Report, Work Package 4, Case 2 (Helsingborg, SE) BSR TransGovernance Project

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1 LU Open Karl Pettersson Emil Gustavsson Report, Work Package 4, Case 2 (Helsingborg, SE) BSR TransGovernance Project This report investigates the process of establishing a proposed dryport, supporting the port of Helsingborg. A mixture of public and private actors are more or less visible as the driving forces behind the activities to realise the plans. While constructions of the dryport have not yet commenced, awaiting a formal decision at municipal level, there is a visible general consensus that a dryport is a positive development. The report investigates in particular how this seemingly general consensus among public and private actors has emerged and is sustained. Why is the level of disagreement not as visible as one might expect, considering the disparity of the interests involved? The report suggests that the answer is found in a certain level of ambiguity about the proposed development of the dryport, which allows each actor to interpret the process as beneficial for their respective organisations. This ambiguity should not be seen as master plan by one or a few involved organisations, rather it is the result of their various notions about the establishment of the dryport and the problems it would solve. It is our conclusion that the MLG-model used in negotiating the establishment of the dryport is what the report describes as Ambiguity as strategy in temporary constellations for cooperation. We believe that this strategy could pose as a potent tool in a general MLG model for governing logistic flows in the Baltic Sea Region.

2 Ambiguity as strategy in temporary constellations for cooperation This report is based on the thesis Decision-making processes in temporary constellations for cooperation A case study of Dryport Bjuv / Astorp (Gustavsson & Pettersson 2013). 1 The thesis investigates the margin of interpretation that can arise due to the ambiguity in the procedure regarding temporary constellations for cooperation. This has been done in the form of a case study. What is a dry-port? With the increasing amount of goods and the desire from municipals and individuals to get hold of locations close to sea, for construction and so on, the cry out for dryports arises. The purpose of a dry-port is to do all the things a normal port is doing except for those things that has to be done close to sea. Examples of what can happen within a dry-port are customs clearance and return of goods. Between the port and the dry-port a line of transport, by railroad traffic or normal road traffic, is built. This line of transport has as it's main purpose to bind together the two ports. The establishment of a dry-port can lead to the additional establishment of logistic companies, which in turn can lead to growth in the industry within the region where the dry-port is placed. The benefits with a dry-port can be many. Benefits for; The port: less practical problems within the port area, operation on cheaper ground, sequential loading, prepared document handling and increased competitiveness against other ports. 1 Gustavsson, Emil & Pettersson, Karl. (2013) Beslutsprocesser i tillfälliga samarbetskonstellationer -En fallstudie av Dryport Bjuv/Åstorp. Urbana Studier, Malmö högskola. Available at: 2

3 The port city: fewer problems with traffic. The society: more railroad traffic. The railroad operators: bigger market. The unloaders: better access to transport services to and from oversea markets The haulage contractors: more short distance haulage rather than sitting in traffic jams near the ordinary port The back sides to a dry-port are that the competence that exists within the subject area is scattered and also that the equipment that is needed for inspection entails large investments. This can cause problems, primarily, for small dry-ports to maintain efficiency in operations management. The traffic in the city where the ordinary port is placed decreases which leads to an increase of traffic in the area where the dry-port is placed. It can also cause new local problems in terms of, for example, landscape view, and other environmental problems. A dry-port is a clear example of an infrastructure investment that may take the form of a temporary constellation for cooperation which in actors chooses to participate, even if they have different goals and different ways to interpret the situation. Dryport Bjuv / Astorp The northwestern region in Skane wants to be an attractive environment for logistics companies. To pursue the idea of being an attractive and creative environment, one of the sixteen priority targets within the regional cooperation of northwestern Skane (SKN) is to build a dry-port. In the initial phase there were several places in the region considered possible, but after further research Bjuv / Astorp was considered as the most suitable place for a dry-port. The site is located on the border between the municipalities Bjuv and Astorp. The site is currently used as agricultural land. The outline for the land is already planned and is in the future supposed to be used for industries. 3

4 The goal is that the establishment should be running in 2016 and the measure of whether the goal is achieved or not is that Bjuv and Astorps city councils should have adopted a stance in the case before the current mandate period is over. In order to make a decision, the strategy is to develop a foundation for policy decisions and to acquire players who can set up in a dry-port and the surrounding establishment surfaces. Actors The following actors have been a part of the study. Region Skane Region Skane is a regional public organization which has the task of promoting and furthering regional development. The political management consists of the regional council with 147 members, boards, committees and preparations. Skane Nordvast (SKN) SKN is an inter-municipal cooperation between eleven different municipalities in northwestern Skane. The municipalities included in the collaboration are Bjuv, Bastad, Hoganas, Helsingborg, Klippan, Landskrona, Perstorp, Astorp, Angelholm, Svalov and Orkelljunga. The partnership began in 1996 and was intended to strengthen the region and promote greater efficiency, growth and development in the municipalities. Familjen Helsingborg (FH) The part of the SKN-cooperation that is responsible for enterprise and tourism issues. The objective is to create opportunities for the companies in the region to develop and grow, but also to be attractive to companies looking to relocate in 4

5 the region. Bjuvs kommun (The municipality of Bjuv) The municipality of Bjuv was formed in 1974 in connection with a merger between Bjuvs, Billeolms and Ekebys municipalities. The population is Bjuv is one of the municipalities where the dry-port may be established. Åstorps kommun (The municipality of Astorp) Wants to be the municipality where people and businesses are growing. The population is in the current position Astorp is one of the municipalities where the dry-port may be established. Helsingborgs hamn (Port of Helsingborg) A company owned by the city of Helsingborg, it currently has 260 state employees. The port has an annual cargo handling at about 8 tons. The company wants to be a competitive alternative in both vessel traffic and land traffic. Port of Helsingborg is one of the organizations that may run the dry-port. Analysis and conclusions The actors interpretations of dry-port Bjuv / Astorp differentiate from each other. There is for instance a diverse picture of which organization that initiated the project. This connects us to theories of strategic ambiguity. There is a margin of interpretation for the actors involved, and this has occurred because of an ambiguity in the procedure. Had this ambiguity not been there, the actors probably would have had the same picture of whom it was that initiated the project. Furthermore, there are various pictures of the final result and what a dry-port will be able to generate for each player. The actors' goals and incentives 5

6 for participation also differ. One of the actors mentions that the traffic in the city where the ordinary port is located will decrease. This means that the players in this area may find it easier to comply with, for example, its environmental objectives while it can create problems for actors, where the establishment of a dry-port should lie, to achieve their environmental goals locally. This indicates that there must be different goals and incentives for players to participate. Another example of this is the issue of whether a dry-port will generate jobs and what the impact will be on the regional and local levels. There is really only one actor who is convinced that a dry-port will generate many jobs. The other players are more uncertain when it comes to this point. They argue that it is impossible to predict what it is going to happen. Moreover, it is uncertain where this potential workforce will settle, which is important from a municipal perspective. There are however other incentives and motives for participation. A politician in one of the municipalities argues that an important factor to their participation is that the politician thinks that it may be a way to expand the trade and industry, which we believe can be a way to show decisiveness. Furthermore, one of the officials in one of the municipalities says that it is about taking a stand. "We can get something that's peak: The highest-class business development, instead of just ordinary business development that we have worked with for decades."(writers translation) The participating municipalities, where a dry-port possibly should lie, share the opinion that it is important for those smaller municipalities to be a part of the overall cooperation within SKN. Another actor believes that there are clear economic and practical benefits for them if a dry-port becomes reality. This indicates that some actors may have pure profit motives while other players have to look at things from a different perspective. Something that works associative rather than framing and limiting is when the starting point is a single expression, a product or a project idea. Actors with different starting points gather around the expression which is interpreted differently and placed in the different contexts of the participants. They act together but from different interpretative frameworks. The cooperation grows around a common point rather than being held within a limited framework. 6

7 Individual players cannot control the entire process and it is difficult to predict what the outcome will be in the meeting between the different interpretations and the various stages. There is a situation open to interpretation to which players can connect their own desires, changes and their own ongoing development. This is in good agreement with the studied case. It appears based on empirical data that an ambiguity exists, which in turn leads to a margin of interpretation which can be strategically used in different ways. Another aspect is that one can argue for a proposal by presenting credible persons who support the proposal. The thought is that a trustworthy person ought to present reliable suggestions. Here we see that a number of players mention Region Skane's representative as a legitimizing actor. They highlight this person's expertise in the respective field of activity as desirable and legitimizing. Moreover, it is the other actors' desire for Region Skane's participation that leads to this person's involvement. Furthermore, it appears that players can see various participants as legitimizing. One of the participants perceive the port as legitimizing and even claim that the port's needs, and work are vital for their decision to participate. To manage such a project of collaboration requires the use of methods other than explicit intentions and directives. Command and control is done rather by controlling the circumstances of time and place. One controls who is allowed to participate, when proposals are presented and how the project is formulated. We mean that it could be that Region Skane's participation can have a steering function. They bring legitimacy and it can also create greater consensus by meeting the actors' desires. In the empirical material, it appears clear that there is a positive attitude that things take time. We believe that what happens in the margin for interpretation is that actors interpret the current problem area in a way that fits their organization. This has led to that the actors who were previously opposed to the project and felt pressurized has changed their mind and now have a desire to participate, this because they have found positive aspects grounded in their own perspective. These aspects may not have been as clear before the actors got time to analyze their participation based on their own interpretations. The following quote, spoken by a representative of one of the municipalities where a possible 7

8 dry-port should lie describes this well. "Now I think we've landed in the working group and also from my own perspective. So, I feel pretty confident with the work both with what we're aiming for and where we're going. But before the working group, it was more uncertain where we were going. Now it feels safer. " (writers translation) Another question is the interdependence and the power relations between the actors. In this case, you can clearly see that there is interdependence among the actors. The municipalities expresses clearly that they think it's important to be part of the overall cooperation within SKN and other players are dependent on the municipalities where a possible dry-port should lie because this location has proven to be the best location for an establishment. As seen previously in the analysis, there are also dynamic and changing perceptions between participants. It seems that the margin for interpretation leads to that one can have these different opinions, without the emergence of major problems. It bears to be added that this could change over time, but at the time that the empirical data was collected, there was no sign of insecurity or threat to the formation. Furthermore, we believe that the voluntary nature of participation in relation to the interdependence is debatable. The possibility to interact with a broader range of persons who engage in the same issues and also may be part of a larger pattern of social activity can increase interest in participating in a network. This may be part of the reason why municipalities think it's so important to be part of the overall cooperation within SKN. This dependency can affect how voluntary participation really is. Some players may have great influence and others less. This can lead to that the perceived reciprocity in dependence to each other may differ between the stakeholders. In other words, player A may be more dependent on player B than player B is the player A, and so on. This is what we mean can affect the degree of volunteerism. Another aspect is when each representative participates in inter-municipal working group meetings. Here a consensus arises regarding the current problem area. The representatives then pass this on to the organization / actor they represent. What happens is that you are socialized and thus also change perspective and action. This leads to changes 8

9 in the values and policies. The players feel that they have the chance to influence the outcome, and that they are unlinked from SKN-cooperation on the issue. The representative of one of the municipalities where a possible dry-port should lie also says that they have been involved from an early stage and had the opportunity to influence the process. The representative states that: Nothing is yet to be put on paper, but the idea is that when the traffic report is ready it will be brought up for discussion and then we should have a decision (writers translation) Initially one joins the collaboration to influence others, and because there is no binding regulations or directives, one can unlink ones interests from the overall organization. The same quote, from a representative of one of the municipalities in which a possible dry-port will be placed, that is used to illustrate that the actors have changed their minds over time, can here be used to illustrate the idea that one can be socialized and thus also change attitudes and behavior. You can change your mind over time and this may be due to that you feel at home in the group, and that you are experiencing that new knowledge is acquired in the exchange of experiences and the like. "Now I think we've landed in the working group and also from my own perspective. So, I feel pretty confident with the work both with what we're aiming for and where we're going. But before the working group, it was more uncertain where we were going. Now it feels safer. " (writers translation) Here we mean that the representative in question may have changed its mind because of its participation in the working group and that there may have been socialization among group members. In this case it seems that it is the aforementioned dependencies, the degree of volunteerism, and the margin of interpretation that has led to the constellation status and that some operators now have a more positive view of the establishment of a dry-port than they had before. 9

10 Summary There are ambiguities in the procedure that leads to a margin of interpretation and further appears that the actors have different goals and different incentives for participation. We also see that there may be players who create legitimacy for other stakeholders just by themselves being a part of the constellation. It turns out that what happens in the margin of interpretation is that actors interpret the current problem area in a way that suits their organization, which leads to those actors who previously opposed themselves it and felt pressurized have changed their minds. They have found positive aspects grounded in their own perspective. It seems that these aspects became clearer to participants after they had time to analyze their participation based on their own interpretations. Regarding the degree of volunteerism it appears that actor A may be more dependent on player B than actor B is player A, and so forth, and that this may influence the degree of volunteerism. As we see it is possible to say that some of what happens in the scope for interpretation is that the actors are socialized and change their perception and that this may be due to that they feel at home in the group and that you feel that you have access to new knowledge. You feel that you are disconnected from the overall organization and therefore affect others rather than being influenced by yourself. It is the interdependence, the voluntarism and the margin of interpretation in relation to each other that has led to the constellation status and that some actors have a more positive view of the establishment of a dry-port now than what they had before. What we have learned from the study that is important is that there has been a change and that change can have aspects such as interdependencies and margin of interpretation to do. 10

11 Concluding comments The thesis creates a deeper understanding through an in-depth example and highlights in particular the initiation and formation of temporary collaborative arrangements with diverse stakeholders. This knowledge can be of use in the control of such constellations and can serve as a starting point for further research. In the creation of tools for multilevel governance it can be helpful to have knowledge of what is happening in the margin of interpretation and what a cooperative constellation looks like in an early stage because it is the foundation for the rest of the work. Ambiguity as strategy Sahlin -Andersson writes about how ambiguity cannot be avoided in temporary collaboration between organizations where there are groups with different perspectives and interests. She argues that one instead can use this ambiguity as a strategy to attract the attention and interest, gather a group and create commitment, sell idea development and keep critics away. If there is a disconnection between solutions and problems, between expressions and meanings this allows an organization with ambiguity. The ambiguity means that many can connect to a collaboration that is based in such expressions, without giving up their different interpretations of the terms. There is a situation open to interpretation to which players can connect their own desires, changes and their own ongoing development. Ambiguity gives the various organizations the space to keep a necessary distance to events, to simultaneously do other things, not completely engulfed by what is happening and to be able to run their own interpretations and interests within the context of the constellation for cooperation. 2 2 Sahlin-Andersson, Kerstin. (1989). Oklarhetens strategi organisering av projektsamarbete. Sudentlitteratur Lund. 11

12 It is primarily this theory reflected in the report, but there are also other theories that support our argument. For further and more detailed information please refers to the study this report is based on. (Gustavsson & Pettersson 2013) 3 3 Gustavsson, Emil & Pettersson, Karl. (2013) Beslutsprocesser i tillfälliga samarbetskonstellationer -En fallstudie av Dryport Bjuv/Åstorp. Urbana Studier, Malmö högskola. Available at: 12