| dc.description.abstract | Regional authority in Norway is given a central role in SDG implementation through the national expectations regarding regional and municipal planning. Nevertheless, national authorities provide few guidelines for how the SDGs should be implemented. Through a case study of partnership in Vestfold and Telemark County Municipality, the thesis studied how Vestfold and Telemark County Municipality contribute to SDG implementation through planning in Vestfold and Telemark County. Three research questions are developed to investigate the case: (1) What kind of partnership is the partnership Sustainable Vestfold and Telemark? (2) How does the partnership play a role in implementing SDGs in Vestfold and Telemark County Municipality? And (3) What are the challenges and opportunities of using partnership to implement the SDGs?
The thesis has identified the partnership sustainable Vestfold and Telemark as an organic partnership, where the county municipality’s role is a facilitator. Further, the thesis found that the role of the partnership in SDG implementation has been absent because the partnership is not fully established yet. However, the thesis indicates that such partnership may contribute to mobilization of actors and put the SDGs on the agenda. To identify the role of the partnership, the thesis has also investigated how the municipality implements the SDGs and found that the framework for SDG implementation lacks an integrated approach to SDG implementation. The challenges of partnerships are identified as a lack of trust and a lack of clear purposes. However, the opportunity of partnerships for SDG implementation is that partnerships involve multiple actors to contribute to holistic development.
The conclusion of the thesis is that the role of the county municipality in implementing SDGs through planning is to facilitate collaboration through partnership and network in order to make public, private, and third sector actors contribute to the SDG implementation. Through partnership, the county municipality can make sure that social actors implement measures for SDG implementation adopted in regional plans and strategies, which are not legally binding. | |