Gerald Berger

Ecological Modernization as a Basis for Environmental Policy: Current Environmental Discourse and Policy and the Implications on Environmental Supply Chain Management

Sustainable development and ecological modernization are the two theoretical frameworks that underlie environmental policy making in industrialized countries. It is especially the theory of ecological modernization that describes recent changes in environmental policy making and assumes a positive-sum game between the economy and the environment. The article critically reflects upon ecological modernization as a basis for current environmental policy and discourse. It uses experiences of a project on environmental supply chain management to explore the implications of ecological modernization on practical environmental policy outcomes. We conclude that sustainable development and ecological modernization must be viewed as ideological and political concepts, at least as much as they are about the relationship between the economy and environment. Therefore, further analyses of environmental policy making must include issues of power and influence.

Reflections on Governance: Power Relations and Policy Making in Regional Sustainable Development

The focus of this article is the application of the concept of governance in regional sustainable development policy making. First, the article discusses the current theoretical discourse on governance and looks at how governance is framed within European Union (EU) policy-making documents. Second, it discusses these more theoretical aspects within the field of regional sustainable development by using examples from various regions across Europe. Regions are identified as a very appropriate level for sustainable development and related issues of policy making. Therefore, a special focus will be given to the EU Structural Funds and how they promote the uptake of sustainable development at the regional level. The article aims to contribute to the debate on regional sustainable development by critically reflecting upon and analysing governance strategies in regional sustainable development policy making. The main argument of the article is that the power relations between the different institutions and stakeholders must be taken into account in any governance approach. Only when clear frameworks of rules, responsibility and accountability are discussed in an open manner can one find a way to understand policy making in an ever-changing society.

Sustainable Mobility—Challenges for a Complex Transition

Sustainable Mobility—Challenges for a Complex Transition Gerald Berger, Peter H. Feindt, Erling Holden & Frieder Rubik a Institute for Managing Sustainability, Vienna University of Economic and Business, Vienna, Austria b Section Communication, Philosophy and Technology, Wageningen University, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen, The Netherlands c Faculty of Engineering and Sciences, Sogn and Fjordane University College, Sogndal, Norway d Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IOW), Heidelberg, Germany Published online: 25 Sep 2014.

Bridging the Science-Policy Gap: Development and Reception of a Joint Research Agenda on Sustainable Food Consumption

Abstract To increase the uptake of research findings by policy makers and to encourage European researchers to better reflect policy needs, we facilitated the development of a joint research agenda (JRA) on sustainable food consumption (SFC) involving scientists, policy makers, and other stakeholders. Pursuing interpretive action research and using a number of data sources, we tried to understand how the “fit” between the characteristics of policy makers’ organizational contexts and the attributes of the JRA development process affects the reception of the JRA and its outcomes. Our framework was based on three distinct formations of discursive and material practices related to the use of knowledge in public policy making: bureaucratic, managerial, and communicative. Two dominant patterns seem to be represented in SFC consumption in the European Union: a transition between the bureaucratic and the managerial formation and a highly developed managerial formation with occasional communicative practices. We found that reflecting national policy priorities would help overcome some of the structural barriers between science and policy, whereas other barriers could be addressed by designing the process to better fit with the logics of the three formations, such as the fragmentation of knowledge (bureaucratic formation) or breadth of participation (communicative formation).

The Lisbon Strategy and Sustainable Development Strategies Across Europe: How Different Governance Arrangements Shape the European Coherence of Policy Documents

The present paper compares two major political strategies that are being pursued across the EU, i.e. the Lisbon Strategy and sustainable development (SD) strategies. It first highlights their complementary character in implementing the societal guiding model known as SD, and it compares their different histories and governance arrangements. While the Lisbon Strategy is a genuinely European response to global pressures that employs the open method of coordination (OMC), guidance for SD strategies came from the international level, and OMC emerged only cautiously and temporarily after the renewal of the EU SD strategy in 2006. Based on an empirical stocktaking of policy objectives and indicators, the paper then assesses how the different supra-national governance arrangements shape the coherence of the respective national strategies across Europe. It shows that, so far, OMC was not able to facilitate a ‘standardised format’ of Lisbon Strategies across Europe as envisaged by the European Commission; to the contrary: OMC entailed only slightly more coherent National Reform Programmes than international guidance did in the SD context.

Editorial: regional sustainable development the role of structural funds

Structural Funds have evolved into one of the major driving forces for regional development in Europe. These funds were conceived primarily as a means of enhancing European cohesion by directly addressing regional entities and supporting their development in economic and social terms in order to increase their chances in a common European market and in order to facilitate necessary structural changes on their way to becoming viable partners in the European development project. This goal is in itself very ambitious and far reaching. Structural Funds have become arguably the most important policy instrument to bring further European cohesion in practical terms, changing the situation of many regions and even nations. The Structural Funds have had impact not only in their direct influence on European cohesion and the economic and social development of regions, but also in the way regional entities pursue development activities. With their clear reference to the European context, Structural Funds have also been successful in building a close and direct relationship between regions and the European level in terms of governance and in harmonizing development goals. They have evolved into important resources for regions to realize their own development aspirations and have shaped the way in which regional development is perceived and realized in Europe. With Europe facing the double challenge of enlargement and becoming more sustainable at the same time, it seems logical to look at Structural Funds and their role in this process. Therefore, this was the topic of the workshop entitled ‘Regional Sustainable Development: the Role of Structural Funds’ held in Seggau, Austria, from 9 to 11 September 2002, as part of the EU’s REGIONET research project. REGIONET (Strategies for Regional Sustainable Development: an Integrated Approach beyond Best Practice) is funded by DG Research under the 5th Framework Programme. The overall objective of REGIONET is to provide an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to support the implementation of sustainable development in regions across Europe. REGIONET links science and policy with the aim of providing empirical research outcomes for regional sustainable development policy making. The first REGIONET workshop brought together about 50 experts from various EU Member States and accession countries with a background in academia and regional