Petra Adolfsson

When water rules: An organizational study of the implementation of water districts in Sweden





The research project concerns reorganizing according to a new principle of management. According to the EG Directive on water, natural water flows will be the ground for how Swedish authorities and organizations are supposed to work with and co-operate around water related issues. Five water authorities will be established and be responsible for few water districts in the country. The constructionist perspective of the study gives attention to the connections between nature, technology, and humans. These connections are vital to study when the reorganization in focus is supposed to be based on the natural water flows. How principles of management and organizing change and are influenced by the actors involved - both collective and individuals - are in focus. The aim is to study the organizational changes that occur when a new water district is established and earlier actors in the field, as the county administration and municipalities, can have other roles than before. The methodology will focus on the micro perspective, which means that the daily work of acting on issues related to water is central, that is the action nets that constitute the water management of a water district. Observations and interviews will be conducted during three years in order to reveal the process of a changed water organization in Sweden.
Grant administrator
Göteborg University
Reference number
P2004-0839:1
Amount
SEK 1,000,000
Funding
RJ Projects
Subject
Business Administration
Year
2004