Assessing Policy Issue Interdependencies in Environmental Governance
The ability to effectively resolve complex environmental problems hinges upon the capacity to address several different challenges in concert. These challenges, what we refer to as policy issues, often relate to one another – they interdepend. Policy issue interdependency has been extensively theori...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Utrecht University Library Open Access Journals (Publishing Services)
2021-04-01
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| Series: | International Journal of the Commons |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.thecommonsjournal.org/articles/1060 |
| _version_ | 1818949406426136576 |
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| author | Johanna Hedlund Örjan Bodin Daniel Nohrstedt |
| author_facet | Johanna Hedlund Örjan Bodin Daniel Nohrstedt |
| author_sort | Johanna Hedlund |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The ability to effectively resolve complex environmental problems hinges upon the capacity to address several different challenges in concert. These challenges, what we refer to as policy issues, often relate to one another – they interdepend. Policy issue interdependency has been extensively theorised in the literature, yet few methodological approaches and little empirical evidence exist to translate the concept of policy issue interdependency to the on-the-ground realities facing policy actors in specific cases and contexts. We build from previous studies to develop a methodological procedure that investigates policy issue interdependencies in ways that take into account what measures and possible solutions policy actors have at their disposal in specific cases for specific environmental problems. By applying our methodological procedure to a case of water governance in Sweden, four insights emerged. First, validation by stakeholders confirms that our procedure produces reliable results. Second, we find that many, but certainly not all, policy issues are interdependent. More specifically, different patterns of policy issue interdependencies are associated with the biophysical and the governance spheres, respectively. Third, our results suggest that policy issue interdependencies are most important to consider when the overall level of interdependency is moderate. Last, our study raises new questions about policy actors’ perception of policy issue interdependencies. In particular, a key question for future research would be if reinforcing (win-win) or counteracting (trade-off) interdependencies are easier to comprehend and act on for policy actors. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T09:02:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-02639400be394b8cb31dd2b5ccc33d05 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1875-0281 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T09:02:11Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | Utrecht University Library Open Access Journals (Publishing Services) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of the Commons |
| spelling | doaj.art-02639400be394b8cb31dd2b5ccc33d052022-12-21T19:45:50ZengUtrecht University Library Open Access Journals (Publishing Services)International Journal of the Commons1875-02812021-04-0115110.5334/ijc.1060502Assessing Policy Issue Interdependencies in Environmental GovernanceJohanna Hedlund0Örjan Bodin1Daniel Nohrstedt2Stockholm UniversityStockholm UniversityUppsala UniversityThe ability to effectively resolve complex environmental problems hinges upon the capacity to address several different challenges in concert. These challenges, what we refer to as policy issues, often relate to one another – they interdepend. Policy issue interdependency has been extensively theorised in the literature, yet few methodological approaches and little empirical evidence exist to translate the concept of policy issue interdependency to the on-the-ground realities facing policy actors in specific cases and contexts. We build from previous studies to develop a methodological procedure that investigates policy issue interdependencies in ways that take into account what measures and possible solutions policy actors have at their disposal in specific cases for specific environmental problems. By applying our methodological procedure to a case of water governance in Sweden, four insights emerged. First, validation by stakeholders confirms that our procedure produces reliable results. Second, we find that many, but certainly not all, policy issues are interdependent. More specifically, different patterns of policy issue interdependencies are associated with the biophysical and the governance spheres, respectively. Third, our results suggest that policy issue interdependencies are most important to consider when the overall level of interdependency is moderate. Last, our study raises new questions about policy actors’ perception of policy issue interdependencies. In particular, a key question for future research would be if reinforcing (win-win) or counteracting (trade-off) interdependencies are easier to comprehend and act on for policy actors.https://www.thecommonsjournal.org/articles/1060policy issuespolicy issue interdependenciesnetworkspolicy issue networkscausal pathways |
| spellingShingle | Johanna Hedlund Örjan Bodin Daniel Nohrstedt Assessing Policy Issue Interdependencies in Environmental Governance International Journal of the Commons policy issues policy issue interdependencies networks policy issue networks causal pathways |
| title | Assessing Policy Issue Interdependencies in Environmental Governance |
| title_full | Assessing Policy Issue Interdependencies in Environmental Governance |
| title_fullStr | Assessing Policy Issue Interdependencies in Environmental Governance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing Policy Issue Interdependencies in Environmental Governance |
| title_short | Assessing Policy Issue Interdependencies in Environmental Governance |
| title_sort | assessing policy issue interdependencies in environmental governance |
| topic | policy issues policy issue interdependencies networks policy issue networks causal pathways |
| url | https://www.thecommonsjournal.org/articles/1060 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johannahedlund assessingpolicyissueinterdependenciesinenvironmentalgovernance AT orjanbodin assessingpolicyissueinterdependenciesinenvironmentalgovernance AT danielnohrstedt assessingpolicyissueinterdependenciesinenvironmentalgovernance |