Colombia. In this study an account of both the positive and negative experiences that resulted from applying the SEA/Ramsar framework is given, the importance of stakeholder participation throughout the SEA process is stressed, stakeholder inequalities created by social differences in developing nations are discussed, the importance of an interdisciplinary working approach is highlighted, and finally a strategic working methodology is proposed for the Sonso Lagoon.

In an effort to counterbalance the inequalities and unequal power relationships that have resulted of globalisation, and to include varying perspectives of development in decision-making, non governmental organisations (NGOs) are increasingly acting as forums for marginalised and vulnerable communities. Through networks, NGOs have also enhanced the exchange of ideas, skills and knowledge between a wider sector of society. However, NGOs have been criticised by failing to effectively use their resources and capacities to significantly influence debates and decision making. To reach effectiveness, NGOs need to develop certain capacities and better understand their relationships. For this, planning and decision making support processes like strategic environmental assessment can be useful. In this paper the experiences that were gained by the museum members and communities of Samp Intercontinental Museum Network, a Swedish registered NGO, are presented. The results were participant engagement, process ownership, capacity mobilisation, and the identification of key issues to better understand the work of the network. It is argued that participative, adaptable and flexible strategic environmental assessment processes can support cultural network organisations to make their higher level guiding concepts operable, to share and develop capacities across borders and to reach long term transformations in society.

As platforms for dialogue non-governmental organizations play an important role in facilitating the inclusion of a diversity of views in the debates and decisions that shape society. However, to successfully influence societal development non-governmental organizations need to develop and mobilize their capacities. This paper argues that organizational capacities can be developed and mobilized with strategic dialogues, which can be enabled and fostered with network strategic assessment approaches. Through a case study, research was carried out to draw experiences from designing a network strategic assessment approach in the context of a network-based non-governmental organization that aims to strengthen the development of its members and communities. Even though conceptualizing the network strategic assessment approach was challenging, research results were participant engagement, process ownership and strategic dialogues. It is argued that by fostering strategic dialogues network strategic assessment approaches allow networks to synchronize and mainstream their strategic elements in the daily activities of their member organizations. Moreover, it is claimed that such approaches contribute to integrate aspects of capacity development with network planning and decision making, enhancing organizational understanding and performance.

Non-governmental organisations are playing an increasingly important role in facilitating the inclusion of a diversity of perspectives in the debates and decisions that shape society by acting as platforms for dialogue. However, to enable and maintain dialogues that influence decision making it is acknowledged that these organisations need to focus on developing their key capacities and design appropriate approaches. For these purposes, planning and decision making support processes like strategic environmental assessment can be useful. This paper suggests a network approach for capacity development and dialogue generation for network based non-governmental organisations through the design of a network strategic environmental assessment process. Experiences are drawn from developing the network strategic environmental assessment in Samp Intercontinental Museum Network, a Swedish non-governmental organisation working with the development of museums and their communities. The results were process ownership, participant engagement and iterative dialogues. Even though it is challenging to develop network strategic environmental assessments, it is argued that these processes can benefit network organisations by setting the bases for their capacity development programmes and by operationalising and mainstreaming their higher level concepts, allowing these organisations to reach their goals and contribute to long lasting transformations in society.

This paper analyses the interaction between data needs and objective formulation in Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). This topic is discussed from the experiences that were gained by designing and applying a participative SEA pre-study process in the developing region of the Sonso Lagoon, Colombia. Data collection and issue identification are described, as are the different purposes and similarities with objective-led and baselineled SEAs. It is argued that the participative framework used in Sonso can be applied in similar developing country contexts where there is a lack of environmental data and clear development goals. Finally, it is stressed that the participative SEA pre-study process can be implemented in situations where different sector objectives conflict or in circumstances where there is a need to formulate regional or municipal development objectives.

The development of the Arctic is shaped by the opportunities and constraints brought by climate change and technological advances. In the Arctic, warmer climate is expected to affect ecosystems, local communities and infrastructure due to a combination of effects like reduced sea ice and glaciers, thawing permafrost and increased frequency of floods. Less ice and new technologies mean openings to exploit natural resources in the Arctic. Fishing, mining, hydrocarbon extraction and vessel transport activities are likely to increase together with supporting infrastructures. An escalation of economic activities in the Arctic is expected to generate employment opportunities and migration, lead to increasing urbanization and affect the socio-economic structures of indigenous cultures. To address these issues, there is a need for strategic dialogues on the development of the Arctic. Establishment and foci of such dialogues can be facilitated and formalized through a transboundary strategic environmental assessment, which brings together different visions, objectives and projected development scenarios. Visions and objectives set the scope of environmental policy, management and related human activities, while scenarios outline future development options, and assessments of the scenarios allow for relevant governance, adaptation and monitoring measures. This paper argues for the need of a transboundary strategic environmental assessment process to identify and link critical development issues, enhance participation and capacity among stakeholders, address transboundary concerns, and project and assess relevant development scenarios to reach consensus on a sustainability strategy for the Arctic.

Ghana is Africa’s second largest producer of gold with gold deposits in western part of the country. There are seven large-scale mines and 168 small-scale mining concessions valid in the region. Wassa West District is an important mining area, with Tarkwa as administrative capital. In recent years, the area has been exposed to lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury and cyanide. Both small and large-scale mining industries have reportedly contaminated rivers, streams, dug wells and boreholes with heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury and cyanide. There has been significant adverse impact upon health, economy, and social life that may be felt differently by women and men, raising the question of sustainable access to safe water as a millennium development goal (MDG) in the area.

A multi-disciplinary approach was adopted in the project with distinct work components on the technical as well as on social, gender and policy aspects. It also aimed to suggest integrated strategies to address the problem so as to ensure achievement of the MDGs. Based upon a field study in 37 local communities coupled with water and sediment analysis from the area, the research indicated the existence of not only higher levels of metal contaminants in local water resources in Tarkwa area, particularlymanganese and iron, but also arsenic and aluminium in some wells. However, water resources, particularly groundwater is currently safe for human consumption but the spillages of cyanide and other effluents into surface streams have health and ecological implications. Levels of mercury in stream sediments are high with a clear risk of methylation of the mercury and transfer in the food chain via fish to humans.

Regarding the impact of mining, it was found that for women who are the primary domestic water managers, contamination of local water sources has forced them to fetch water from greater distances, and livelihoods are hampered due to the fish loss through cyanide spillages in streams. Another finding was the lack of trust and rising water conflicts between mining authorities and the local communities. Regarding the policy aspects underlying the problem, it was found that there is a lack of coordination between the 3 policy areas, namely, rural water supply, mining, and environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental protection to the detriment of women as water users and domestic water managers. While impact of mining is increasingly seen as an issue of human rights violation, little is being done to strengthen participatory approaches especially involving women in rural water supply programs. The detailed analysis of the EIA regulations reveals that most mining have not undertaken any comprehensive EIA guiding their operations.

A number of recommendations have emerged from the integrated perspective attempted to be developed through this research. These include a need for further in-depth explorations on the situation of contamination in groundwater and surface waters as well as stream sediments in the area; the need to resolve the situations of water conflicts between the local communities and the mining authorities by promoting greater public participation; and the need to minimize the gaps between the three related policy frameworks. Also, there is a necessity to strengthen environmental compliance on part of the mining companies so as to uphold the quality of water resources in the area.

During recent years, climate change aspects have received increased attention in urban planning and infrastructure development. In order to effectively address impacts on climate change and measures towards energy efficiency, a strategic approach in the planning process is required. To enable an early appraisal of alternative climate change adaptation scenarios, SEA could provide a suitable framework. The application of SEA in urban planning and infrastructure development entail various challenges so as to address, e.g., cumulative impacts, transboundary and multi-scalar issues. The incorporation of strategic issues related to climate change, call for analytical tools and methodological approaches that facilitate the planning and decision-making process. In this study we focus on the development of prediction tools and decision support systems in order to assist a comprehensive comparison of alternative strategies and identify innovative energy efficient solutions for a climate resilient society.   

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) calls for analysis of processes and patterns atlandscape scale, which gives the opportunity to include ecosystem services in decision‐making. In order to understand how planning decisions affect ecosystem services such asbiodiversity, it is necessary to analyse ecological processes on landscape and regionalscales. Landscape ecology provides methods and tools for addressing effects on landscapescale, such as effects of habitat loss and fragmentation, which are caused by a wide arrayof human‐induced changes and pose critical threats to biodiversity and other ecosystemservices. Thus, in order to be able to assess impacts on biodiversity, spatial methods andtools based on landscape ecological principles need to be developed. This paper addressesthe use of spatial methods and tools, scale problems, visualization and communication forincorporating landscape ecological methods in SEA. The study is based on lessons learnedfrom experiences in Sweden and Italy that refer to SEA for different levels of planning,from local to regional. This will lead to increased understanding and a discussion on keyissues on how planning processes can be improved through the use of effective tools foranalyzing landscape and its ecosystem services.

In urbanising regions, urban sprawl and infrastructure cause profound alterations of natural habitats. Initial decisions on urban expansion and major infrastructure investments are often made on a strategic level where the long-term development of a region is determined. For these types of decisions a strategic environmental assessment can be prepared. However, the lack of an adequate conceptual and methodological framework can pose a major problem for the prediction of impacts, not least concerning biodiversity. This paper will highlight the need for effective methods for biodiversity analysis at landscape and regional levels, with reference to the long-term urban development of the Stockholm and Mälaren regions. Problems of habitat loss, fragmentation and other impacts related to large-scale urbanisation and infrastructure developments will be addressed. GIS-based methods focusing on predictive ecological modelling will be discussed in a scenario context. The implementation of such methodologies in the strategic environmental assessment process would allow a better integration of biodiversity in planning and decision-making, further promoting a sustainable planning system.

The aim of this study was to investigate the groundwater chemistry with special concern to metal pollution in selected communities in the Wassa West district, Ghana. In this mining area, 40 ground water samples, mainly from drilled wells, were collected. The groundwaters have generally from neutral to acidic pH values and their Eh values indicate oxidising conditions. The dominating ions are calcium, sodium, and bicarbonate. The metal concentrations in the study area are generally lower than those typically found in mining regions. Only 17 wells show metal concentrations exceeding WHO guidelines for at least one metal. The main contaminants are manganese and iron, but arsenic and aluminium also exceed the guidelines in some wells probably affected by acid mine drainage (AMD). Metal concentrations in the groundwater seem to be controlled by the adsorption processes. Hydrogeochemical modelling indicates supersaturation of groundwater with respect to several mineral phases including iron-hydroxides/oxides, suggesting that adsorption on these minerals may control heavy metal and arsenic concentrations in groundwater. The area is hilly, with many groundwater flow divides that result in several local flow systems. The aquifers therefore are not strongly affected by weathering of minerals due to short groundwater residence times and intense flushing. The local character of groundwater flow systems also prevents a strong impact of acid mine drainage on groundwater systems in a regional scale.

The seasonal variations of some selected heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) and principal anions in soil solutions were monitored as a function of distance from the road at two field sites in Sweden. During the winter, the conductivity, concentrations of dissolved sodium and chloride increased dramatically due to the application of deicing agents (i.e. NaCl). Due to ion exchange, the pH decreased one unit in the soil solutions, whereas the concentrations of total organic carbon decreased due to coagulation and/or sorption to stationary solids. The heavy metal concentrations increased during the winter, but through different mechanisms. Cadmium concentrations in the aqueous phase increased as a response to ion exchange, possibly also enhanced by the formation of chloride complexes. Similarly, the concentrations of zinc increased, due to ion exchange, with calcium and protons. The mechanisms of mobilisation for copper and lead were not that clear probably due to association with coagulated or sorbed organic matter in combination with colloid dispersion.

Roads are an important part of the infrastructure of any country, as they facilitate the transportation of goods and people. The UK has got a good road network but has a low motorway density compared to other European countries. The High-ways Agency has a programme to improve the road network, mainly to ease con-gestion. To ensure the sustainability of road projects the UK government has set guidelines and standards that have to be met. These are the criteria used to ap-praise road projects for which EIA is a significant input. This paper seeks to find the connection between the transport appraisal objectives and post-EIA monitor-ing. The study was carried out by reviewing EIS and CEMP documents of three road projects in England. A short questionnaire with open questions was also ad-ministered. The results show that monitoring of impacts associated with the re-spective projects was mainly proposed during the construction phase, and for en-vironmental impacts. Social and economic impacts are generally not monitored during and after construction. Whilst post-EIA monitoring of impacts is seldom carried out, monitoring depends on the type of project, construction involved and the location of the project. More research is required in different kinds of projects, and more needs to be done to enforce ongoing monitoring after the EIA to sup-port the POPE exercise.

Burgess [Med. Phys. 28, 419-437 (2001)] showed that the power spectrum of mammographic breast background follows a power law and that lesion detectability is affected by the power-law exponent beta which measures the amount of structure in the background. Following the study of Burgess , the authors measured and compared the power-law exponent of mammographic backgrounds in tomosynthesis projections and reconstructed slices to investigate the effect of tomosynthesis imaging on background structure. Our data set consisted of 55 patient cases. For each case, regions of interest (ROIs) were extracted from both projection images and reconstructed slices. The periodogram of each ROI was computed by taking the squared modulus of the Fourier transform of the ROI. The power-law exponent was determined for each periodogram and averaged across all ROIs extracted from all projections or reconstructed slices for each patient data set. For the projections, the mean beta averaged across the 55 cases was 3.06 (standard deviation of 0.21), while it was 2.87 (0.24) for the corresponding reconstructions. The difference in beta for a given patient between the projection ROIs and the reconstructed ROIs averaged across the 55 cases was 0.194, which was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The 95% CI for the difference between the mean value of beta for the projections and reconstructions was [0.170, 0.218]. The results are consistent with the observation that the amount of breast structure in the tomosynthesis slice is reduced compared to projection mammography and that this may lead to improved lesion detectability.

The unsaturated zone could provide an effective barrier against pathogenic microbes entering the groundwater. Knowledge relating to microbial fate in this zone is therefore important for increased understanding of groundwater vulnerability. This thesis examines the published literature that is related to the transport, retention and survival processes that apply to the fecal indicator bacterium Escherichia coli in unsaturated porous media. The main focus concerns the research findings under steady-state flow in homogeneous filter media, and under unfavorable attachment conditions, which are the most common in the natural environment. Experimental results in the literature for the pore-, column- and field-scale are examined and compared to commonly applied theories and modeling approaches. An analysis of the main factors that influence attenuation and biofilm formation is provided. Further, the findings are illustrated in a model of an unplanted, vertical flow constructed wetland. The results indicate that retention at the solid-air-water interface is a major attenuation process. In addition, they suggest that the flow velocity (as dependent on the grain size and the saturation) is a key influencing factor. However, it has not yet been established how the research findings relating to the main processes and influencing factors can be incorporated into predictive models; in the literature, a multitude of models have been proposed and alternative theories could describe the same observation. In this study, the transport and fate of Escherichia coli in different sand filters is, therefore, modeled using various literature models - derived under similar experimental conditions - in order to assess the possibility to compare and generalize the equations, evaluate their implications considering the different saturation settings and filter depths, and to define the spectra of the reduction efficiencies. It is discovered that the bacterial attenuation behaviors vary largely. This calls for clarification regarding the underlying processes. Future research is also recommended to include the ef-fects of structured filter media and sudden changes in the flow rate.

In Swedish transport infrastructure planning, cumulative effects are not given the attention demanded by

the Swedish Environmental Code and the European so-called SEA and EIA directives (Strategic

Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment, respectively). In the Environmental

Code, the formulations concerning cumulative effects are vague. The EIA handbook of the Swedish

Road Administration does not give much guidance. There is thus a great need for development of

procedures and methods adapted to Swedish road planning.

The overall aim of the report is to contribute to the development of the treatment of cumulative effects in

SEA and EIA of road planning in Sweden. Specific aims are to describe the concept of cumulative

effects and to give advice on approaches and methods that can be used in cumulative effects analysis and

assessment. The report mainly builds on American and Canadian literature. “Cumulative effects” are

changes to the environment that are caused by an action or measure together with other past, present and

future actions and measures.

The report advices a structured procedure for the description and assessment of cumulative effects. The

recommended procedure takes ”Valued Ecosystem Components” as its point of departure. VEC are any

parts of the environment that is considered important by the proponent, public, scientists and authorities

participating in the assessment procedure. The procedure has five steps: 1) scoping, 2) analysis of effects,

3) identification of the need for mitigation, 4) evaluation of significance, 5) follow-up. The report gives

examples of the application of these steps adapted to Swedish road planning.

The role of stakeholder participation has been increasingly recognized as important in water management. The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), adopted in 2000 requires Member States to fulfill three levels of participation; information, consultation and active involvement. This thesis focuses on the third level of participation; where concernd groups, organizations or individuals are involved in co-designing or co-thinking of water management. This thesis uses case studies in Sweden to explore pathways for stakeholder participation in catchment-based water management, focusing on how the opportunity for stakeholder participation is created; social mechanisms important for responding to change; and how institutional arrangements can generate stakeholder participation. The result of the study shows that opportunities for changing track towards more participatory water management could be triggered by either social and ecological changes or surprises. However, in order to take the opportunity to change, social mechanisms such as leadership and social capital, is crucial. The legacy of institutional arrangements affects how water management adapts to new requirements and surprises. Some old patterns might clash with new approaches of participatory and adaptive water management. The results show the importance of creating links crucial to generate stakeholder participation. Municipalities are important actors in catchment-based water management, as well as bridging organizations that can be seen as independent by participating stakeholders. Based on these results, the solution to realize active involvement of stakeholders suggested by the Swedish Water Authorities is discussed. The result suggests that there are some important challenges to overcome, regarding institutional arrangements that could encourage stakeholder participation in water management.

Stakeholder participation has recently become an important part of natural resource management. Several policy documents and legislation acts such as the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) emphasize the importance of participation for successful implementation. However, only few studies deal with the link between stakeholder participation and institutional arrangements. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore the role of changes in institutional arrangements, in order to meet new requirements on stakeholder participation in water management. We use a case study application to explore two neighboring catchment areas in southern Sweden. These areas are interesting since similar management plans of wetland creation by farmers, were suggested in the 1990s, which resulted in different solutions of institutional arrangement and level of stakeholder participation. We study these areas with three checkpoints in time; (i) the initial stage covering the period for the management plans proposal; (ii) approximately ten years after the proposal, meaning that also the WFD had been adopted; and (iii) current development of the institutional arrangement, when the real implementation of the WFD has proceeded. The data collection was based on literature review, interviews and a questionnaire covering questions of collaboration patterns between different stakeholder groups in the catchment areas. The study shows how a new institutional arrangement emerged in one of the catchment areas, where also the proposed management plan was realized. Whereas, in the other area the traditional institutional arrangement continued unchanged, and the management plan was not realized. The comparison of the collaboration patterns in the catchment areas showed great differences; especially concerning municipal collaboration and the role of bridging organizations. The result indicated that bridging organizations could be important in linking farmers and other stakeholder groups, to realize the wetland creation. These results show the importance of institutional change in terms of adapting to ecological or social changes. Also, the results indicate that old water institutions can be an obstacle when new requirements are introduced, such as those following the WFD.

Stakeholder participation is increasingly seen as central in natural resource management. It is also required bythe European Union Water Framework Directive, which identifies three levels of participation; information, consultation, andactive involvement. In this paper we discuss the active involvement of stakeholders, using our experience from a case study inthe Himmerfjärden region, which is a coastal area southwest of Stockholm, Sweden. Our study used the systems approachproposed by the European Union research project called Science and Policy Integration for Coastal System Assessment(SPICOSA), in which local stakeholders and a study site team constructed an integrated simulation model of a crucial coastalmanagement issue. In this case the issue was nitrogen enrichment. We showed how stakeholder participation in the modelingprocess helped identify interesting and currently relevant management scenarios, and how the modeling process facilitatedcommunication of the likely ecological, economic, and social effects of these scenarios to the stakeholders. In addition,stakeholders also reported social gains in terms of network building. We managed to actively involve local stakeholders in waterissues, and the research process clearly strengthened the social capital in the Himmerfjärden region, and created a basis forfuture collaboration regarding water management. Our experience indicates that the approach we tried is a useful tool forpromoting active stakeholder involvement in water management projects. Also, the results of our science and policy integrationapproach indicated that the study site team assumed a leadership role, which is a commonly recognized factor in successfulnatural resource management.

This study gives a first indicator-based assessment of the differences and similarities between the River Basin Districts (RBDs) established under the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). The RBDs are intended to be the management units for water resources within the EU. Yet, limited harmonized or easily comparable data currently exists for this new administrative level. While there are coordinated efforts to develop a Water Information System for Europe (WISE), there is still a need for making initial and complementary assessments of the RBDs, using a set of identical indicators for all RBDs. The analysis was performed with the help of geographic information systems (GIS) and publicly available spatial databases, environmental monitoring databases and other statistics. A major goal of the study was to rank the RBDs according to the pressure on and status of their water resources. The results show a clear north-south dichotomy and that the most serious water situations occur in Western Europe, although a few regional variations appear for some indicators. The current assessment was limited in terms of the information available and more comprehensive assessments of the RBDs for comparison and policy-making purposes are needed

Ecological assessment in environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment processes requires improvements. The descriptive and qualitative nature of many ecological assessments suggests a need to develop and implement quantitative and predictive methods to assess problems such as fragmentation and impacts on biodiversity. Such tools, from basic GIS applications to more advanced ecological models, already exist and have reached a level of development that allows practical implementation outside the research sphere. The chapter presents a literature review on the potential application and advantages of ecological models and GIS-based methods in carrying out ecological assessments in the Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment processes. The implementation of such tools translates into practice certain concepts of landscape ecology related to ecological dynamic or spatial and temporal scales. Although data requirements and the complexity of ecological models are limitations to their reproducibility and application range, the integration of landscape-ecology concepts in ecological assessment through the use of ecological models and GIS tools would contribute to the sustainable management of landscapes and their ecological resources. Finally, I argue that predictive modelling and GIS tools can also serve as a platform to integrate other landscape components that can be characterized spatially such as recreational and cultural values.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) provide two interlinked platforms for the assessment of impacts on biodiversity caused by human developments. Although it might be too early to draw conclusions on the efficiency of SEA to assess such impacts, a number of persistent problems have been identified in the case of EIA. Some of these shortcomings concern the lack of proper prediction and impact quantification, and the inadequate/insufficient assessment of cumulative effects. A number of problems are related to the scale(s) at which the assessment is performed. SEA may provide a more adequate framework than EIA to discuss scale-related issues (i.e. cumulative impacts) but it also requires the use of adapted tools. This paper presents a case study where a GIS-based habitat model for the lesser spotted woodpecker is tested, validated and applied to a planning scenario in the Stockholm region in Sweden. The results show that the method adopted offers great prospects to contribute to a better assessment of biodiversity-related impacts. Even though some limitations remain in the form of data requirement and interpretation of the results, the model produced continuous, quantified predictions over the study area and provided a relevant basis for the assessment of cumulative effects. Furthermore, this paper discusses potential conflicts between different scales involved in the assessment - related to administrative boundaries, ecological processes, data availability, the method adopted to perform the assessment and temporal aspects.

Human activities in the form of land use changes, urbanisation and infrastructure developments are major threats to biodiversity. The loss and fragmentation of natural habitats are great obstacles for the long term preservation of biodiversity and nature protection measures alone may not be sufficient to tackle the problem. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) play a central role in identifying, predicting and managing the impacts of human activities on biodiversity. The review of current practice suggests that the complexity of the task is underestimated and that new methodological approaches encompassing the entire landscape are needed. Spatial aspects of the assessment and the lack of information on scale-related issues are particular problems affecting the appropriate assessment of cumulative effects. In parallel with the development and establishment of EIA and SEA, spatial modelling is an expanding field in ecology and many derived applications could be suitable for the prediction and assessment of biodiversity-related impacts. The diversity of modelling methods suggests that a strategy is needed to identify prediction methods appropriate for EIA and SEA. The relevance and potential limitations of GIS-based species distribution and habitat models in predicting impacts on biodiversity were examined in three studies in the greater Stockholm area. Distinct approaches to habitat suitability modelling were compared from the perspective of environmental assessment needs and requirements. The results showed that model performance, validity and ultimate suitability for planning applications were strongly dependent on empirical data and expert knowledge. The methods allowed visual, qualitative and quantitative assessment of habitat loss, thus improving decision support for assessment of impacts on biodiversity. The proposed methods allowed areas of high ecological value and the surrounding landscape to be considered in the same assessment, thereby contributing to better integration of biodiversity issues in physical planning.