Governance for sustainable development: a framework

Abstract

This paper explores how two complex concepts, governance and sustainable development, can be linked in order to obtain a better understanding of their interactions. We argue that the many perspectives on sustainable development can be mapped on the continuum between ecological sustainability and quality of life. Likewise, the variety of modes of governance can be captured between hierarchical governance and deliberative governance, depending on the degree of involvement of societal actors. From these two typologies we derive a framework for analysis of governance for sustainable development. We realize that the typology is a significant simplification of the complex debates about sustainable development and governance, but it might help scientists and policy makers to explore relevant dimensions of modes of governance for sustainable development and for setting a framework for empirical analysis. The main conclusion of this paper is that the debate on governance for sustainable development will be clarified if the perspective on sustainable development and the mode of governance for achieving it are made more explicit. Problems that are now exclusively associated with sustainable development might well be problems of governance for sustainable development. Without making explicit what type of governance for sustainable development is pursued, miscommunication between stakeholders and mismatches of the approach with the instruments used could be the result, thus hampering progress in implementing sustainable development. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The Bidirectional Causality between Country-Level Governance, Economic Growth and Sustainable Development: A Cross-Country Data Analysis

“…Other authors [46] (p. 410) argue that "problems that are now exclusively associated with sustainable development might well be problems of governance for sustainable development", because the premises for ensuring sustainable development cannot be accomplished without good governance because of its major characteristic, namely to achieve common goals by collective actions, with transparency and accountability. The same authors points out the relationship between the country-level governance concept and the characteristics of sustainable development which requires the involvement of a plurality of parties that have to adequately respond to the requirements of social complexity and a proper institutional setting because many sustainability projects and initiatives are negatively affected by a "weak institutionalization", therefore structural improvements in the public sector are strongly required [46]. Thus, governance for sustainable development represents a huge but unavoidable challenge, because governance structures and practices need to be properly designed so that to foster, guide and coordinate the activities of a wide range of actors on a vast complex of social, economic and environmental issues [47].…”

Sustainable Development: A Bird’s Eye View

“…The former considers sustainable development as a concept that is "objectively" measurable informed by scientific evidence while the latter considers it as "subjective", being a result of societal preferences, where different opinions can co-exist and which are contextually determined [32]. Taking the "objective-subjective" scientific dichotomy for granted, one can distinguish between (partly) objective and subjective aspects of sustainable development and given the widespread use of the divide this is a reasonable and helpful way to frame the sustainability concept and its debate.…”

“…These various aspects are inherently linked and when considered together they are mutually strengthening in support of a proper understanding of sustainable development. Our "broad" discussion offers this unique perspective and is complementary with the "specialized"-focusing on one aspect-scholarly sustainability literature (for example [17,18,21,25,[30][31][32][33]). …”

Sustainability Assessment Framework for VET Organizations

“…In this stage, we have considered the synergies between quality and sustainable development in an organizational framework described by Isaksson [17]; the capital-based frameworks as part of the statutory responsibility that promote the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of their communities [18]; and the many perspectives for implementation described between the extremes of the ecological sustainability perspective described in the international standard for environmental systems [19] and the well-being perspective [20].…”