Abstract
This paper examines attempts to integrate environmental sustainability goals into the design and implementation of projects funded by the EU Structural Funds programmes in the U.K. between 2000 and 2006. It does so by comparing how the two “horizontal priorities” (environmental sustainability and gender equality) fared in terms of understanding and acceptance by project applicants. It places this material within the wider context of literature on environmental policy integration and inter-agency cooperation. A “policy coordination” framework is used as a heuristic device to construct an account of the ways in which the two themes were handled through the interplay of the myriad of actors and organisations involved in the process. A key part in this involved the deployment of “policy champions” to work with external organisations bidding for funding to support projects that formed the core of programme implementation. The paper also examines the variable reactions on the part of project designers to the requirement to incorporate environmental and gender goals and the greater inter-professional networking that these implied. The comparison between the two priorities clearly demonstrates the difficulties inherent in the breadth and complexity of environmental issues and the need in the first instance to link them to relatively simple actions directly associated with economic development activity. The study concludes that this is essentially the first step in a more protracted “policy learning” process.
Highlights
An enduring feature of public administration is the difficulty faced by conventional models of government in incorporating ―wicked issues‖, or problems that ―defy efforts to delineate their boundaries and to identify their causes, and to expose their problematic nature‖ [1] (p. 167).These issues include unequal distribution of wealth and economic opportunities (―social inclusion‖), relations between different social groups (―community cohesion‖) and protection of the natural environment, while ensuring economic prosperity (―sustainable development‖)
From the discussion so far, it is apparent that achieving progress in integrating environmental sustainability into Structural Funds programmes requires extensive inter-agency cooperation, in particular affording a central role to facilitators or ―champions‖ who are able to bridge across different interests, approaches and viewpoints
The analysis focuses on the extent to which projects funded by the Structural Funds in the U.K. incorporated aspects of environmental sustainability and gender equality into their design
Summary
An enduring feature of public administration is the difficulty faced by conventional models of government in incorporating ―wicked issues‖, or problems that ―defy efforts to delineate their boundaries and to identify their (exact) causes, and to expose their problematic nature‖ [1] (p. 167). Policy measures seeks to promote ―greener‖ ways of working amongst those receiving grants that are allied to a range of economic development programme aims, and the role that key personnel play at various points in this process. It does this through a comparative analysis of EU Structural Fund programmes in the U.K. during 2000–2006. The final section concludes with observations concerning the variable nature and results of the bargaining processes and the role of champions in terms of the comparative environmental and gender aspects of project design, along with broader remarks on the utility of linking Peters‘ policy coordination framework with other insights from the literature for future implementation research on EPI
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