Advancing Social Equity in Local Government Sustainability Actions: An Institutional Perspective

Historical industrial transitions influence local sustainability planning, capability, and performance

IntroductionDecision-makers' perceptions, influenced by institutional and organizational pressures, shape sustainability action. However, the current body of research on the impact of these pressures within the real estate sector, particularly among real estate owner organizations, remains limited. Research argumentThis explorative study fills the research gap by providing empirical findings and theoretical interpretation that explains the influence and outcomes of institutional pressures on decision-making processes. Methodological approachExplorative surveys and interviews were conducted with asset managers in Sweden to understand their sustainability perceptions and actions within the real estate sector. Main findingsThe study found a notable shift in sustainability perceptions among asset managers in Sweden, with most recognizing sustainability as critical for commercial real estate, challenging the notion of their passivity and highlighting their proactive engagement. Economic incentives significantly influence sustainability actions, with top priorities being energy efficiency and renewable energy due to their positive business impact. Other sustainability actions are also important but not prioritized to the same extent, revealing specific priorities within real estate owner organizations, an area less explored in prior research. ConclusionThe article proposes a theoretical framework to guide future research on how institutional and organizational mechanisms shape decision-makers' sustainability perceptions, guiding sustainability action. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for implementing Sustainable Development Goals in practice across industries.

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Plans often sit on the shelf and fail to promote action. This raises the question of how and when plans matter. This is especially important in sustainability planning where local governments are more likely to take actions with short-term benefits that are easy to adopt. How can planners promote more sustainability actions, especially those with longer term benefits? In this study we examine factors influencing local sustainability actions by tracking 651 U.S. local governments’ adoption of 34 sustainability actions from 2010 to 2015. We differentiate places that recently adopted a sustainability plan from those that have had a plan for a longer period and those that have never adopted a sustainability plan. We use difference-in-difference (DID) modeling to assess what effect plans have on the level of sustainability actions. We find a plan may have its greatest effect in motivating actions when it is newly created. Places that adopted a plan between 2010 and 2015 exhibited a significant increase in sustainability actions during those same years. By contrast, places that already had a plan in 2010 showed higher initial levels of sustainability actions but did not show a higher level of growth in the number of actions adopted compared with places without plans. In general, we find local governments with higher levels of sustainability actions articulate social equity goals, devote staff and budget resources to the effort, engage the public, and promote interdepartmental coordination. Local governments under Republican control enact fewer sustainability actions.Takeaway for practice: Sustainability plans are most effective in spurring local sustainability actions when they are newly created. However, this initiation impact in motivating actions wanes over time. Promoting continued adoption of sustainability actions requires a comprehensive approach with attention to political support, public participation, social equity, interdepartmental coordination, and local capacity.

Leveraging emotion for sustainable action

While more and more directors and executives are acknowledging the importance of sustainability to their strategies for financial success, companies have continued to struggle with embedding sustainability into their core business practices and overall organizational design. In order for the sustainability strategy to be effective and successful, it must align with the structure, competencies and culture of the company. This chapter surveys research that has been done on embedding sustainability into organizational design and structure including guidance on basic steps that should be taken including incorporating sustainability into mission and vision statements, creating an executive position with responsibility for sustainability, providing sustainability training to employees, collecting and reporting data on sustainability performance and incorporating sustainability into financial and non-financial rewards programs. Also addressed is the placement of resources dedicated to sustainability within the organizational structure and accepted practices for staffing the sustainability function. The chapter also investigates ideas for how companies can strengthen and leverage their sustainability resources by partnering with other organizations.

ABSTRACTWhat differentiates communities that emphasise social equity in their sustainability policy? We use a 2015 survey of 1899 cities and counties across the United States and find only 26% of local governments report prioritising social equity. We use a distributional justice lens to create measures of social equity policy, and a procedural justice lens to assess processes for community engagement. We find that both distributive and procedural justice are important in local sustainable development. Our regression models find that plans and organisational capacity are important, but what differentiates municipalities that engage in more social equity policy is procedural justice – formal citizen engagement through a citizen task force and cross agency collaboration, as well as explicit links to economic development actors – notably, municipal ownership of utilities, and pressure from local businesses. A more engaged governance that incorporates the public, business, with cross-sectoral government agencies may mitigate the conflicts between three Es and help localities pursue a more balanced local sustainability agenda.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Requires Transdisciplinary Innovation at the Local Scale

Comprehensive analysis of the formation of organizational management structures is given in the article. R. Norman model is chosen as the object of research, because it covers all operation systems of the companies. Today, holding of the companies in the changing environment of globalization leads to constant adaptation. This problem is solved by the formation of a new organizational and industrial structure, which is the basis for systems such as the integrity, structure and organization that it is necessary to companies. However, the research of work of the scientists in the field of formation of organizational structures incomplete takes into account the impact of the current conditions for development of companies, which require constant monitoring of external and internal conditions. Therefore it is necessary to use the modified methods for the formation of organizational structures. Research of R. Norman model led to the structurization of all components, key indicators are derived, which makes it possible to generate the algorithms of the optimal organizational structure.

Since 1994, more than 2000 European local governments have adopted the principles of the Aalborg Charter as a basis for local sustainability action. Now, ten years later in June 2004, these local governments will gather once again in Aalborg, Denmark at the Fourth European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns in Europe, Inspiring Futures—Aalborg+10. The Aalborg+10 event will celebrate a decade of European local sustainability action, evaluate progress and stagnation, and, more importantly, will adopt new commitments to move from Agenda to Action. The conference will be crucial for accelerating local sustainability in Europe and to move towards Local Action. Here an overview is provided on the context against which this important conference is set and its expected outcomes.

Cities and municipalities play a vital role in accelerating the transition towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In an urbanised world, many of the most significant sustainability initiatives are carried out locally. This study discusses the results of action research run with 12 forerunning municipalities in Finland. The research identified the current baseline in the municipalities’ cross-sectoral strategic leadership work related to sustainability and co-designed solutions for more long-term and coherent SDG leadership at the local level. The conceptual framework links the literature on sustainability transitions seen as systemic sociotechnical change with the public administration scholarship. The study showed that embedding sustainability in the practice of local level leadership is a matter of both procedures and substance. The local level administration needs to know how to orchestrate its sustainable development efforts but also know which themes and actions to concentrate on in order to utilise the full local potential. As a result, this chapter presents three models of SDG leadership at the local level. A participatory process, where the SDGs are localised in a cross-sectoral manner, gives the opportunity to bring sustainable development to the very centre of strategy work at the local level and can be recommended.KeywordsAgenda 2030SDGsMunicipalitiesStrategic leadershipLocal level policyCross-sectoral governance

In this article, we examine the connections between resiliency and sustainability by asking: Can disaster planning lead to more sustainability actions? In a survey we conducted of 1,899 cities, towns, and counties across the United States in 2015, we found that disaster plans are three times more common than sustainability plans. Our regression models find both types of plans lead to sustainability action as does regional collaboration across the rural‐urban interface. However, we find that hazard mitigation planning may be done without including sustainability staff, citizens, and other officials. After controlling for motivations, capacity, and cooperation, we find that rural communities are more likely to have sustainability plans than suburbs, though their level of sustainability action is lower due to capacity constraints. Our models of multilevel governance find local motivations balance sustainability’s concept of environmental protection, economic development, and social equity—and are more important drivers of action than grassroots or higher‐level government funding and policy. This bodes well in a context where federal government leadership on sustainability is absent.

This book considers the importance of democratic principles in tackling the complex problems arising from attempts to create sustainable communities in Britain. The ‘sustainable communities’ agenda recognises that although achieving sustainable development will require global agreement, local action will be vital in achieving this aim. It is generally believed that accountability and citizen participation can help to provide solutions to the problems of these communities, but this book seeks to prove this within a theoretical framework based on a model of ‘local sustainability’. The context for this investigation is referred to as ‘localism’ in England and focuses on two recent programmes for neighbourhood action—Labour’s New Deal for Communities programme and the Coalition Government’s Neighbourhood Planning scheme. The book begins by discussing the definition of sustainability with reference to the work of the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) and the agreements stemming from the UN Conference on Environment and Development, in 1992. It then outlines the response to these agreements in the UK at both national and local level. From this discussion, the first chapter concludes by devising a model of ‘local sustainability’ that is used as a mode of analysis throughout. The model of ‘local sustainability’ is based on a three pronged approach that includes: the ‘needs of the people’; ‘sustainability’—focusing on the longevity of projects and strategies; and the ‘three pillar approach’—referring to environmental, social and economic development. This is rooted in an analysis of the UK Strategy for Sustainable Development 2005, as inspired by the Brundtland definition of sustainable development and the ‘three pillar’ approach of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation for Sustainable Development (agreed at the UN Conference on Environment and Development, in 2012). Having established the model of local sustainability, the book proceeds to detail the notion of accountability and citizen participation and how they relate to ‘local sustainability’, before examining how these principles have underlined the processes of local government reform in recent times. Most significant, is Chapter 5 which contrasts community-led approaches to neighbourhood action under the Labour and Coalition Government administrations.

This study advances research on business planning by integrating and reconciling the institutional and strategic planning perspectives to explore the performance implications of both formal and informal business planning. We also examine how an entrepreneur's prior experience and social class shape the planning‐performance relationship. Using a dataset of two waves of interviews with 313 founders in C hina, we found that both formal and informal business planning can benefit new ventures. Interestingly, as a unique contingency factor in the C hinese context, social class moderates only the link between formal planning and performance, whereas prior work experience moderates the effects of both formal and informal planning on performance. Copyright © 2013 Strategic Management Society.

In the article the main aspects of the formation of flexible management structures of corporate associations of construction enterprises — construction groups are considered. The subjects of the investment and construction complex must quickly respond to changes in the external environment, should have possibility to adjust to possible changes in the economy and other spheres. Such an opportunity can be realized on the basis of the formation of flexible management structures of organizations. A flexible management structure is an organizational structure that allows an enterprise to respond quickly and effectively to the changes in the external or internal environment. In general, flexible management structures are a set of system elements that can adapt to changing environmental conditions in order to ensure an acceptable level of efficiency and production optimization and management processes under conditions of changing environment. In this case, the formation of organizational structures is implemented at the following levels: intra-company level, organizational and functional level, organizational and contractual level. Formation of flexible organizational structures for the management of a construction group should be realized within the limits of the certain strategy, while fulfilling the conditions for maximizing the level of strategic development while ensuring a sufficient level of general stability of the construction group.

Розглянуто особливості управління територіальною громадою в сучасних умовах. Показано необхідність підвищення якості управління як передумови надання якісних послуг населенню територіальних громад. Запропоновано врахування певних принципів у процесі формування організаційної структури управління. Проведено аналіз видатків на утримання апарату управління в різних територіальних громадах. За результатами аналізу запропоновано підходи до підвищення ефективності управління на місцевому рівні.