Policy Networks and Stability in Swedish Forest Policy: Analyzing Learning and Responses to Climate Change from 1990 to 2021

Policy networks and stability in Swedish forest policy: analyzing learning and responses to climate change from 1990 to 2021 Jens Nilsson, Karin Beland-Lindahl, Annica Sandström & Chris Weible European forests are under increasing pressure to meet demands for carbon sequestration, bioenergy production, and fossil material substitution, while simultaneously facing climate-related stress and disturbances. Although climate change could be considered as an external force driving policy change, previous research indicates that national forest policies have largely remained the same. Countries respond to these challenges in diverse ways, with variations tentatively shaped by the impact of disruptive events, institutional frameworks, and the structure of advocacy coalitions. This paper aims to enhance our understanding of policy change and stability by examining policy networks and learning processes in Swedish forest policy over the past 30 years. Sweden provides an illustrative case where policy goals and problem definitions have evolved in response to climate change while policy instruments and forest management practices have seen only limited revisions. This reflects a shift in rhetoric rather than practice, with continued reliance on established policy approaches that emphasize increased growth, private property rights, voluntary measures, and high relience of the possibility to achieve synergies between objectives. To investigate the drivers behind these policy outcomes we conduct a longitudinal analysis of policy networks and coalition dynamics in the swedish forest policy subystem from 1990 to 2021. The study offers empirical insights by exploring coalitions, their belief systems, and the evolution of learning processes, over time, highlighting their influence and power in policy making. Theoretically, the paper links coalition politics to policy responses, offering a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that facilitate or constrain policy change. The research contributes to our knowledge of the factors that influence longterm policy stability and adaptation in contested areas of natural resource management.