Multi-Level Governance of Sustainability Transition in the European Union

Poyraz, Anil Yildirim and Szalmáné Csete, Mária (2022) Multi-Level Governance of Sustainability Transition in the European Union. In: SDGs in the European Region. Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Regional Perspectives . Springer, Cham, pp. 1-23. ISBN 978-3-030-91261-1

Text FinalMulti-levelgovWSSSpringer2023.pdf Restricted to Repository staff only Download (333kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Successful sustainability transition and climate action require a coherent policy and cooperative environment between different levels of government. Multi-level governance (MLG) represents a functional approach to revealing and overcoming the barriers that might impede effective, efficient, and timely implementations. This chapter seeks to present the main challenges and related actions for MLG with respect to the sustainability transition in Europe. MLG mechanisms between the European Commission (EC) and national, regional, and local governments/municipalities were discussed on the basis of five MLG aspects defined in the chapter. The main focus has been put on the Commission and the subnational governmental bodies, considered as the two ends of the vertical axis of multi-level governance. Nature-based solutions (NBS) were included in the discussion because of their role in achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as being a distinct concept related to sustainability transition. While the Commission’s fundamental tool to mainstream SDGs is incorporating them into economic and social policies, the interplay between the EC and the member states mainly occurs in the platforms in which these policies are shaped. The EU acts substantially stimulate sustainability transition at the local level. On the other hand, the subnational governmental actors form networks to influence the supranational bodies to obtain further roles and resources concerning SDG policies and implementations. The examination concludes that certain gaps in MLG persist to varying extents.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item