Evolutionary Perspectives on Environmental Governance: Strategy and the Co-Construction of Governance, Community, and Environment

Abstract

The attention to sustainability transformations and related processes of learning, innovation, and adaptation has inspired a growing interest in theories that help to grasp the processes of change in governance. This perspective paper and the Special Issue of which it is part explore how evolutionary perspectives on environmental governance can enrich our understanding of the possibilities and limits of environmental policy and planning. The aim of this paper is to highlight some key notions for an evolutionary understanding of governance theory and to show how such an evolutionary perspective can help to develop a more integrated perspective on environmental governance in which the temporal dimension and the effects of steering attempts play a pivotal role. It is argued that the effects of environmental governance on the material environment, community, and governance itself must be considered in their interrelation. Such insight in couplings and co-evolutions can be of great value in the everyday practice of environmental policy and governance and even more so when attempting to transform the governance system towards more ambitious and coordinated goals.

The Future of Fisheries Co-Management in The Context of Sustainable Blue Economy and Green Deal: There Is No Green Without Blue !

“…Several governance-related theoretical approaches are focusing, in one way or another, to change and evolution. Evolutionary governance theory [27][28][29][30][31][32] gives special consideration to the impact generated by governance systems or management settings in general, or by specific actions such as policies and strategies. Some approaches focus on the procedures by which these interventions are designed, or the methods used for the revision of existing institutions.…”

“…However, such an understanding should take also into account that assumptions concerning the stability of different components of the governance system are not verified. For instance, there are approaches to policy implementation supposing that while policies may endure, their outcomes may evolve over time [27]. Although theories about institutional change are initially supposing, for methodological purposes, that actors are stable, such presumed stability does not always reveal the complexity, diversity, and dynamics usually experienced by the governance systems [27,28].…”

“…Speaking about aquaculture, Greece is amongst the five EU MS that produce almost three quarters of the total aquaculture production, both in quantity (9,42% of EU-27) and in value (10,(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). In terms of employment in aquaculture, Greece ranks third among the 27 MS with a total of 3.524 jobs (2018) [19].…”

The Future of Fisheries Co-Management in the Context of the Sustainable Blue Economy and the Green Deal: There Is No Green without Blue

“…Several governance-related theoretical approaches focus, in one way or another, on change and evolution. The evolutionary governance theory [27][28][29][30][31][32] gives special consideration to the impact generated by governance systems or management settings in general, or by specific actions such as policies and strategies. Some approaches focus on the procedures by which these interventions are designed, or the methods used for the revision of existing institutions.…”

“…However, such an understanding should also take into account that assumptions concerning the stability of the different components of the governance system are not verified. For instance, there are approaches to policy implementation supposing that, while the policies may endure, their outcomes may evolve over time [27]. Although theories about institutional change initially suppose, for methodological purposes, that actors are stable, such a presumed stability does not always reveal the complexity, diversity, and dynamics usually experienced by governance systems [27,28].…”