@phdthesis{18803e23-8242-4079-969f-80ba34c0bc01,
  abstract     = {{Industrial and urban symbiosis (IUS) is increasingly promoted as a means to reduce resource use, lower<br/>environmental impacts, and support local sustainability transitions. Municipalities are often assigned a<br/>key role in facilitating such arrangements, yet research has primarily focused on inter-firm collaboration<br/>and external coordination, paying limited attention to how municipal organizations themselves shape the<br/>conditions for symbiosis. This dissertation addresses this gap by examining how municipalities govern<br/>IUS from the inside out.<br/><br/>Drawing on five empirical studies (Papers I–V), the dissertation explores municipal roles and strategies<br/>in IUS governance, the organizational arrangements that shape how such work is carried out, and the<br/>value orientations of municipal actors, as expressed in governance practice through internal collaboration<br/>and coordination. The research combines two in-depth municipal case studies with comparative<br/>interviews and a national questionnaire, enabling both contextual insights and cross-municipal<br/>comparison. The material consists of a systematic literature review, qualitative interviews, document<br/>analysis, participatory observations, and a national questionnaire. The analysis is guided by a framework<br/>that combines perspectives on governing modes, public sector organization, and value orientations.<br/><br/>The findings show that municipalities engage in IUS through multiple forms of action, including facilitation,<br/>regulation, infrastructure provision, partnership, and experimentation within their own operations.<br/>However, sustained engagement is not primarily determined by the choice of governing role, but by<br/>whether symbiosis becomes anchored in established municipal practice. This anchoring takes place<br/>through the allocation of responsibilities, coordination across departments and municipally owned<br/>companies, and the integration of IUS into strategies and administrative routines. The results further<br/>demonstrate that organizational form and value orientations shape how IUS is interpreted, prioritized,<br/>and operationalized within municipal administrations.<br/><br/>By foregrounding these internal dimensions, the dissertation contributes to research on IUS and to<br/>broader debates on public-sector sustainability governance. It shows that municipal contributions to<br/>symbiosis depend not only on technical solutions or policy instruments, but on the organizational work<br/>required to sustain direction, coordination, and responsibility over time. The dissertation also outlines<br/>implications for sustainability policy, suggesting that long-term IUS development requires support for<br/>organizational continuity and internal coordination alongside external collaboration.}},
  author       = {{Södergren, Karolina}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-988626-9-0}},
  issn         = {{1402-3016}},
  keywords     = {{industrial and urban symbiosis; municipal governance; internal governance; public sector organizations; municipal organization; circular economy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  publisher    = {{IIIEE, Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{IIIEE Dissertation 2026:01}},
  title        = {{From the Inside Out : Municipal Strategies for Governing Industrial and Urban Symbiosis}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/246976804/Kappa_-_Karolina_S_dergren_-_WEBB_27_.pdf}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}