Environmental governance for sustainable development
Research program of the sections of ‘Environmental Studies and Policy’ and ‘Urban and Regional Planning’.
Objective
The objective of our research program is to further our understanding of how and why different – often co-existing – modes of governance either do or do not result in (environmentally) sustainable outcomes.
Scope
We define governance as a process of interaction between public and/or private entities ultimately aiming at the realization of collective goals. The particular collective interest of our research program is sustainable development. Our program narrows the focus to the environmental dimension of sustainability, particularly to natural systems, both living and non-living. Spatial planning is being regarded as a specification of governance, focusing on the spatial dimension involved.
Shifts in modes of governance
In our vision, sustainable development goals are pursued through a multitude of different modes of governance. These modes of governance vary between traditional top down government steering to self regulation of business organizations. Some are more and others less successful in bringing about the change that sustainable development is thought to require under specific circumstances. Apart from analyzing and explaining each of these modes, we study shifts in modes of governance. On that basis, the program seeks to make a relevant and significant contribution to the policy debate by formulating recommendations about interventions that have the potential to make governance outcomes more congruent with sustainability goals. Special attention will be paid to problem-solving in multi-actor and multi-level contexts of problem-solving.