Multi-stakeholder Governance Research Articles

The Internet as a global public good and the role of governments and multilateral organizations in global internet governance

The Internet presents social and economic attributes of a global public good, requiring governments and multilateral organizations to play central roles in Internet governance. This article examines the Internet as a global public good, identifies the roles of governments and multilateral organizations in global Internet governance, describes the current status of multi-stakeholder governance, and proposes guidelines to improve international cooperation.

Governing the global climate commons: The political economy of state and local action, after the U.S. flip-flop on the Paris Agreement

United States withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, which follows well-known principles of common pool resource management, poses a serious challenge, but it could provide a golden opportunity to cement and advance the efficacy and legitimacy of the Agreement. The Agreement encourages subnational units to participate in a polycentric, multistakeholder governance structure. As many as two dozen states have policies that could put them in compliance. These states represents over 40% of U.S. emissions, making them the 4th or 5th largest emitter. Subnational compliance would give the Agreement a major boost particularly if they seek observer status and are exempted from sanction. Even without such rewards, the states have strong reasons to follow this path. As non-fossil fuel producing states, they have clear interests in developing local resources as the basis for their electricity sector. As a large group, they gain economies of scale and network effects. As part of the American Federalist system, they would be defending their right of independent action. At COP 23, the U.S. subnational entities played a prominent role and the treaty participants reacted strongly against the Trump administration position, while embracing the activities of U.S. subnational entities. The U.S. presence was limited and isolated.

Capture and crush: Gas companies in the fracking dispute and deliberative depoliticization

Multi-stakeholder governance arrangements involving co-operation between public and non-state actors are a vital part of the governance landscape for addressing social impacts resulting from resources development. Yet, the current mantra for ‘collaboration’ has gained relative credibility and legitimacy without scrutiny of the democratic characteristics and quality of these institutional arrangements. This article responds to this normative concern by examining the implications for the democratic legitimacy of multi-stakeholder governance arrangements in cases where private resource extraction companies, who do not necessarily act in the public interest, exercise a ‘metagovernance’ role. We explore this topic through a qualitative case-study comparison of affordable housing governance in regions impacted by unconventional gas development in Australia and the United States. We argue that while multi-stakeholder governance arrangements convened by resource extraction companies can support situations of democracy under certain conditions, resource extraction companies structure the processes within these collaborative arrangements to the benefits of specific actors, notably the extractive companies themselves and other profit-orientated actors. In particular, we illustrate the depoliticizing effects of these institutions, whereby in some cases, they are used to constrain debates about the social impacts of extractives development, and circumscribe certain types of actors from participation in deliberative debate and decision-making. We underscore the importance of state intervention in ensuring communicative processes induced by corporate actors proceed according to the principles of deliberative democracy.

Building a new tool to evaluate networks and multi-stakeholder governance systems

Networks are increasingly used in public policy to tackle ever more complex societal challenges. Multi-stakeholder governance systems have been set up to strengthen regional innovation systems, to fight the consequences of climate change and to tackle social change. However, multiple challenges mean that evaluating these networks and governance systems is complex and requires specific evaluation approaches. Learning from the strengths and weaknesses of existing approaches, this article presents a new tool (GOCAPASS) which enables evaluators to assess governance systems and networks involving multiple stakeholders. It has already been tested in regional innovation policy and governance of EU macro-regional strategies. Practical testing demonstrated its usefulness as a tool for evaluation and policy learning, though some weaknesses still need to be resolved.

More Art than Science? Exploring the Roles of Technology Innovation Hubs for Urban Regions in Developing Countries

Technology innovation hubs (TIHs), an emerging phenomenon in developing countries, offer a combination of business incubation services and open convening spaces, events, and innovation competitions. To understand TIHs’ roles and identify pathways for future research, I analyzed data from interview and focus groups with 220 stakeholders of seven TIHs in five countries, using an informed grounded theory approach. Theory from economic geography (on regional advantage, regional innovation systems, and clusters) provided the most useful perspectives, which I related to themes emerging from the data. I found that TIH stakeholders saw themselves and the TIH as part of an “innovation ecosystem,” with ecosystems growing and maturing in distinct patterns over time. Ecosystem quality was understood as the completeness of complementary actor groups. TIHs functioned predominantly as linkage builders between ecosystem actors and actor groups. TIHs promoted innovation ecosystems in particular by creating visibility for small enterprise and individual innovators, by leveraging and pooling larger organizations’ resources, and by feeding “buzz” in the ecosystem. TIHs had multi-stakeholder governance and engagement models, leading to both advantages and frictions. For future research, I propose a theoretical framework of innovation networking, integrating literature from economic geography and network science. I conclude that future TIH analysis ought to examine TIHs’ shaping of innovation networks (as the relational structure of innovation ecosystems) for the largest potential theoretical and empirical contributions.

The Genomic Commons.

Over its 30 or so years of existence, the genomic commons-the worldwide collection of publicly accessible repositories of human and nonhuman genomic data-has enjoyed remarkable, perhaps unprecedented, success. Thanks to the rapid public data release policies initiated by the Human Genome Project, free access to a vast array of scientific data is now the norm, not only in genomics, but in scientific disciplines of all descriptions. And far from being a monolithic creation of bureaucratic fiat, the genomic commons is an exemplar of polycentric, multistakeholder governance. But like all dynamic and rapidly evolving systems, the genomic commons is not without its challenges. Issues involving scientific priority, intellectual property, individual privacy, and informed consent, in an environment of data sets of exponentially expanding size and complexity, must be addressed in the near term. In this review, we describe the characteristics and unique history of the genomic commons, then address some of the trends, challenges, and opportunities that we envision for this valuable public resource in the years to come.

The Comparative Advantages of Single and Multi-Stakeholder Cooperatives: Reflections for a Research Agenda

Multi-stakeholding is a way to share, or democratise, decision-making power among stakeholders within organisations. Analysis, however, has not fully considered the role of this form of private governance. This paper builds on the observation of past and recent governance experiences in cooperative firms, where sharing decision-making power was associated with single stakeholdership. Though single stakeholdership seemed to be the preferred solution so far, recently multi-stakeholder governance has become more prominent also in cooperatives. In light of this evidence, this paper has three aims. The first is to set out some of the theoretical arguments for and against multi-stakeholder governance, to look at examples of multi-stakeholder models in practice, and to generate from this a set of research questions. A useful distinction to assess how multi-stakeholdership can be applied in practice is between ownership and strategic control. We then use this distinction to present examples taken from the experiences of Eroski (the big Iberian retailer), iCoop (the Korean cooperative that brings together farmers and consumers), and Italian social cooperatives, which place the desirability of multi-stakeholding as one of their constitutional features. Our conclusions emphasise the necessity of improving this field of enquiry by outlining a research agenda on multi-stakeholder cooperatives.

Social learning as an adaptive measure to prepare for climate change impacts on water provision in Peru

This article examines the conditions under which social learning occurs and leads to adaptive measures through two empirical examples of Peruvian cities that invested in watershed protection for their urban water supplies. Social learning is an increasingly popular approach aimed at achieving socio-ecological resiliency through multi-stakeholder collaborative governance processes. Social learning is a convergence in knowledge that occurs through dialog and deliberation. Yet, assumptions that social learning will necessarily lead to more environmentally sustainable and resilient practices may be overly optimistic, especially as they rarely consider the political and organizational dimensions of decision making. This study analyzes two seemingly similar case studies of multi-stakeholder water management in Peru that resulted in watershed protection programs—a novelty in Peru that will help ensure future water supplies. Despite similar programs adopted, though, the social interactions were markedly different. Social learning occurred in Moyobamba, where the multi-stakeholder platform was characterized by trust, flexibility, and sustainability. In Cusco, however, stakeholders reached an agreement on projects for watershed protection, but the process exhibited little evidence of social learning, trust, or flexibility. In this article, I use process tracing to analyze if and how social learning occurred in each case. Then, I identify factors that contributed to social learning, including diverse participation, open communication, multiple sources of knowledge, extended engagement, unbiased facilitation, and an opportunity to influence outcomes.

Pioneering extractive sector transparency. A PWYP perspective on 15 Years of EITI

The EITI progressively went from being a loose set of reporting requirements to a comprehensive and well respected standard of disclosure. As a global coalition, PWYP played a major role in this continuous strengthening of the EITI as a normative trend setter in the extractive industries. The ability of the EITI to continuously reconcile numerous, oftentimes diverging priorities has been at the heart of its success, both as a model of multi-stakeholder governance and as a transparency standard. From a PWYP perspective, it is important to pay credit to those essential achievements. But it is equally important to highlight outstanding challenges − the insufficient use of EITI data by citizens being an essential one − that have prevented the initiative from fully reaching its transformative potential for citizens and local communities in resource rich countries to reap important benefits from extractive activities.

Direct Impacts of an Urban Living Lab from the Participants’ Perspective: Livewell Yarra

Urban living labs have emerged as transition arenas for undertaking process-oriented and reflexive experiments in the multi-stakeholder governance of sustainability. This paper evaluates Livewell Yarra, an urban living lab in Melbourne, Australia, that brought together academic researchers and community actors to engage in experiments for low-carbon living. This paper evaluates transition team experiments in governance of the lab itself and community experiments in carbon reduction that took place in people’s homes and small group settings known as decarb groups. This paper’s primary research question is: what are the direct impacts of urban living lab experiments from the participants’ perspective? The research methods utilised include action research, asset-based community development, participatory co-design and most significant change research. This paper evaluates experiments in low-carbon living through data collected via stories of change from participant interviews. The results indicate that experiments in urban living labs create opportunities for social learning and empowerment, but also raise issues of leadership and ownership of transition governance. The findings suggest that Livewell Yarra could have benefited from clearer agenda setting and continuous monitoring to feedback results. The paper concludes by suggesting future research directions that utilise the operational processes of transition management to support experiments in urban living labs.

The Comparative Advantages of Single and Multi-Stakeholder Cooperatives

When co-operatives were first invented, it was assumed their membership would be limited to one type of user. The Rochdale Pioneers favoured consumers, and employee representation was deliberately limited to a set percentage of board members. Similarly, Schulze Delitsch and Raiffeisen privileged farmers, Buchez workers, insurance mutuals those who are insured, and so on. Recently, Italian social co-operatives have developed a different model in which all the relevant stakeholders become members: those who are cared for, the carers, the workers, and volunteers. Also, occasionally dual stakeholder co-operatives have been designed. Eroski, the big retailer located in the Iberian peninsula, has both consumers and workers in membership, and iCoop in Korea has both consumers and farmers. This paper has two aims, to set out some of the theoretical arguments for and against multi-stakeholder governance, to look at examples of multi-stakeholder models in practice, and to generate from this a set of research questions.

Internet multi-stakeholder governance

Governing the internet is not a straightforward task, and covers diverse issues including physical infrastructure, management of unique identifiers (such as domain names and IP addresses), and the ...

Greening the agri-environmental policy by territorial and participative implementation processes? Evidence from two French regions

After nearly three decades of agri-environmental policy in the European Union, the negative environmental impacts of agricultural practices are still an ongoing problem. Though a substantial body of work underlines the economic, cultural, and social factors that could encourage farmers to adopt less damaging farming practices, many researchers as well as practitioners raise the question of the efficacy of leaving agri-environmental policy processes in the hands of farmers' organizations and national agricultural departments. The activation of non-agricultural actors in these processes is increasingly considered as a driving force toward greener agri-environmental schemes. Using the case of two French regions during the 2007–2013 period, this study examines the effects of the new, decentralized, and multi-stakeholder governance of agri-environmental scheme implementation. This analysis explores how the presence of regional and local political entities and environmentalist organizations affect (or not) both the content of agri-environmental schemes and the traditional corporatist style of agricultural policy making. This study shows two main results. First, it reveals that non-agricultural actors adopt various strategies to neutralize the reformist effect their presence should theoretically have generated within agri-environmental policy. Second, it indicates the dominance of a sectoral and corporatist policymaking style over the territorial modes of policy implementation. Together, these dynamics underline a path dependency phenomenon in agricultural policies, one characterized by the political-economic dominant position of agricultural administrations and farmers’ groups.

Towards a sustainable development licence to operate for the extractive sector

The extractive sector now holds an even more predominant position for national economies following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. The sector can make significant contributions to the achievement of a large number of these Goals. Managing extractive resources has always presented a major challenge for many countries worldwide, but especially in the developing world. This paper documents the shortcomings of the existing governance architecture. It builds on the ‘social licence to operate’ and draws from its limitations to propose a new framework called the ‘sustainable development licence to operate’. The latter is a holistic multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance framework aimed at enhancing the contribution of the mining sector to sustainable development. It is not intended to function as a licence in the regulatory sense. The underlying principles, policy options and best practices that form the basis of the proposed framework are outlined in the paper. This analysis should be viewed as a starting point, in recognition that the development of a robust sustainable development licence to operate depends on an open and inclusive approach to populating its normative content.

The Limits of Multistakeholder Governance: The Case of the Global Partnership for Education and Private Schooling

This study investigates collective decision making within a multistakeholder partnership through a case study of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Analyzed through the theoretical framework of sociological institutionalism, this study applies the issue of private schooling as a lens to understand policy-related decision making between very different stakeholders within a single forum. A process-tracing analysis of document and interview data shows that the GPE has not substantively engaged with the issue of private education, indicative of “strategic avoidance” due to concerns that a debate could destabilize the partnership. Such avoidance is argued to potentially engender harmful impacts on the GPE. The absence of dialogue reflects broader GPE governance issues, where policy-related debates are rare. This conclusion is in accordance with evaluations of other similarly structured multistakeholder partnerships, calling into question the effectiveness of the partnership-based model.

Governance and regulatory strategies beyond the state: stakeholder participation and the ecological restoration of Ogoniland

ABSTRACTIn June 2016, the Nigerian government finally launched the massive ecological restoration programme of Ogoniland in the Niger Delta. This restoration programme is based on the 2011 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland Report which found that the ecological and consequential damages caused by oil exploration activities in Ogoniland were severe and virtually unparalleled elsewhere in the world. The state-based regulatory system had failed over the years to ensure the restoration of Ogoniland. The report therefore recommended that the ecological restoration of the said environment (which, according to UNEP, could ‘prove to be the world’s most wide-ranging and long-term oil clean-up exercise ever undertaken’) be driven broadly by a multi-stakeholder governance approach. This UNEP proposed partnership between state and non-state actors represents a good example of environmental governance beyond the state aimed at long-term eco-restoration. This article is therefore a contribution to the discourse on emerging trends in eco-restoration governance strategies by providing a critical analysis of the UNEP-led multi-stakeholder participatory approach to eco-restoration governance in Ogoniland. It critically appraises the potency of UNEP’s stakeholder-driven governance model as a requirement for a successful eco-restoration exercise, especially against the backdrop of, and as a better alternative to, the traditional state-driven approach.

Are Equity and Sustainability a Likely Outcome When Foxes and Chickens Share the Same Coop? Critiquing the Concept of Multistakeholder Governance of Food Security

This article subjects to critical analysis the rapidly expanding ‘multistakeholder’ approach to policy deliberation and development programming. The past 15 years have witnessed an astonishing ascension of the narrative of the corporate private sector as the new paladin of development. This dubiously accredited actor enters the development world through ‘public–private partnerships’ whose reputation as win–win affairs lacks validation by empirical research. The corporate sector joins—and often helps to convene—governance forums in which important policy decisions are taken and understandably deploys its efforts to further its interests. While there is a widespread aspiration today to build more inclusive, participatory governance in which the voices of those most affected by policy decisions can be heard and their rights defended, there are very great differences between this kind of practice and multistakeholder approaches in which differences in identities, interests, roles, and responsibilities are ignored and power imbalances negated. This article seeks to make the distinction clear and to identify the challenges that multistakeholderism poses for the legitimacy of governance, the protection of common goods, and the defence of human rights. It closes by pointing towards steps that could help to move from the multistakeholderism that characterizes the 2030 Agenda towards legitimate, participatory multi-actor deliberation.

Who pays for cooperation in global health? A comparative analysis of WHO, the World Bank, the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

In this report we assess who pays for cooperation in global health through an analysis of the financial flows of WHO, the World Bank, the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The past few decades have seen the consolidation of influence in the disproportionate roles the USA, UK, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have had in financing three of these four institutions. Current financing flows in all four case study institutions allow donors to finance and deliver assistance in ways that they can more closely control and monitor at every stage. We highlight three major trends in global health governance more broadly that relate to this development: towards more discretionary funding and away from core or longer-term funding; towards defined multi-stakeholder governance and away from traditional government-centred representation and decision-making; and towards narrower mandates or problem-focused vertical initiatives and away from broader systemic goals.

Theoretical Conceptualization and Practical Activities of the Government in the Issue of Sufficient Provision of Population with the Library Services

The article examines the dynamics of sociocultural changes and continuing differentiation of the regions in the conditions of infrastructure of cultural environment in terms of availability of access of citizens to the cultural values and benefits, described on the example of library network. There considered the issue of the need to identify the relationship between the activities of management institutions in the field of culture and the processes of change in socio-cultural environment of Russian regions taking into account their compliance with the main theoretical provisions, established in the normative legal acts of the Russian Federation as an instrument of state cultural policy. There are analyzed the consequences of transition from the normative standards of sufficient provision of population to the “Road map” optimization activities. Basing on the actual quantitative indicators and statistical data, the authors raise the discussion issues on the reduction of the branch units, the prospects of keeping the users in the rural areas, the relevance of libraries in the modern culture as a whole, and offer their point of view on the development of the field library services. Specific examples reveal imbalances in the formation of library networks in different regions of the Russian Federation. Differences in the assessment of processes in the library area between the experts, institutional authorities and public associations lead, according to the authors, to the challenging contradictions. As a result, the government remains the only responsible entity for the status of cultural environment in the society that does not correspond with the modern vision of multi-stakeholder governance, strengthening of the role of municipal management and the functions of the public sector of civil society.

Global Health in the Anthropocene: Moving Beyond Resilience and Capitalism Comment on "Health Promotion in an Age of Normative Equity and Rampant Inequality".

There has been much reflection on the need for a new understanding of global health and the urgency of a paradigm shift to address global health issues. A crucial question is whether this is still possible in current modes of global governance based on capitalist values. Four reflections are provided. (1) Ecological –centered values must become central in any future global health framework. (2) The objectives of ‘sustainability’ and ‘economic growth’ present a profound contradiction. (3) The resilience discourse maintains a gridlock in the functioning of the global health system. (4) The legitimacy of multi-stakeholder governance arrangements in global health requires urgent attention. A dual track approach is suggested. It must be aimed to transform capitalism into something better for global health while in parallel there is an urgent need to imagine a future and pathways to a different world order rooted in the principles of social justice, protecting the commons and a central role for the preservation of ecology.