Pieter Glasbergen

Interactive policy-making – a model of management for public works

Abstract In this article a management model for interactive policy-making is proposed. Interactive policy-making is a process whereby multiple parties play an active role and jointly arrive at a decision. The management model consists of six stages: exploration, initiative, common perception, joint problem-solving, decision-making, and implementation. The activities assigned to each stage are examined in detail. Finally, the last section of this article reviews the criteria that can be used to assess interactive policy-making. Three perspectives are relevant. The first perspective is the course of the process; the second is democratic legitimacy; and the third is problem resolution.

Implementation of wind energy in the Netherlands: the importance of the social-institutional setting

This paper analyses the differences in performance of the different types of wind power entrepreneurs now active on the wind power supply market in the Netherlands. The development of the market is divided into three successive market periods: Monopoly powers (1989–1995), Interbellum (1996–1997) and Free market (1998–2002). For each of these periods, the interdependency between various systemic conditions—technical, economic, institutional and social conditions—is analysed, with the focus on the relative importance of the institutional and social settings for market development. This interdependency is analysed using the implementation capacity concept. Implementation capacity is defined as the total of those systemic conditions and mutual interdependencies that influence the behaviour of wind power entrepreneurs. It indicates the feasibility for wind power entrepreneurs to adopt wind turbines. From the analysis it was concluded that no overall implementation capacity exists, and implementation capacities differ for entrepreneurial groups with different entrepreneurial features. With respect to the relative importance of institutional and social conditions, it became clear, that it is mainly these conditions that differentiate between the various entrepreneurial groups. The dynamic configuration of institutional and social conditions facilitates some and hinders other types of wind power entrepreneurs, and as a result determines the development and composition of the market. Finally, the analysis explains the changing roles of entrepreneurial groups throughout the 1990s.

NGOs Moving Business: An Analysis of Contrasting Strategies

In this article, we seek to advance understanding of nongovernmental organization (NGO) strategies with regard to influencing corporations. We study two contrasting NGO strategies (symbolic gain and symbolic damage), which simultaneously target the same corporation on the same issue. In so doing, we highlight three previously neglected dimensions of NGO influence strategies: (a) the influence effected by contrasting strategies; (b) the interplay between contrasting strategies; and (c) the dynamic relation between firm— stakeholder resource dependence relationship and NGO influence strategy.

Business–NGO Interactions in a Multi-Stakeholder Context

The main purpose of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of the conditions under which Business–nongovernmental organization (NGO) interactions lead to improvements in corporate social responsibility (CSR), by assessing the role that the stakeholder context of the firm plays in the processes. As a case study it takes an interaction process between one NGO and one company with both collaborative and confrontational traits, spanning eight years and two issue fields, palm oil and soy, which are characterized by varying stakeholder contexts. The analysis demonstrates that the business–NGO interaction induced a change from a direct to an indirect corporate responsibility, and clarifies how interdependencies between the company and other stakeholders than the NGO influenced the interaction. The stakeholder interdependencies vary per issue field: In some issue fields, the stakeholder context allows for effective, collaborative interaction between business and NGO, while in another issue field, characterized by different stakeholder interdependencies, collaborative, constructive interactionbetween the same business and the same NGO is not feasible and, in addition, less effective in terms of CSR than confrontational interaction.

The environmental cooperative: self-governance in sustainable rural development.

This article explores the advantages and risks of a new form of self-regulation in the Netherlands. The focal point is the environmental cooperative: a regional organization in which farmers collaborate to integrate environmental values into their production process. The body of this article begins with a discussion of the background of these innovative collectives. It then examines a few concrete examples in greater detail. The question guiding the discussion is if and how the environmental cooperative can contribute to such a broad national planning goal as a more sustainable development of the rural area.

Interactive Planning of Infrastructure: The Changing Role of Dutch Project Management

The mode of planing for infrastructure has changed in the Netherlands. As elsewhere, a hierarchic mode of planning has been replaced by regulatory relationships among stakeholders. The authors present a lens through which some of these changes are brought into focus: the new form of cooperation, called ‘interactive planning’, is characterized in terms of ‘political space’, ‘architecture’, and ‘action mechanisms’. The discussion is focused on four projects in which the transition to a new planning mode occurred while the project was being developed. The authors also revisit the implementation of interactive planning.

Interaction management by partnerships: The case of biodiversity and climate change

This article examines the contributions that partnerships make to interaction management. Our conceptualization of interaction management builds on earlier contributions to the literature on regimes and governance. The article focuses on the interactions among the biodiversity and climate change governance systems, since these systems interact intensively on the issues of biofuels and forests (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation—REDD+). The article shows that seven partnerships actively manage the interactions by fulfilling several critical interaction management functions. Their main contributions include creating markets for sustainable biofuels through the development of certification standards and creating markets for “multiple benefit” REDD+. Although the partnerships improve interactions on case-by-case bases, they fail to fundamentally improve existing interactions between the biodiversity and climate change governance systems. Improved meta-governance and public-private interplay are necessary for more effective interaction management and, more generally, the effective governance of sustainable development.

Ecotourism as a mechanism for sustainable development: the case of Bhutan

Abstract Over the last few decades, Bhutan has followed a controlled tourism policy, with a ‘high value, low volume’ strategy. This approach is based on the countrys sustainable development policy. In recent years, tourism has been identified as the backbone of private sector growth. To this end, a ‘high value, low impact’ strategy was adopted, which would allow for a doubling of the number of tourists in the next decade. Growing numbers of visitors could jeopardize the intended low impact on both nature and culture, which are the selling points of Bhutanese tourism. In this article, we examine the contribution of tourism to the sustainable development of Bhutan, focusing on the socio-economic, environmental and cultural impacts of present-day tourism. Information was gathered by conducting field surveys in the tourist sector and in rural communities, and by analysing financial data relating to tourism. The results indicate that tourism has the potential to stimulate private sector growth by producing spin-off effects in the related service sector and to transform the rural economy. The impact on culture and the environment is currently low. However, the expected growth may, if it is not managed properly, erode the unique nature of tourism in Bhutan.

Tailor‐made environmental governance: on the relevance of the covenanting process

The application of Voluntary Agreements (VAs) in environmental policy has changed from a gentlemens (sic) agreement, via an emphasis on the agreement as a new policy instrument, toward an innovative governance strategy. This strategy reflects a new perception of the manageable society, customized to the present state of the environment and state – market relations in advanced industrial societies. Its main characteristic is the bottom-line of consensual techniques combined with regulatory techniques. Based particularly on Dutch experiences with both environmental covenants and long-term agreements on energy efficiency improvement, this paper sketches the elements of the strategy. It is also shown that the agreement itself is of less importance than the covenanting process. Practical experiences show that a well structured dialogue between public and private parties creates opportunities for an effective joint policy undertaking. Copyright

Modern Environmental Agreements: A Policy Instrument Becomes a Management Strategy

The current trend in environmental policy is to combine public-private partnership and problem-solving among industries with a classic approach to governance within a legal framework. The country that has probably made the greatest strides toward a comprehensive approach to environmental management is the Netherlands. This paper briefly reviews the history of that approach before analysing the phenomenon of modern environmental agreements. As this analysis reveals, the comprehensive approach has strengthened the implementation of Dutch environmental policy. At the same time, it has fallen short in the core area of environmental management: the assessment of pros and cons of environment and economy. Because of the limited scope of governance, the fundamental issues of sustainability are not being addressed at present. The paper concludes that modern environmental agreements are appropriate to a certain phase of environmental policy. In that light, some prospects for further development are discussed.