Sustainable development and climate change mitigation at the rural municipal level in Austria: Tracing policy diffusion, process dynamics and political change

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that municipalities play an important role in the transition towards sustainable development and climate change mitigation. But how well do they really meet these expectations? Focusing on the diffusion of pertinent policies in local, rural Austria, we analyse whether the policy diffusion has induced procedural, political and programmatic effects and, if so, how it was accomplished. The results fall short of expectations.Although it is widely acknowledged that municipalities play an important role in the transition towards sustainable development and climate change mitigation, there is a notable lack of studies focusing on the diffusion of pertinent policies at the local level. This paper analyses the diffusion of sustainable development and climate change mitigation policies in rural Austrian municipalities. We scrutinise the policy diffusion rates and patterns. In doing so, we ask whether policy diffusion has induced procedural, political and programmatic effects within the rural government context and, if so, how these changes were accomplished. The results show that the lack of political commitment, political incoherency and insufficient support are major barriers impeding diffusion and implementation. Insufficient programmatic effects are explained by the fact that only “easier” measures have so far been implemented. These “easy” measures stop short of profoundly tackling structural problems or challenging current practices. In contrast to the high expectations regarding the role of municipalities in transitioning towards sustainability and climate-friendly practices, municipalities appear not to have the competencies nor the capacities to implement far-reaching, system-changing measures on their own.