Local Governance Arrangements Research Articles

Smartening Local Energy in Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Three Cases and Their Implications for Supporting Transformative Governance Practices

Achieving global sustainability goals, while maintaining or increasing access to energy services, calls for agile and many-faceted responses. The pursuit of ‘smart local energy systems’ is one such response that involves a paradigm shift, taking the concept of an energy system away from large-scale power plants and fuel stores towards more flexible configurations to harness renewable energy flows, with highly distributed physical assets, actors, skills and controls. Smart local energy requires citizens, industry, utilities and government bodies to collaborate and learn together in order to develop effective modes of governing that meet sustainability goals and provide reliable, accessible energy services. In this article, we introduce practical implications of creating more localised energy systems with the aid of digital technologies. We then analyse three emerging European energy communities in terms of their actors, activities and alliances, to build an understanding of governance practices within and beyond the communities that are capable of fostering transformative change towards sustainability. From this, we argue that maintaining progress towards smart local energy systems requires transformative governance within and beyond initiatives. It requires local governance arrangements that are agile and responsive to new actors and activities as well as to broader external circumstances.

Good fences make good neighbors? Exploring potential transformative impacts of local governance towards livestock fence-in rights in Malawi

Malawi's export earnings are dominated by tobacco, accounting for over 60% of export earnings. The demand for an alternative export commodity, pigeon pea, has been rising over the past decade, especially from India. In addition to their export potential, pigeon pea is an effective cover crop to protect soil heath and productivity in the dry season. They are mostly grown in southern region on very small farms, however, there are opportunities for expansion into central region given the existence of larger farms and agroecological suitability for the crop. Currently, social norms in the central region constrain this expansion. Livestock, and goats in particular, are left to roam free in the dry season by over two-thirds of farmers, relative to only one-third in the south. This leads to significant damage to pigeon pea crops and discourages farmers from growing them and taking advantage of the increased export demand. Much land is left bare and the few farmers that do grow crops during the dry season are forced to put up fences. This study assesses ex-ante implications, especially on agroecological transformation and economic growth, of shifting local governance arrangements among farmers around keeping livestock towards controlled systems. These externalities have been understudied in the development programming, yet their impacts are substantial, especially in lower-income countries. The policy solution under study is for the local government and non-state actors to support local governance arrangements through indirect payments to agroecosystem services. These can include information campaigns on benefits of controlled livestock systems, training and subsidizing modern goat house construction and feed preservation, and contract farming and product certification for adhering to acceptable community norms. Medium-term policy interventions include varietal development of adaptable short duration pigeon pea, initiating a review of the appropriate laws, and instituting more studies to understand these community norms.

How can public policies facilitate local cooperation? insights from the EU’s wine policy

ABSTRACT Decentralised cooperation is key for achieving a range of policy goals, but we still know relatively little about how to create it in low-trust, institutionally weak settings. This article develops an account of Facilitative Overarching Institutional Frameworks (FOIFs) as macro-level institutions that abate the obstacles to local cooperation. Through qualitative evidence collected via fieldwork, it is shown that the EU’s wine policy is a good example of a FOIF, and that it has crucially contributed to the puzzling emergence of demanding forms of local cooperation in the Greek wine sector. When combined with favourable local conditions, and particularly with local leadership, as in Santorini, a FOIF can have transformative implications for local cooperation. When local leadership is absent, as in Lemnos, the final degree of local cooperation will be more limited. While the rareness of embedded policymaking in Greece inhibits the adoption of public policies that favour decentralised cooperation, in the wine sector the EU’s system of subsidies and geographical indications partially compensates for these for domestic institutional deficiencies. The article contributes to our knowledge about the emergence of decentralised cooperation in adverse circumstances and improves our understanding of the effects of transnational integration regimes on local governance arrangements.

Local multilevel governance arrangements for climate change planning and management in Kumasi, Ghana

Institutions play crucial roles in addressing and building resilence to climate risks. Whereas planning for and addressing climate change issues through multilevel goverence (MLG) has become inevitable, there has been a disparity in the attention given to different levels of MLG. The focus of MLG research has predominantly centered around supranational and national levels, with limited empirical studies on subnational MLG governance; hence, this research. This study thus focuses on the city of Kumasi (specifically, Kumasi Metropolitan Area) in Ghana as a case study to examine the role of MLG at the subnational level in climate change planning and management. Seven relevant climate change and local/city planning agencies were sampled purposively for appropriate data. It was clearly revealed that these actors who operate at various levels and jurisdiction, address climate challenges in accordance with their respective primary responsibilities. While such MLG arrangement exists for addressing climate change in the city of Kumasi, there are many challenges that derail effective collaboration and any meaningful outcome within such governance framework. The collaboration among the authorities involved in planning and managing climate change action in Kumasi remains weak coupled with overlaps in their formal roles and responsibilities. Additionally, there is no evidence of any meaningful action being undertaken within such governance arrangement to address climate change contrary to the expectation that MLG should have enhanced interactions in terms of planning for climate change. The study recommends that the MLG framework should encourage learning across different levels and facilitate interactions among various organizations, promoting innovation in climate adaptation and mitigation initiatives.

Exploring the Role of Intermediaries in the Acceleration Stage of the Energy Transition: A Comparative Case Study of Two Local Energy Projects

AbstractTransition intermediaries are expected to play an important role in the acceleration stage of the energy transition. While existing scholarship helps us understand the role of transition intermediaries in the early stages of transitions, it remains unclear what role intermediation plays in subsequent transition stages, especially at the local level where the implementation of policies and legislation takes place. In this article, we aim to investigate how intermediation takes shape in the acceleration stage of the energy transition. Drawing on the literature on transition intermediaries and intermediation at the local level, we explore the role of transition intermediaries in two local energy projects in the Netherlands. Through extensive qualitative research, we find that various actors can act as transition intermediaries and that a single actor can fulfil different intermediary roles simultaneously. Our findings contribute to the literature on transition intermediation and urban intermediaries, emphasising the key role intermediaries play in aligning innovations with existing institutional configurations. Furthermore, we highlight their role in connecting the energy transition to broader societal developments, including through citizen involvement in local and regional governance arrangements.

The Inner Functioning of Local Governance Networks in Centralized Countries: A ‘Brave New World’?

Local governance networks are increasingly seen as the big idea to cope with issues that are complex enough in scope and scale to require a diversity of expertise and resources. While conventional narrative has posited that local networks are optimal for addressing a range of policy problems, and enhancing democratic participation, scarce attention has been devoted to understanding their inner working. A relevant gap in the literature pertains to the impact of central government intervention in igniting such arrangements on the diversity of actors, the intensity of interactions among actors, or their coordination practices. Such assessment is particularly relevant in centralized contexts. This article seeks to map and characterize the inner working of local networks in such a context—Portugal. The empirical analysis highlights the crucial role of central government in igniting local networks and in ensuring higher levels of formal intensity of collaboration to reduce transaction costs. Keeping such arrangements under the radar of central government, however, may curtail the diversity of actors, policy areas, and curb stakeholders’ commitment in local governance arrangements.

Developing architecture of system management in the English NHS: evidence from a qualitative study of three Integrated Care Systems

ObjectiveIntegrated Care Systems (ICSs) mark a change in the English National Health Service to more collaborative interorganisational working. We explored how effective the ICS form of collaboration is in achieving...

UK local government experience of COVID-19 Lockdown: Local responses to global challenges.

Local authorities in the United Kingdom played an integral role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. During a time of unprecedented crisis, local authorities acted quickly to strengthen local governance arrangements and to deliver frontline services. The public health emergency created unparalleled challenges for local authorities. This paper reflects on the experience of Nottingham City Council, a local authority in the East Midlands of England. It draws on an in-depth interview with the then Deputy Leader of the authority and the chair of the Outbreak Control Engagement Board, and the publicly available minutes from this committee. This paper places the specific experiences of this local authority in a broader context reflecting on emergency planning, best practice, and legacy. It contributes to understanding the national impact of COVID-19 on local government. Four key themes emerge from this analysis: first central government was too slow in responding to the emerging crisis and communication with local government was poor, second the local authority quickly moved online but there has subsequently been a return to pre-pandemic working practices, third local government played a critical role in supporting vulnerable citizens despite huge budgetary pressures, and finally relationships between partners was crucial in achieving positive outcomes.

Potential for improvement in governance and national action plans to overcome antimicrobial resistance

With more than 1·2 million deaths directly attributable to infections with resistant bacteria in 2019, 1 Antimicrobial Resistance CollaboratorsGlobal burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis. Lancet. 2022; 399: 629-655 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1168) Google Scholar the constantly increasing burden of antimicrobial resistance is a leading cause of death, disability, and economic loss in every region and country globally. Antimicrobials are a global public good that need protection from a “tragedy of the commons”. 2 World Bank GroupDrug-resistant infections. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/323311493396993758/pdf/final-report.pdfDate: 2017 Date accessed: December 2, 2022 Google Scholar Protecting people from overuse of antibiotics, misuse of antibiotics, and infections, particularly infections with resistant bacteria, requires both global action and nationally targeted responses. However, antimicrobial resistance is a complex multisectoral and multifactorial process. Interventions should be coordinated via overarching plans that are sustained by robust governance frameworks. For example, member countries of WHO endorsed the Global Action Plan (GAP) on antimicrobial resistance in 2015, which explicitly requests countries develop national action plans (NAPs), identify priorities, allocate resources for NAP implementation, and establish national and local governance arrangements. Measuring the global response to antimicrobial resistance, 2020–21: a systematic governance analysis of 114 countriesInternational efforts to control antimicrobial resistance varied considerably between countries. Monitoring and evaluation efforts need improving for continuous understanding of national and international progress. International response might not be commensurate with the scale and severity of antimicrobial resistance. Full-Text PDF Open Access

Local Activism in Urban Neighborhood Governance

This study investigates local activism in politically challenging contexts, focusing on Cairo. In such contexts, active resident groups strive for urban improvement, while governance arrangements often disregard citizen involvement in urban and public affairs. Cairo presents an exemplary case of local activism in a politically challenging and under-researched context. The study explores the characteristics, roles, and interrelations of active resident groups with local governance arrangements and their deviations from existing literature. It employs a qualitative methodology with observations and semi-structured interviews with local officials and active residents from nine different districts. The study uses Facebook to select, observe, and analyze the activities of multiple active resident groups and contributes to theoretical frameworks for analyzing local activism in complex contexts. It reveals the dominant and absent roles and the governance dimensions (un)attainable by active residents. It also traces the sources of limited local activism in the existing governance arrangements in Cairo, highlighting the importance and difficulty of changing governance arrangements in Egypt. The study broadens our understanding of local activism in the Global South beyond dominant forms of activism.

''Compulsory'' Migration Governance at Local Level: The Case of İstanbul

This article focuses on the increasing role of cities and local governments in migration governance through following the increasing “local turn” approach in migration studies in recent years. Turkey, which has a long immigration history and by far the largest immigration population of the country with massive Syrian immigration which started in particular in 2011, cities and local governments have developed different local governance arrangements by which they are trying to produce answers to the diversity brought about by immigration. Local responses differ in terms of scope, actor, approach and method. In this study, how and why the municipalities produce different responses are discussed in the context of the role of the municipalities and the common methods that local responses share despite the same legal framework and being a part of Istanbul metropolitan area. Thus, based on the analysis of the field study conducted in six districts of Istanbul, it has been revealed that the answers given to migration and immigrants are shaped in the context of a high informality and compulsory governance.

Is There a Case for Recognising Taiwan at the International Science-Policy Interface for Climate Change?

Taiwan’s COVID-19 response has won praise globally, but has drawn attention to Taiwan’s position in the international community. As global climate negotiations reach a critical point, we characterise three ways in which Taiwan is marginalised at the global science-policy interface for climate action. First, exclusion from formal climate negotiation mechanisms means Taiwan, as a high-emitting nation, does not have an international legally-binding obligation to respond to climate change and is absent from an important channel for mutual learning and alliance-building. Second, misrecognition or inconsistent recognition by international organisations obscures the local governance arrangements which have driven climate action in Taiwan to date, making peer-to-peer learning more difficult. Third, conflation of Taiwan with other entities in scientific exchange may lead to confusion or erroneous interpretation of underpinning evidence. Accordingly, we contend that understanding Taiwan as a distinct entity with its own social and political formations is critical for a richer global science and evidence base for climate action, and for recognising Taiwan’s obligations and shortcomings as a high emitter.

Important social and technical factors shaping the prospects for thermal energy storage

Thermal energy storage is likely to be integral to a sustainable, secure and affordable energy system facing ever greater challenges in matching supply and demand. Techno-economic studies have explored the potential for thermal storage deployment, but transitions in the energy system are also influenced by the activities and decisions of an array of actors. We gathered new empirical evidence from a desk-based survey on thermal energy storage in the UK and through a sociotechnical analysis explored the status and role of thermal storage in the energy transition. We find the technology remains a relatively niche approach in the UK subject to complex national and local policy and governance arrangements and the impacts of a stable fossil-based heating regime benefitting from significant lock-in effects. Whilst we acknowledge the limitations of a focus on single technology-systems to deliver the transformative energy system change required, we find thermal storage delivering both local and national benefits to support system balancing and mitigate seasonal peaks in demand, whilst having the potential to deliver other benefits. Promising innovations in business models are helping to enable thermal storage deployment, and these are also applicable to low carbon heat provision more widely.

A participatory local governance approach to social innovation: A case study of Seongbuk-gu, South Korea

As the concept of social innovation gains increasing credence in the public consciousness, a number of questions have become increasingly prominent in the relevant discourse: what does social innovation mean at the local level? How can social innovation be promoted? In particular, what kinds of social and institutional arrangements are needed to facilitate socially innovative activities and practices in neighborhoods and communities? To address these questions, this paper first outlines the related theories and literature as an overview of the notion of social innovation. Next, to provide an example of a promising approach to social innovation at the local level, the paper develops a theoretical discussion on the interface between local social innovation and participatory local governance arrangements, and proposes a process model of local social innovation as an analytical framework for a case study of a district-level initiative in Seongbuk-gu in Seoul, South Korea. By examining the governance structure and socially innovative strategies utilized in this locality, the case study demonstrates how the local participatory governance system can furnish an enabling environment for socially innovative ideas and strategies. Lastly, along with a look at some of the unique aspects of the case, the paper discusses contributions of this study to the theory and practice of social innovation, along with implications for other cases that may consider the governance approach to social innovation.

Does Local Environmental Governance Improve Tourism Companies’ Performance? Evidence from Vietnam

Institutions (rules of law) are important to tourism activities. However, national institutions cannot become effective when the execution of rules of law is inconsistent at the local levels. This study thus examines the role of local governance arrangements on the performance of tourism companies, focusing on environmental governance quality. Utilizing institutional theory, we propose a U-shaped relationship between tourism performance and environmental governance. When environmental governance arrangements are initially implemented, the performance of local tourism companies may be negatively affected due to institutional conflicts. However, as new environmentally responsible values are gradually institutionalized, the performance of the local tourism sector will improve. Analyzing more than three thousand tourism companies in Vietnam in 2018 using instrumental variable technique to control for endogeneity, we find some evidence to support the U-shaped function. Also, it is found that the U-shaped effect is stronger on foreign inbound tourists than on domestic tourists.

Regional informal institutions, local governance and gendered entrepreneurship

ABSTRACT This study investigates the impacts of regional informal institutions and local governance arrangements on the revenue growth of both male- and female-run firms in Vietnam. Utilizing institutional theory and the literature on feminism, we argue that male- and female-run firms are responsive to different sets of institutions. Analysing more than 1.1 million observations in 11 years (2006–16), we find that female-run firms benefit from collective action norms and non-finance-related governance forces, while male-run firms perform better under pro-entrepreneurship norms and finance-related governance forces.

Assessing livelihood-ecosystem interdependencies and natural resource governance in a tribally controlled region of India\u2019s north-eastern middle Himalayas

Mountains host high biological and cultural diversity, generating ecosystem services beneficial over multiple geographical scales but suffering significant vulnerabilities. A case study in Lileng village (Arunachal Pradesh, Indian north-east Himalayas) explored linkages between a community with protected tribal rights and the forest and river ecosystems within which they are situated. Evidence was gathered through interviews and literature review about ecosystem service benefits, using the Rapid Assessment of Wetland Ecosystem Services approach. Subsequent analysis using the social, technological, environmental, economic, political framework found close, synergistic relationships between local people and the ecosystems for which they have protected tribal rights. Authoritative local governance arrangements prioritise community subsistence needs, limiting the influence of external state government and private actors on natural resource exploitation. Further sustainable economic development could stem from recognition of the value of ecosystem services produced by intact and functional habitats, and the potential for development of ‘payment for ecosystem services’ markets in addition to ecotourism and cultural tourism. Low food sufficiency and poverty observed in a previous study conducted in Uttarakhand state of the central Indian Middle Himalayas, principal drivers of out-migration and gender/age inequalities, were not evident in Lileng or surrounding areas, apparently linked to tribal rights and authoritative local governance in Arunachal Pradesh leading to greater resource security. Better understanding of ecosystem–community relationships in areas with protected tribal rights can highlight sustainable policies and practices that may be translated into wider geo-political areas, especially in the wake of projected climate change stresses.

Institutional Design and Elite Support for Climate Policies: Evidence from Latin American Countries

AbstractWhich institutional features do Latin American elites favor for local climate change policies? Climate change mitigation requires active local-level implementation, but it remains unclear which institutional arrangements maximize support for environmental rules. In this paper, we run a conjoint experiment with elite members of 10 Latin American countries and ask respondents to evaluate institutional designs drawn from a pool of 5,500 possible local climate governance arrangements. We find that Latin American elites prefer international organizations to formulate climate policies, support imposing increasing fines on violators, and favor renewing agreements every 5 years. We also find that elites support both international institutions and local courts to mediate conflicts, but they distrust non-governmental organizations and reject informal norms as a means of conflict resolution. Our results identify possible challenges in crafting local climate mitigation policies and offer new insights about how to integrate local and international levels in environmental agreements.

From Cooperation to Competition: Localization, Militarization and Rebel Co-Governance Arrangements in Syria

The article explores the complex interaction between war-dynamics and non-state armed groups’ approaches to governance and politics at the local, sub-national level. It focuses on understanding how broader conflict trends influence rebel groups’ choices with respect to establishing local governance partnerships, both with civilian agents and other armed factions. The study examines this question through the lens of the Syrian landscape and through an overview of local governance arrangements by Jabhat al-Nusra1 in the Idlib and Aleppo provinces between 2012 and 2017. In tracing the evolution of rebel co-governance arrangements at the local level,2 the article highlights two dynamics: first, how the breakdown of centralized governance and the gradual processed of militarization of local authority3 altered the balance between civilian and armed actors, shifting power in the hands of the latter. Second, how the combination of prolonged strategic stalemate, resource scarcity and ideological competition between armed factions resulted in a shift from cooperative to competitive rebel governance. The article seeks to further nuance the study of rebel governance and rebel-to-political transitions by focusing on how multi-level relationships affect armed groups’ governance choices.4

Distance is a barrier to recycling – or is it? Surprises from a clean test

The distance of recycling bins from households is often considered important by practitioners, but published evidence for this uses only indirect and self-reported data. This study aims to provide such evidence by obtaining a clean test using measured distances in a walled community with 1200 households with the same building types, local governance, recycling and waste arrangements. The number of deposits each month of food waste for recycling at a designated site are logged via smart-cards allocated per household. The number of days per month that each household deposits showed a highly significant - but small - negative correlation with distance of the bin: fewer householders participate if further away, accounting for 3% of the variation. Surprisingly, there is no variation with distance among those who do participate: their recycling frequency does not vary. This second result is not consistent with the first in terms of cost/benefit concepts assumed by government planners, nor with the static theories of behaviour currently used in waste management research. We recommend that recycling practitioners note the smallness of the contribution of distance to recycling performance, and not overrate it. And we recommend that researchers make better use of non-static models (which model different stages towards behaviour change), which our second result appears to call for.