Hållbarhetsredovisning i Kommunal Verksamhet : En kvalitativ studie av fem kommuner i Skaraborg

Sammanfattning: In today's society it has become increasingly important for organizations to take into account non-financial values. Sustainability reporting involves reporting the economic, social and environmental aspects of an organization's operations. The trend has been towards an all the more scrutinizing society with an increasing demand for transparency and translucency. A greater focus on environmental issues has also contributed to sustainability’s increasing importance as a topic. In this aspect, sustainability reporting becomes a mean for an organization's survival. Much attention has been paid to companies in the private sector; however, less attention has been directed towards the public sector. Local government activities have a strong impact on the environment in regard to its usage of resources, energy and raw materials. In addition, most municipalities are actively working with environmental issues and as a result, some form of sustainability reporting would be a logical step. However, sustainability reporting requires both resources and knowledge, which can be a limiting factor for municipalities’ sustainability operations. At the same time, the public sector is expected to be some form of guiding force when it comes to sustainability and environmental issues. The purpose of this study is to create a deeper understanding of sustainability in the local government sector and to outline to which stakeholders local government sustainability reporting is aimed and why. To meet this purpose, qualitative interviews were conducted with people responsible in the field of sustainability in various municipalities in Skaraborg. The collected empirical data were then analyzed based on a combination of institutional theory, legitimacy theory and stakeholder theory. The study shows that there are various institutional pressures, created by society affecting the implementation of sustainability reporting in local government and that these pressures differ between stakeholders. The study also explains how local authorities respond to these pressures by trying to legitimize their business. The study's results, however, show that the municipal sustainability reporting also aims to engage and motivate the municipality's citizens to contribute to a sustainable development.