Kristine Kern

Sustainable development in the Baltic sea region. Governance beyond the nation state

After the end of the Cold War, the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) developed into a highly dynamic area of cross-border cooperation and transnational networking. Three forms of governance beyond the nation state and appropriate case studies are presented here: (1) the Helsinki Convention as an international regime; (2) Baltic 21, the worlds first regional Agenda 21, as an international policy network; (3) the Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) as a transnational network. The achievement of sustainable development in the BSR undoubtedly requires a fruitful combination of national governance and these forms of international and transnational governance. In this respect, international policy networks, such as Baltic 21, and transnational networks, such as the UBC, promise to provide new approaches that can complement international and intergovernmental cooperation between nation states. Furthermore, it must also be taken into account that governance in the BSR will soon become embedded in European governance and lead to the Europeanisation of the Baltic Sea Area.

Governing climate change in Dutch cities: anchoring local climate strategies in organisation, policy and practical implementation

Although Dutch cities were among the forerunners in local climate policy, a systematic overview on climate mitigation and adaptation policy is still missing. This study aims to fill this gap by analysing 25 Dutch cities using indicators for the level of anchoring in policy, organisation and practical implementation as well as multi-level relations. Since Tilburg, Amsterdam, Den Haag and Rotterdam show a higher performance than other Dutch cities, these four cities are used as reference cities. The findings suggest that structural integration of climate mitigation and adaptation is limited in Dutch cities. The study points at three recent trends in local climate governance in the Netherlands: (i) decentralisation within municipal organisations, (ii) externalisation initiatives that place climate policy outside the municipal organisation and (iii) regionalisation with neighbouring municipalities and the provincial government.

The European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region

The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR), which was presented by the European Commission in June 2009, is the first macro-regional strategy of the EU. In the words of the EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn, it was designed to serve as a ‘new model for co-operation’ and ‘to inspire other regions’ (Hahn, 2010, 2) in Europe. From this perspective, the EUSBSR has certainly provided some ‘inspirational successes’, almost triggering a veritable ‘macro-regional fever’ (Duhr, 2011, 3) amongst EU members and partner countries, and pushing the number of countries currently involved in the formulation of macro-regional strategies to 27.1 The EUSBSR targets eight EU member states — Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany, that is, the German Lander of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Hamburg — and also two partner countries (the Russian Federation and Norway) (Figure 6.1); hence, it can almost be conceived as an internal strategy of the EU (European Commission, 2009). In contrast, both the EU Strategy for the Danube Region and the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region are far more diverse in membership and exhibit a strong external focus (see Ganzle, forthcoming; Agh, chapter 7, Cugusi and Stocchiero, chapter 8 this volume).

'Environmental governance' and 'ecosystem management' : avenues for synergies between two approaches

Based on a literature review of over 160 journal articles and books, this article examines the ecosystem management and environmental governance approaches, and looks for common topics and integrat ...

Cities as learning organisations in climate policy: the case of Malmö

The complexities and uncertainties inherent to climate change place ecosystems and governance systems under pressure, in particular at the local level, where the causes and consequences of climate change play out. To address this complexity, local authorities have to be flexible, with an emphasis on learning and experimentation to lower greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the challenges climate change poses – hence, they have to become learning organisations. Examining Malmö, this paper explores whether it has the characteristics to embrace and institutionalise learning and how this affects the development of its climate policies. The analysis finds several elements invaluable for Malmö’s innovative climate policies: climate strategies are incorporated within the city’s long-term vision to become a sustainable city: socially, economically and environmentally; dialogue and learning are emphasised throughout the process; and all stakeholders are involved, including external partners, leading to integrated approaches.

Macro-regions, ‘Macro-regionalization’ and Macro-regional Strategies in the European Union: Towards a New Form of European Governance?

With the adoption of its first ‘macro-regional’ strategy in 2009 — the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) — the European Union has started to charter new territory in transnational cooperation and cohesion policy. Subsequently, other ‘macro-regions’ have begun to self-identify — such as the Danube (2011), the Adriatic-Ionian basin (2014), the Alpine (2015) and the North Sea regions1 (see European Parliament, 2015) — and are in the process of developing similar strategies of their own, often drawing on ‘the inspiration from the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the Danube Region’ (North Sea Commission, 2011, p. 2). These developments suggest that some parts of Europe, if not the entire EU, could come to be covered by some kind of macro-regional strategy. Indeed, in 2013, the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council proposed a ‘Europe of macro-regions’ (Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council, 2013, p. 9) and an ever-increasing area has been described as having succumbed to a kind of ‘macro-regional fever’ (Duhr, 2011, p. 3). Such observations and the concrete developments that underpin them warrant a critical assessment of this ‘“nouvelle vogue” of transnational cooperation’ (Cugusi and Stocchiero, 2012), which has also been depicted as a new ‘tool of European integration’ (Dubois et al., 2009, p. 9; see also Bellini and Hilpert, 2013).2

Die Ostseestrategie der Europäischen Union: Entwicklung, Stand und Perspektiven eines neuen Ansatzes in der EU-Regionalpolitik

Makroregionale Strategien der Europäischen Union zielen auf Natur-, Funktionsbeziehungsweise Kulturräume innerhalb Europas, die von einem Gebirgszug wie den Alpen, einem Binnenmeer wie der Ostsee oder auch einem Fluss wie der Donau maßgeblich geprägt werden. So verstand der damalige EU-Kommissar für Regionalpolitik, Paweł Samecki, eine Makroregion als ein aus unterschiedlichen Ländern und Regionen bestehendes Territorium, „das ein oder mehrere gemeinsame Charakteristika oder Herausforderungen“1 aufweist. Eine aktuelle Definition der Europäischen Kommission aus dem Jahre 2013 fasst makroregionale Strategien dementsprechend als Entwurf zur Bewältigung gemeinsamer Herausforderungen und als „regionale Bausteine für eine EU-weite Politik, die nationale Ansätze in eine kohärentere Durchführung auf EU-Ebene einbinden.“2 Makroregionale Strategien formulieren also einen Gesamtrahmen für transnationale Zusammenarbeit, der sich sowohl an Mitgliedwie auch Drittstaaten desselben geografischen Raumes wendet, und versuchen zugleich, einen Beitrag zur Umsetzung des in Artikel 174 Vertrag über die Europäische Union (EUV) primärrechtlich verankerten Prinzips territorialer Kohäsion zu leisten – in Ergänzung der bereits im Vertrag von Maastricht 1992 vereinbarten Ziele sozialer und wirtschaftlicher Kohäsion. Im Hinblick auf den EU-Finanzplan für den Zeitraum von 2014 bis 2020 waren die jeweils betroffenen Mitgliedstaaten von der Europäischen Kommission dazu angehalten, die Ziele der bereits bestehenden makroregionalen Strategien sowohl in ihren Partnerschaftsabkommen als auch den operativen Programmen zur Umsetzung der EU-Regionalund Strukturpolitik aufzugreifen. Im Kern bilden makroregionale Strategien nunmehr einen Referenzpunkt zur politikfeldübergreifenden Koordination von Akteuren auch über die Regionalpolitik im engeren Sinne hinaus. Dabei besteht die Absicht, Synergieeffekte sowohl durch eine bessere Verknüpfung von Instrumenten unterschiedlicher Politikbereiche über die Grenzen von Politiksektoren (Transport, Umwelt usw.) als auch Gouvernanz-Ebenen (regional-mitgliedstaatlich-europäisch) hinweg zu erzielen. Damit knüpfen makroregionale Strategien zwar an die bereits bestehen-