Social Learning in Policy Networks

Abstract

English The subject of this article is learning processes in public policies. Twenty-eight case studies in the areas of environmental, agricultural and health policy, which were part of the Swiss National Research Programme No 27, Effectiveness of public policies, were used as a basis for studying the way in which inter organisational learning processes unfold in different policy fields (stimuli, knowledge transfer, social processes etc), the learning paths and forms of learning which can be identified within these processes and the conditions under which social processes can become successful learning processes. (The study is fully reported in Knoepfel et al, 1997. Conceptual preparatory work can be found in Kissling and Knoepfel, 1993; Kissling et al, 1994; Kissling-Näf and Knoepfel, 1994a; 1994b.)

The Governance Assessment Tool and Its Use

“…3.5 Main descriptive questions specifying the five elements of governance for water management implementation (Source Bressers et al 2013) et al 2012; Bressers et al 2013Bressers et al , 2015. The structural context influences the process not only through its direct contents, but also through its extent and coherence (Knoepfel et al 2001(Knoepfel et al , 2003Bressers and Kuks 2004). The extent refers to the completeness of the regime.…”

Europeanization, strategic environmental assessment and the impacts on environmental governance

“…Second, one can see the limitations of behavioural and cognitive policy learning processes among domestic policy actors (Knoepfel and Kissling-Naf, 1998) in promoting new forms of environmental governance. Although MoE officials came to believe that SEA offered a means of improved decision-making, and acquired signifi cant new knowledge, this was insuffi cient to assert the merits of SEA over the preferences of sceptical colleagues in other departments.…”

The role of common pool resource institutions in the implementation of Swiss natural resource management policy

“…In order to identify the relevant resource regulation mechanisms, the three detailed case studies were analysed using the factors provided by the ''institutional resource regimes'' framework (Knoepfel et al 2001(Knoepfel et al , 2003Kuks and Bressers 2004;Kissling-Naef and Kuks 2004;Varone et al 2002). This framework combines an approach based on policy analysis (e.g.…”