Beyond green growth: Mapping sustainability pathways for rural transformations in Norway

Abstract

Competing sustainability pathways reflect different values and preferred solutions in response to the climate and environmental crisis. The recent Values Assessment by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) states that mobilizing a diversity of sustainability-aligned values (such as care and reciprocity) are key to sustainability transformations. This paper examines the role of values and livelihood options as leverage points for rural sustainability transformations. Drawing on IPBES’s analytical framework, we assess support to four different sustainability pathways in rural Norway: i) green growth, ii) degrowth, iii) earth stewardship, and iv) nature protection. Data was collected from an analysis of fifteen policy documents (N = 15) and a survey (N = 3591) distributed among local population in 12 Norwegian rural municipalities. Three main results are highlighted. First, green growth and associated values firmly dominate sustainability thinking in Norwegian policy agendas for rural development, followed by nature protection, and earth stewardship, while degrowth ideas are only marginally represented. Second, while 17.5 % of survey respondents describe profit or economic growth as key for sustainable development, one fourth (26.1 %) emphasize nature protection, sufficiency, or local production. Finally, green growth supporters emphasize instrumental values through tourism and industry, while degrowth supporters emphasize intrinsic and relational values through localized small-scale farming and resource use. Our results indicate that if Norwegian rural policy is to align with IPBES’ recommendation to balance diverse values for sustainability transformations, rural policies should extend their attention beyond green growth, drawing on alternative sustainability pathways to incorporate a wider diversity of values.