Sweden has contributed to the peace support operation in Kosovo since 1999. In 2009 a decision was made to transform the Swedish troop contribution, to decrease the number of personnel and to close Camp Victoria - the Swedish headquarter and base camp since the start of the operation. In this study we have followed the decommissioning process of Camp Victoria from an environmental point of view. The purpose of the study has been to create an understanding for some of the environmental aspects that are associated with a peace operation and decommissioning projects and how these have been addressed by the Swedish Armed Forces. Furthermore, the study aims at identifying lessons learned and suggests measures for enhancing future decommissioning projects. The decommissioning of Camp Victoria is one of the largest decommissioning projects that the Swedish Armed Forces has performed in an international peace operation context. To be able to continue both with the daily operational tasks in the theatre and also fulfil the tasks associated with the decommissioning, a special decommissioning task force (OMF) was established. To this task force, personnel with specific competence and operational experience were recruited. The EHO, Environmental Health Officer, responsible for all the environmental issues at Camp Victoria during the decommissioning had previously been deployed to Kosovo in two earlier contingents. In the closing down process of Camp Victoria, the Swedish Armed Forces has utilised new internal documents and directives as guidance, such as the Armed Forces Environmental Guidebook. Furthermore, the Swedish Armed Forces has also taken on an approach to perform the decommissioning according to the same procedures used in decommissioning projects in Sweden. However, such an approach comes with a number of challenges. It is of vital importance to define early in the process what lies within the concept of "performing the decommissioning as we do at home". Which laws shall apply? To what extent shall consultations be held - and with whom? In conclusion, the Swedish Armed Forces has had a high ambition in addressing the environmental issues in this project. Early on in the process an environmental programme manager was appointed at the headquarters in Stockholm, responsible for coordinating all efforts and tasks associated with the environmental field. One of the largest challenges in this project from an environmental point of view has been the lack of complete and easily accessible environmental related documentation. Documents prepared and presented during the whole operation such as incident reports, rotation reports etc. of vital importance for the decommissioning process have not been accessible at Camp Victoria. Most of the documentation has been kept in the Military Archives in Stockholm. In order to compile these documents in a useful manner, a consultant was recruited during a period of three months in 2010. Furthermore, the investigations and the information of the area prior to deployment have been incomplete. Unclear criteria's regarding how to apply the legislation and theSweden has contributed to the peace support operation in Kosovo since 1999. In 2009 a decision was made to transform the Swedish troop contribution, to decrease the number of personnel and to close Camp Victoria - the Swedish headquarter and base camp since the start of the operation. In this study we have followed the decommissioning process of Camp Victoria from an environmental point of view. The purpose of the study has been to create an understanding for some of the environmental aspects that are associated with a peace operation and decommissioning projects and how these have been addressed by the Swedish Armed Forces. Furthermore, the study aims at identifying lessons learned and suggests measures for enhancing future decommissioning projects. The decommissioning of Camp Victoria is one of the largest decommissioning projects that the Swedish Armed Forces has performed in an international peace operation context. To be able to continue both with the daily operational tasks in the theatre and also fulfil the tasks associated with the decommissioning, a special decommissioning task force (OMF) was established. To this task force, personnel with specific competence and operational experience were recruited. The EHO, Environmental Health Officer, responsible for all the environmental issues at Camp Victoria during the decommissioning had previously been deployed to Kosovo in two earlier contingents. In the closing down process of Camp Victoria, the Swedish Armed Forces has utilised new internal documents and directives as guidance, such as the Armed Forces Environmental Guidebook. Furthermore, the Swedish Armed Forces has also taken on an approach to perform the decommissioning according to the same procedures used in decommissioning projects in Sweden. However, such an approach comes with a number of challenges. It is of vital importance to define early in the process what lies within the concept of "performing the decommissioning as we do at home". Which laws shall apply? To what extent shall consultations be held - and with whom? In conclusion, the Swedish Armed Forces has had a high ambition in addressing the environmental issues in this project. Early on in the process an environmental programme manager was appointed at the headquarters in Stockholm, responsible for coordinating all efforts and tasks associated with the environmental field. One of the largest challenges in this project from an environmental point of view has been the lack of complete and easily accessible environmental related documentation. Documents prepared and presented during the whole operation such as incident reports, rotation reports etc. of vital importance for the decommissioning process have not been accessible at Camp Victoria. Most of the documentation has been kept in the Military Archives in Stockholm. In order to compile these documents in a useful manner, a consultant was recruited during a period of three months in 2010. Furthermore, the investigations and the information of the area prior to deployment have beenSweden has contributed to the peace support operation in Kosovo since 1999. In 2009 a decision was made to transform the Swedish troop contribution, to decrease the number of personnel and to close Camp Victoria - the Swedish headquarter and base camp since the start of the operation. In this study we have followed the decommissioning process of Camp Victoria from an environmental point of view. The purpose of the study has been to create an understanding for some of the environmental aspects that are associated with a peace operation and decommissioning projects and how these have been addressed by the Swedish Armed Forces. Furthermore, the study aims at identifying lessons learned and suggests measures for enhancing future decommissioning projects. The decommissioning of Camp Victoria is one of the largest decommissioning projects that the Swedish Armed Forces has performed in an international peace operation context. To be able to continue both with the daily operational tasks in the theatre and also fulfil the tasks associated with the decommissioning, a special decommissioning task force (OMF) was established. To this task force, personnel with specific competence and operational experience were recruited. The EHO, Environmental Health Officer, responsible for all the environmental issues at Camp Victoria during the decommissioning had previously been deployed to Kosovo in two earlier contingents. In the closing down process of Camp Victoria, the Swedish Armed Forces has utilised new internal documents and directives as guidance, such as the Armed Forces Environmental Guidebook. Furthermore, the Swedish Armed Forces has also taken on an approach to perform the decommissioning according to the same procedures used in decommissioning projects in Sweden. However, such an approach comes with a number of challenges. It is of vital importance to define early in the process what lies within the concept of "performing the decommissioning as we do at home". Which laws shall apply? To what extent shall consultations be held - and with whom? In conclusion, the Swedish Armed Forces has had a high ambition in addressing the environmental issues in this project. Early on in the process an environmental programme manager was appointed at the headquarters in Stockholm, responsible for coordinating all efforts and tasks associated with the environmental field. One of the largest challenges in this project from an environmental point of view has been the lack of complete and easily accessible environmental related documentation. Documents prepared and presented during the whole operation such as incident reports, rotation reports etc. of vital importance for the decommissioning process have not been accessible at Camp Victoria. Most of the documentation has been kept in the Military Archives in Stockholm. In order to compile these documents in a useful manner, a consultant was recruited during a period of three months in 2010. Furthermore, the investigations and the information of the area prior to deployment have been incomplete. Unclear criteria's regarding how to apply the legislation and thelimitations including possible lapses from current procedures in decommissioning projects in Sweden have created a room for different interpretations regarding the roles and responsibilities between the actors involved. The interpretation of what is included in the environmental aspects related to the decommissioning process is rather narrow in the order and environmental annex to the said order. Mainly the "environmental decommissioning" focuses on contamination of ground due to the activities at the camp and the remediation of these areas. Decontamination and restoration of used ground is indeed an important issue, however, environmental issues associated with peace operations are far more multifaceted than that. UN includes for instance natural resources, culture and historical values in the UN environmental policy for UN field operations. So far, there are no established guidelines or procedures within the Swedish Armed Forces to aid in the addressing environmental issues in a wider perspective. This does not seem to be so unique for the Swedish Armed Forces, examples from Norwegian and Finnish decommissioning projects suggest the similar focus on pollution and remediation efforts. Lessons learned from this process for future operations and decommissioning projects is to develop the ability to perform EBS (Environmental Baseline Studies) within the Swedish Armed Forces in order to ensure proper and accurate environmental background information of an area prior to deployment. Furthermore, there is a need for a systematic gathering of environmental documents etc. in the model of an environmental log or "Environmental File" during the whole operation in order to ensure that all relevant and necessary information is gathered and easily for e.g. decommissioning. The forming of a decommissioning task force has been highly appreciated by involved expertise and even though organisational issues are not in focus for this study, such a task force is something that may very well be recommended for future, large decommissioning projects. Finally, there is also a need for further efforts in the work with addressing environmental considerations in a wider sense than is generally done today. incomplete. Unclear criteria's regarding how to apply the legislation and the